at dinner yesterday, my girlfriend and i overheard a group of people discussing the inevitable pointing of fingers in the aftermath of katrina.
then i realized that pointing fingers and blaming various people for the breakdown of all semblance of civilization is ridiculous. all of these discussions are moot. shit happened. there were things within human control (and many of which that weren't - like, you know... THE AWESOME AND UNCONTROLLABLE and yes **UNPREDICTABLE** FORCE OF NATURE - the storm surge in this storm was two meters higher than camille, which hit as a category 5), but the chips fell the way that they did. we're at point "Z," and going back to point "A" is impossible. pointing fingers, blaming authorities (local and federal), blaming residents, and blaming engineering is a useless waste of energy. people are fallible and not always reasonable. it's a fact of life. it is also a fact of life that nature is a beast and can scatter us like ants.
new orleans (and many other places on the gulf coast) is currently a huge sewer, and all the finger pointing in the world is not going to bring it back to its mardi gras, cocktail-swigging, bacchanalian, cultural mecca glory.
hindsight is always 20-20, but dwelling on the past isn't going to help. people are in dire need of assistance *right now*.
we must move forward, and this means: rescue (now) and rebuild (in the long run). so let's see what we can do now, shall we?
a guest on channel 2 mentioned that money for relief efforts is needed immediately. sending things like diapers, food, and water will not be as helpful as donating directly to charities - it will take days for supplies to reach their designated recipients, but if you use a credit card, the money will hit the coffers immediately. and those relief organizations that are already there can use that money to buy much-needed supplies.
The Red Cross website is still jammed on occasion, so pick up your phone:
Call 1-800-HELP-NOW
(1-800-435-7669)
[If the automated system is the same as it was yesterday, choose "4" rather than "1": "4" goes directly to the 2005 hurricane relief fund.]
for those of you who want to turn this situation into a sociopolitical debate, please stop. we can't control what the government or what other people do (or say), but we can take control of our own actions, and we as private citizens (especially if we are frustrated by the government response or other people's lack of concern) can pick up the phone and make a donation - and encourage others to help in any way they can.
bloggers, log your contributions here. as you can see, bloggers from all over the political spectrum have logged in. now is not a time to blame bush/republicans or scream "personal responsibility" at those who have lost everything. [link from ang's weird ideas]
2 comments:
um... i think not. we're going to have to disagree here. there are NO excuses for the absence of a coordinated evacuation effort to help people who COULDN'T LEAVE. i, for one, am going to finger point the hell out of myself, and i'm personally not in the mood for a round of kumbaya around the campfire, and wise headed nodding at 'human nature'.
everything is just SOOOOOO unpredictable. i mean, shit, who would have imagined that a storm the size of fucking texas was just going to graze the gulf coast, and all would be well.
i call bullshit. without the finger-pointing, nothing will improve. this was about race and class, and it's really convenient for people who don't face those barriers to tsk tsk about the 'nastiness' of making this a political issue.
i'm not suggesting we sing kumbaya at the campfire. i'm suggesting we ignore the assholes and see what we can do to help. yesterday, i started yammering off on bad engineering and stubborn people, but really, none of that helped anyone. and i realized that i was becoming one of the assholes. so i stopped.
that being said, the most important thing right now is to help those in need. this is the exact opposite of "kumbaya": it's called "move your asses. now." there might be a colossal asshole in the white house with a colossal asshole administration, but there are non-asshole private relief organizations that need emergency funds. i say bypass the assholes; that's my priority at the moment.
and we can also shame the large corporations who haven't ponied up yet by writing letters and embarrassing them on the internet. :)
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