"I couldn't possibly fail to disagree with you less."
25 November 2005Recurving the Crescent
I respectfully suggest that the impetus for restoring the City of New Orleans should not be centered upon bringing back to the city the folks who were forced to abandon it.
I hasten to add that if those folks want to return, great for them, and great for the city. Nonetheless, the point of all the billions of Federal dollars in aid should not be simply to bring 'em all back. The goal should be far more broadly defined. NOLA had more than its share of longstanding problems before Katrina. Among other issues, the crushing poverty, persistent violent crime, and the constant, low grade fever of official corruption combined to discourage old businesses to stay and new businesses to locate there. Newspaper stories from cities and towns where Katrina refugees relocated show that many of these folks are discovering how much better their lives could be if they stayed where they are now. Having now seen that the Big Easy's problems are not the norm everywhere else, most of these former residents are going to demand far more than levee repairs in order to be convinced to go back. With the exception of certain members of the parasite class, I don't think anyone wants New Orleans to go back to being basically Haiti with better restaurants. And I don't think everyone will go home: the population has been declining for years anyway — a net loss of twenty thousand people between 2000 and 2004, if the Census Bureau is figuring correctly — and it's reasonable to assume, based on this trend, that at least a few folks displaced by Katrina were getting ready to bail out of the Big Easy anyway.
However awful the devastation that hit New Orleans and the rest of the Gulf Coast, I'd be more comfortable with the recovery effort if the folks in charge openly recognized the situation for the opportunity it presents to clear up some of these systemic issues. If their plans and actions showed that they are making a genuine effort to improve the schools, the criminal justice system, and the business climate beyond the tourism industries, then plenty of Katrina's victims will be encouraged to return — and a lot of other hopeful people would join them.
F. Scott Fitzgerald once said that there were no second acts in American life, a piece of disinformation so profoundly at odds with the reality of American existence it's a wonder it hasn't been picked up as a campaign slogan. The scene is new, the old set has been struck. People want to see New New Orleans. If it's to succeed, there has to be some assurance that the new boss doesn't turn out to be the same as the old boss. And if that assurance isn't forthcoming, you may as well ring down the curtain and move the Mardi Gras to Topeka. (Mr. Schranck, a friend of long standing who turns 52 this week, also covers trivial matters.) Posted at 11:35 AM to Almost YogurtHappy Birthday! Posted by: Andrea Harris at 11:55 AM on 25 November 2005And you call it a Black Friday? Happy birthday, Chaz! Posted by: Tatyana at 5:00 PM on 25 November 2005That's what they said on the news, anyway. One young woman from the flood showed up here (just outside NYC) for Thanksgiving. She's a Noo Yawka now. She's not going back. One accounted for... Posted by: Mister Snitch! at 10:51 PM on 25 November 2005 |