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Yes, It IS Your Problem
Sep. 1st, 2005 09:20 amI've already seen the posts going up on LJ; I'm sure that the letters to the editor will take only a few more days to hit print. "Why should federal taxes be used to clean up New Orleans - let Louisiana pay for it!" "Why should I pay because a bunch of people are too stupid to live above sea level?" "It's not my problem."
I could argue about the beauty and history of New Orleans and the surrounding area (although I've been there and agree with the guy who said "The air smells like sweatsocks and the sins of Bourbon Street are overrated.") But that's not going to loosen purse strings.
So I'll just pass on this data:
People are "stupid enough" to live in NOLA because that's where the work is! It has been a vital port town from Jefferson's day until now. According to the WaPo, "$49 billion in goods, 60 percent of U.S. grain exports, and 26 percent of the nation's natural gas supply and crude oil" go through that town every year. Think it's not your problem? Our petroleum production went down by a quarter, with the refineries still under water and unable to function for the near future. The pipelines servicing the East Coast from New Jersey on down have stopped functioning, and we don't know when they're coming back up.
Use oil? Gas? Eat grain? Have a hand in the nation's commerce? THEN THE TRAGEDY IN NEW ORLEANS IS YOUR PERSONAL PROBLEM. Pony up the taxes and donate some extra to the charities; FEMA's budget is down and the National Guard is elsewhere. It's up to us to clean up our mess and help our people.
And yes, it's up to US. U.S. The other "it's not my problem" whine I've been hearing is that it's time for all the countries we've sent aid to to pour it back to us because we're owed it.
Funny, I thought we gave aid to countries because we as a nation agree that helping people in need is the right thing to do. Because we could afford it, being one of the richest countries on the face of the Earth. And I thought that Americans got pretty pissed when other countries "meddled" in our affairs, since it seemed to say that we weren't capable of taking care of ourselves. (The Netherlands has apparently been offering us their "how to live below sea level" technology and had it turned down.)
Fortunately, that isn't actually going to stop the aid from coming. Of course it's going to come. It came on 9/11, and it's going to come now. But for everyone looking at their watches expecting the world to have already whipped out its collective wallet, remember that it took weeks for South Asia to take a look at the mess and say "here's what I need" and a few more weeks after that to get solid numbers from the other nations. Gonna take that amount of time for us, too.
Mind you, we don't get to bitch about the world not offering us aid if we turn up our noses at the people who do. Venezuela's already offered us oil and money. It might be in spite of or because of Robertson, but it's an offer of aid, so we can't claim we're being ignored. Britain, France, Germany, Switzerland, and China have sent messages of sorrow and support. We are not standing alone and ignored after all our efforts for others.
In the meantime, I'm looking for a solid list of reputable charities to post. When in doubt, Red Cross and Drs Without Frontiers.
I could argue about the beauty and history of New Orleans and the surrounding area (although I've been there and agree with the guy who said "The air smells like sweatsocks and the sins of Bourbon Street are overrated.") But that's not going to loosen purse strings.
So I'll just pass on this data:
People are "stupid enough" to live in NOLA because that's where the work is! It has been a vital port town from Jefferson's day until now. According to the WaPo, "$49 billion in goods, 60 percent of U.S. grain exports, and 26 percent of the nation's natural gas supply and crude oil" go through that town every year. Think it's not your problem? Our petroleum production went down by a quarter, with the refineries still under water and unable to function for the near future. The pipelines servicing the East Coast from New Jersey on down have stopped functioning, and we don't know when they're coming back up.
Use oil? Gas? Eat grain? Have a hand in the nation's commerce? THEN THE TRAGEDY IN NEW ORLEANS IS YOUR PERSONAL PROBLEM. Pony up the taxes and donate some extra to the charities; FEMA's budget is down and the National Guard is elsewhere. It's up to us to clean up our mess and help our people.
And yes, it's up to US. U.S. The other "it's not my problem" whine I've been hearing is that it's time for all the countries we've sent aid to to pour it back to us because we're owed it.
Funny, I thought we gave aid to countries because we as a nation agree that helping people in need is the right thing to do. Because we could afford it, being one of the richest countries on the face of the Earth. And I thought that Americans got pretty pissed when other countries "meddled" in our affairs, since it seemed to say that we weren't capable of taking care of ourselves. (The Netherlands has apparently been offering us their "how to live below sea level" technology and had it turned down.)
Fortunately, that isn't actually going to stop the aid from coming. Of course it's going to come. It came on 9/11, and it's going to come now. But for everyone looking at their watches expecting the world to have already whipped out its collective wallet, remember that it took weeks for South Asia to take a look at the mess and say "here's what I need" and a few more weeks after that to get solid numbers from the other nations. Gonna take that amount of time for us, too.
Mind you, we don't get to bitch about the world not offering us aid if we turn up our noses at the people who do. Venezuela's already offered us oil and money. It might be in spite of or because of Robertson, but it's an offer of aid, so we can't claim we're being ignored. Britain, France, Germany, Switzerland, and China have sent messages of sorrow and support. We are not standing alone and ignored after all our efforts for others.
In the meantime, I'm looking for a solid list of reputable charities to post. When in doubt, Red Cross and Drs Without Frontiers.
