new orleans is below sea level and tends to flood. The residents of new orleans bear the physical and financial responsibility of protecting new orleans from flooding. The residents of new orleans did NOT make the physical and financial effort to protect themselves from this level of storm.
new orleans residents had a choice, to protect themselves or not. They chose NOT.
The rest of us have the physical and financial responsibility of protecting ourselves, families and property from flooding, etc. We can’t afford to protect ourselves and new orleans too. Our financial burden is already too big, we can’t afford to carry new orleans on our backs. We don’t expect them to carry us either.
The Army Corps of Engineers and the federal government have the responsibility to keep the Mississippi River open to navigation. The Mississippi can’t be kept open during and immediately after an event like a hurricane, that is impossible to do. But it can be reopened in a timely manner. It will be.
Please note, the administrations of roosevelt, truman, Kennedy, johnson, carter and clinton did not construct a levy system that would protect new orleans from a big hurricane. They were not supposed to, it was not their job and they did not. The same can be said for other administrations. It was not their job.
I am astounded to see and hear new orleans residents and talking-head news-readers on msnbc, cnn, abc, cbs, nbc, npr, public radio and yes, even fox who are unable to comprehend the simple principle: that each of us has the responsibility and moral obligation to care for and protect ourselves. It ain’t rocket science.
Another thing:
“Why did it take so long?” I see and hear new orleans residents and news-readers babbling this mantra, ad nauseam.
Do they not know that there was a big hurricane?
Can they not understand that the part of new orleans they dwell on is surrounded on three sides by water?
Can’t they comprehend that it is difficult to move around in a flooded area?
What part of “there are other people, in other places....who need help” don’t they understand?
Again, the ability to understand simple things (let alone complex things) is totally lacking.
Finally:
We don’t have unlimited resources. The limited resources we-do-have need to be used where they will do the most good. That is the only way to achieve an optimal solution.
Use your limited resources wisely, where they will do the most good. Don’t squander your precious resources foolishly by using them where they will have no beneficial result.
This principal is routinely violated in “education” where valuable money and teaching staff is totally wasted on those who can’t or will-not (refuse to) learn.....instead of being used wisely on those who can learn the most. The consequences of this foolishness are Catastrophic. Witness: some new orleans residents and the uncomprehending “minds” of most print and televised media.