Ken Ibold
Final Approach
- Joined
- Feb 21, 2005
- Messages
- 5,889
- Location
- Jacksonville, Florida
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Ken Ibold
I don't agree with everything in this article, but it does contain a rather interesting perspective ...
> >
> > An Unnatural Disaster: A Hurricane Exposes the Man-Made Disaster of
> > the Welfare State
> >
> > by Robert Tracinski
> >
> > It has taken four long days for state and federal officials to
figure
> > out how to deal with the disaster in New Orleans. I can't blame
them,
> > because it has also taken me four long days to figure out what is
> > going on there. The reason is that the events there make no sense
if
> > you think that we are confronting a natural disaster.
> >
> > If this is just a natural disaster, the response for public
officials
> > is obvious: you bring in food, water, and doctors; you send
> > transportation to evacuate refugees to temporary shelters; you send
> > engineers to stop the flooding and rebuild the city's
infrastructure.
> > For journalists, natural disasters also have a familiar pattern:
the
> > heroism of ordinary people pulling together to survive; the hard
work
> > and dedication of doctors, nurses, and rescue workers; the steps
being
> > taken to clean up and rebuild.
> >
> > Public officials did not expect that the first thing they would
have
> > to do is to send thousands of armed troops in armored vehicle, as
if
> > they are suppressing an enemy insurgency. And journalists--myself
> > included--did not expect that the story would not be about rain,
wind,
> > and flooding, but about rape, murder, and looting.
> >
> > But this is not a natural disaster. It is a man-made disaster.
> >
> > The man-made disaster is not an inadequate or incompetent response
by
> > federal relief agencies, and it was not directly caused by
Hurricane
> > Katrina. This is where just about every newspaper and television
> > channel has gotten the story wrong.
> >
> > The man-made disaster we are now witnessing in New Orleans did not
> > happen over the past four days. It happened over the past four
> > decades. Hurricane Katrina merely exposed it to public view.
> >
> > The man-made disaster is the welfare state.
> >
> > For the past few days, I have found the news from New Orleans to be
> > confusing. People were not behaving as you would expect them to
behave
> > in an emergency--indeed, they were not behaving as they have
behaved
> > in other emergencies. That is what has shocked so many people: they
> > have been saying that this is not what we expect from America. In
> > fact, it is not even what we expect from a Third World country.
> >
> > When confronted with a disaster, people usually rise to the
occasion.
> > They work together to rescue people in danger, and they
spontaneously
> > organize to keep order and solve problems. This is especially true
in
> > America. We are an enterprising people, used to relying on our own
> > initiative rather than waiting around for the government to take
care
> > of us. I have seen this a hundred times, in small examples (a small
> > town whose main traffic light had gone out, causing ordinary
citizens
> > to get out of their cars and serve as impromptu traffic cops,
> > directing cars through the intersection) and large ones (the
> > spontaneous response of New Yorkers to September 11).
> >
> > So what explains the chaos in New Orleans?
> >
> > To give you an idea of the magnitude of what is going on, here is a
> > description from a Washington Times story:
> >
> > "Storm victims are raped and beaten; fights erupt with flying
fists,
> > knives and guns; fires are breaking out; corpses litter the
streets;
> > and police and rescue helicopters are repeatedly fired on.
> >
> > "The plea from Mayor C. Ray Nagin came even as National Guardsmen
> > poured in to restore order and stop the looting, carjackings and
> > gunfire....
> >
> > "Last night, Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco said 300 Iraq-hardened
> > Arkansas National Guard members were inside New Orleans with
> > shoot-to-kill orders.
> >
> > " 'These troops are...under my orders to restore order in the
> > streets,' she said. 'They have M-16s, and they are locked and
loaded.
> > These troops know how to shoot and kill and they are more than
willing
> > to do so if necessary and I expect they will.' "
> >
> > The reference to Iraq is eerie. The photo that accompanies this
> > article shows National Guard troops, with rifles and armored vests,
> > riding on an armored vehicle through trash-strewn streets lined by
a
> > rabble of squalid, listless people, one of whom appears to be
yelling
> > at them. It looks exactly like a scene from Sadr City in Baghdad.
> >
> > What explains bands of thugs using a natural disaster as an excuse
for
> > an orgy of looting, armed robbery, and rape? What causes unruly
mobs
> > to storm the very buses that have arrived to evacuate them, causing
> > the drivers to drive away, frightened for their lives? What causes
> > people to attack the doctors trying to treat patients at the Super
Dome?
> >
> > Why are people responding to natural destruction by causing further
> > destruction? Why are they attacking the people who are trying to
help
> > them?
> >
> > Sherri figured it out first, and she figured it out on a
sense-of-life
> > level. While watching the coverage last night on Fox News Channel,
she
> > told me that she was getting a familiar feeling. She studied
> > architecture at the Illinois Institute of Chicago, which is located
in
> > the South Side of Chicago just blocks away from the Robert Taylor
> > Homes, one of the largest high-rise public housing projects in
> > America. "The projects," as they were known, were infamous for
> > uncontrollable crime and irremediable squalor. (They have since,
> > mercifully, been demolished.)
> >
> > What Sherri was getting from last night's television coverage was a
> > whiff of the sense of life of "the projects." Then the "crawl"--the
> > informational phrases flashed at the bottom of the screen on most
news
> > channels--gave some vital statistics to confirm this sense: 75% of
the
> > residents of New Orleans had already evacuated before the
hurricane,
> > and of the 300,000 or so who remained, a large number were from the
> > city's public housing projects. Jack Wakeland then gave me an
> > additional, crucial fact: early reports from CNN and Fox indicated
> > that the city had no plan for evacuating all of the prisoners in
the
> > city's jails--so they just let many of them loose. There is no
doubt a
> > significant overlap between these two populations--that is, a large
> > number of people in the jails used to live in the housing projects,
> > and vice versa.
> >
> > There were many decent, innocent people trapped in New Orleans when
> > the deluge hit--but they were trapped alongside large numbers of
> > people from two groups: criminals--and wards of the welfare state,
> > people selected, over decades, for their lack of initiative and
> > self-induced helplessness. The welfare wards were a mass of
sheep--on
> > whom the incompetent administration of New Orleans unleashed a pack
of
> > wolves.
> >
> > All of this is related, incidentally, to the apparent incompetence
of
> > the city government, which failed to plan for a total evacuation of
> > the city, despite the knowledge that this might be necessary. But
in a
> > city corrupted by the welfare state, the job of city officials is
to
> > ensure the flow of handouts to welfare recipients and patronage to
> > political supporters--not to ensure a lawful, orderly evacuation in
> > case of emergency.
> >
> > No one has really reported this story, as far as I can tell. In
fact,
> > some are already actively distorting it, blaming President Bush,
for
> > example, for failing to personally ensure that the Mayor of New
> > Orleans had drafted an adequate evacuation plan. The worst example
is
> > an execrable piece from the Toronto Globe and Mail, by a
supercilious
> > Canadian who blames the chaos on American "individualism." But the
> > truth is precisely the opposite: the chaos was caused by a system
that
> > was the exact opposite of individualism.
> >
> > What Hurricane Katrina exposed was the psychological consequences
of
> > the welfare state. What we consider "normal" behavior in an
emergency
> > is behavior that is normal for people who have values and take the
> > responsibility to pursue and protect them. People with values
respond
> > to a disaster by fighting against it and doing whatever it takes to
> > overcome the difficulties they face. They don't sit around and
> > complain that the government hasn't taken care of them. They don't
use
> > the chaos of a disaster as an opportunity to prey on their fellow
men.
> >
> > But what about criminals and welfare parasites? Do they worry about
> > saving their houses and property? They don't, because they don't
own
> > anything. Do they worry about what is going to happen to their
> > businesses or how they are going to make a living? They never
worried
> > about those things before. Do they worry about crime and looting?
But
> > living off of stolen wealth is a way of life for them.
> >
> > The welfare state--and the brutish, uncivilized mentality it
sustains
> > and encourages--is the man-made disaster that explains the moral
> > ugliness that has swamped New Orleans. And that is the story that
no
> > one is reporting.
> >
> > An Unnatural Disaster: A Hurricane Exposes the Man-Made Disaster of
> > the Welfare State
> >
> > by Robert Tracinski
> >
> > It has taken four long days for state and federal officials to
figure
> > out how to deal with the disaster in New Orleans. I can't blame
them,
> > because it has also taken me four long days to figure out what is
> > going on there. The reason is that the events there make no sense
if
> > you think that we are confronting a natural disaster.
> >
> > If this is just a natural disaster, the response for public
officials
> > is obvious: you bring in food, water, and doctors; you send
> > transportation to evacuate refugees to temporary shelters; you send
> > engineers to stop the flooding and rebuild the city's
infrastructure.
> > For journalists, natural disasters also have a familiar pattern:
the
> > heroism of ordinary people pulling together to survive; the hard
work
> > and dedication of doctors, nurses, and rescue workers; the steps
being
> > taken to clean up and rebuild.
> >
> > Public officials did not expect that the first thing they would
have
> > to do is to send thousands of armed troops in armored vehicle, as
if
> > they are suppressing an enemy insurgency. And journalists--myself
> > included--did not expect that the story would not be about rain,
wind,
> > and flooding, but about rape, murder, and looting.
> >
> > But this is not a natural disaster. It is a man-made disaster.
> >
> > The man-made disaster is not an inadequate or incompetent response
by
> > federal relief agencies, and it was not directly caused by
Hurricane
> > Katrina. This is where just about every newspaper and television
> > channel has gotten the story wrong.
> >
> > The man-made disaster we are now witnessing in New Orleans did not
> > happen over the past four days. It happened over the past four
> > decades. Hurricane Katrina merely exposed it to public view.
> >
> > The man-made disaster is the welfare state.
> >
> > For the past few days, I have found the news from New Orleans to be
> > confusing. People were not behaving as you would expect them to
behave
> > in an emergency--indeed, they were not behaving as they have
behaved
> > in other emergencies. That is what has shocked so many people: they
> > have been saying that this is not what we expect from America. In
> > fact, it is not even what we expect from a Third World country.
> >
> > When confronted with a disaster, people usually rise to the
occasion.
> > They work together to rescue people in danger, and they
spontaneously
> > organize to keep order and solve problems. This is especially true
in
> > America. We are an enterprising people, used to relying on our own
> > initiative rather than waiting around for the government to take
care
> > of us. I have seen this a hundred times, in small examples (a small
> > town whose main traffic light had gone out, causing ordinary
citizens
> > to get out of their cars and serve as impromptu traffic cops,
> > directing cars through the intersection) and large ones (the
> > spontaneous response of New Yorkers to September 11).
> >
> > So what explains the chaos in New Orleans?
> >
> > To give you an idea of the magnitude of what is going on, here is a
> > description from a Washington Times story:
> >
> > "Storm victims are raped and beaten; fights erupt with flying
fists,
> > knives and guns; fires are breaking out; corpses litter the
streets;
> > and police and rescue helicopters are repeatedly fired on.
> >
> > "The plea from Mayor C. Ray Nagin came even as National Guardsmen
> > poured in to restore order and stop the looting, carjackings and
> > gunfire....
> >
> > "Last night, Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco said 300 Iraq-hardened
> > Arkansas National Guard members were inside New Orleans with
> > shoot-to-kill orders.
> >
> > " 'These troops are...under my orders to restore order in the
> > streets,' she said. 'They have M-16s, and they are locked and
loaded.
> > These troops know how to shoot and kill and they are more than
willing
> > to do so if necessary and I expect they will.' "
> >
> > The reference to Iraq is eerie. The photo that accompanies this
> > article shows National Guard troops, with rifles and armored vests,
> > riding on an armored vehicle through trash-strewn streets lined by
a
> > rabble of squalid, listless people, one of whom appears to be
yelling
> > at them. It looks exactly like a scene from Sadr City in Baghdad.
> >
> > What explains bands of thugs using a natural disaster as an excuse
for
> > an orgy of looting, armed robbery, and rape? What causes unruly
mobs
> > to storm the very buses that have arrived to evacuate them, causing
> > the drivers to drive away, frightened for their lives? What causes
> > people to attack the doctors trying to treat patients at the Super
Dome?
> >
> > Why are people responding to natural destruction by causing further
> > destruction? Why are they attacking the people who are trying to
help
> > them?
> >
> > Sherri figured it out first, and she figured it out on a
sense-of-life
> > level. While watching the coverage last night on Fox News Channel,
she
> > told me that she was getting a familiar feeling. She studied
> > architecture at the Illinois Institute of Chicago, which is located
in
> > the South Side of Chicago just blocks away from the Robert Taylor
> > Homes, one of the largest high-rise public housing projects in
> > America. "The projects," as they were known, were infamous for
> > uncontrollable crime and irremediable squalor. (They have since,
> > mercifully, been demolished.)
> >
> > What Sherri was getting from last night's television coverage was a
> > whiff of the sense of life of "the projects." Then the "crawl"--the
> > informational phrases flashed at the bottom of the screen on most
news
> > channels--gave some vital statistics to confirm this sense: 75% of
the
> > residents of New Orleans had already evacuated before the
hurricane,
> > and of the 300,000 or so who remained, a large number were from the
> > city's public housing projects. Jack Wakeland then gave me an
> > additional, crucial fact: early reports from CNN and Fox indicated
> > that the city had no plan for evacuating all of the prisoners in
the
> > city's jails--so they just let many of them loose. There is no
doubt a
> > significant overlap between these two populations--that is, a large
> > number of people in the jails used to live in the housing projects,
> > and vice versa.
> >
> > There were many decent, innocent people trapped in New Orleans when
> > the deluge hit--but they were trapped alongside large numbers of
> > people from two groups: criminals--and wards of the welfare state,
> > people selected, over decades, for their lack of initiative and
> > self-induced helplessness. The welfare wards were a mass of
sheep--on
> > whom the incompetent administration of New Orleans unleashed a pack
of
> > wolves.
> >
> > All of this is related, incidentally, to the apparent incompetence
of
> > the city government, which failed to plan for a total evacuation of
> > the city, despite the knowledge that this might be necessary. But
in a
> > city corrupted by the welfare state, the job of city officials is
to
> > ensure the flow of handouts to welfare recipients and patronage to
> > political supporters--not to ensure a lawful, orderly evacuation in
> > case of emergency.
> >
> > No one has really reported this story, as far as I can tell. In
fact,
> > some are already actively distorting it, blaming President Bush,
for
> > example, for failing to personally ensure that the Mayor of New
> > Orleans had drafted an adequate evacuation plan. The worst example
is
> > an execrable piece from the Toronto Globe and Mail, by a
supercilious
> > Canadian who blames the chaos on American "individualism." But the
> > truth is precisely the opposite: the chaos was caused by a system
that
> > was the exact opposite of individualism.
> >
> > What Hurricane Katrina exposed was the psychological consequences
of
> > the welfare state. What we consider "normal" behavior in an
emergency
> > is behavior that is normal for people who have values and take the
> > responsibility to pursue and protect them. People with values
respond
> > to a disaster by fighting against it and doing whatever it takes to
> > overcome the difficulties they face. They don't sit around and
> > complain that the government hasn't taken care of them. They don't
use
> > the chaos of a disaster as an opportunity to prey on their fellow
men.
> >
> > But what about criminals and welfare parasites? Do they worry about
> > saving their houses and property? They don't, because they don't
own
> > anything. Do they worry about what is going to happen to their
> > businesses or how they are going to make a living? They never
worried
> > about those things before. Do they worry about crime and looting?
But
> > living off of stolen wealth is a way of life for them.
> >
> > The welfare state--and the brutish, uncivilized mentality it
sustains
> > and encourages--is the man-made disaster that explains the moral
> > ugliness that has swamped New Orleans. And that is the story that
no
> > one is reporting.
