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Sept. 3, 2005 "Water, water everywhere, And all the boards did shrink. Water, water everywhere, Nor any drop to drink."
from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner What was the essence of New Orleans? Water. Water, the taker of life and the giver of life took more than it gave back. Who is at fault? Nature. No one can be blamed for a catastrophe created by Nature. It's easy to place blame. Blame the war. Blame the President. Blame the ozone layer. The real blame is Nature and man's frailties, man's inability to control the environment in which he lives. Looters? They can only be blamed for ignorance, but not all of them. If I, my wife, or any of my children were on the verge of dehydrating, I would be breaking down the doors of the nearest grocery store in search for that precious commodity we all take for granted, water. Water flows in our streets, our rivers, beneath our ground, and in the ocean. Yet, if one attempts to control the forces of Nature, i.e., building levies, damns, living below flood levels, the results are devastation. Will we learn from this? I doubt it. Talk of rebuilding The Big Easy runs profusely from the mouths of government leaders and citizens alike. Rebuilding a city beneath the sea level is mathematically incorrect. It is an error in judgment. Have we learned anything? I hope we have learned something.
Hopefully we have learned that the poor and lame always come in last. It has been apparent in this crisis. The poor, the sick, and the very young were victimized by man's frailties. You pick the frailties. You may choose the frailties of racism, classism, and poor communication. Make your own list. New Orleans was a lesson, but are we good students?
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