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FOOD FOR THOUGHT.....


In 1927, a major unnamed hurricane struck the city of New Orleans.
It was actually more powerful than Katrina. The scope of damage
was much more severe because this particular hurricane actually hit
the city. Katrina missed it by 25 miles.

The interesting difference is the response the government gave in
1927 to those hurricane refugees, compared to the refugees of Katrina, err-
I meant "survivors" ---(sorry Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson).
How much aid did the government dispense at that time? Zero, nada,
not one dime. And you know how much aid the army offered? The only
aid from the army came in the form of loaning the city of New Orleans
tents and camp stoves. Ironically, later, the army sued the city for
reimbursement. So what was the big difference here?



It was the attitude the people had towards the government at that time,
compared to the attitude that Katrina's victims have. The 1927 "survivors"
expected nothing from the government 80 years ago, people understood
that the government was there to " protect life, liberty and the pursuit
of happiness." Today, Americans expect the government to " provide
life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" That's a major difference.
And now, a week later, when the government failed on all three levels
of local, state, and federal to provide for their needs, Americans
were sorely disappointed.



Reverend Jackson and reverend Sharpton spend their opportunities
arguing about semantics."They shouldn't be called refugees, they should
be called survivors" Unfortunately, they missed the boat. It was a
perfect opportunity to deliver a very basic message to their people.

Fact, if you are poor and uneducated in America, this is what happens.
Fact, if you depend on the government, you will be sorely disappointed.
Fact, if you are poor in America, there is no reason for you to be
uneducated. Its free! 12 grades. And if you really apply yourself,
there is enough grants and assistance out there for higher education,
which will raise you above the poverty level. And no longer will you
depend on the government and be disappointed. Its unfortunate that this
lesson will be missed by most of the "survivors".

A couple of other points should be brought to light. G. W. has asked
the congress for 50 billion dollars worth of aid for the "survivors"
and clean up of the city. Interesting isn't it? one million people
displaced and out of work in that city, sitting all day in shelters,
waiting for the next handout. Of course, the thought never occured to
anyone that just maybe, "hey, we should give all these folks jobs filling
sand bags to plug the levees and clearing trees." (Wonder how many of
them would want government aid if they had to work for it?)



And finally, they haven't hardly begun the task of picking up dead
bodies, and already the finger pointing has started. The congressional
hearings and probes will go forever. Millions will be spent on a wasted
diatribe of a bipartisan "witch hunting expedition"- all of which will
be nonsense. If you're a democrat, you are going to blame the
president. If you are a republican, you are going to blame the
mayor and the governor. This is another case in point of how the
government will once again fail its people, they could have spent the
millions educating the poor and misplaced citizens of New Orleans so
that they could go out and get a new and better life, instead of wasting
it on useless blame investigations.

Ouch.

No its simply Old Government Vs. New government.
It actually means nothing. Before the 40's the federal government was a subtle effect, working behind the scenes to run things. For direct representation people would look to state and local representation. In many aspects, a mayor was more important than the president. But today in our age of expanding communication, TV, internet and the like, and with the growing power of the federal government, this has basically switched. Old gov. Vs. New Gov. And the Government actually has NO responsibility to do anything with disaster, nowhere in the constitution does it state that the Government should provide for them. The only reason that they do anything is the mass revolt, outcry, whatever, that would come from doing nothing. You can see what has happened from the government neglecting to do enough, can you imagine what would happen if the Gov did nothing?
Also I'll be hardly anyone who didn't live there knew too much about the fact that a hurricane actually happened. It was just the little communication that existed.
People don't rely on the government now more, its just a more public , and more national government. People have allways relyed on the govenment. That the point of it existing.

It was a flood, not a hurricane.

The government did provide finacial aide.

The aide never reached the people due to corrupt state and local government officials. (A huge trend that continues to this day)

The flood gave rise to a huge southern political movemnet, that resulted in teh election of Huey Long.

If I recall my history correctly, Huey Long sort of looked like a monkey.

OM....... maybe there are like a many more people these days. You really think all of us can leave home and continue life as it is. Not everyone has a three months saving laying around. Well me and my family can just easily run to India or Australia however many cannot. It will happen again if another "poor" city gets hit by a disaster. This has shown a very "ugly" side on the US. You can't abandon the poor or they will bite you in the back.

Acherontia if your whole community gets literally destroyed and cut off from the world for a week or longer you think you would not need
help???

I agree that the first 72-96 hours you should be self sufficient but really after that the Govt would have to help.