I'm Just Sayin'

Last night, my wife and I were watching television. We had watched "K-ville" a couple of times and decided to watch again. The story line and the writing are so so, but the acting is pretty good. Nothing else was on anyway. As we watched the show, I was struck with the war zone like atmosphere still prevalent in many parts of New Orleans. The 'K" in K-ville stands for Katrina and the producers of the show use the stark landscapes regularly for location shots. The French Quarter and the repaired or undamaged parts of the city are used also, but the completely demolished and mostly demolished parts of the city are the images that haunt me. If New Orleans is rebuilt....when will that be accomplished and what will we really have?

Sin City is not a nick name of which a city should be proud, and it is not an exaggeration. New Orleans was, pre Katrina, one of the most dangerous places in the United States and it still is pretty damn dangerous. The murder rate was through the roof, number one in the U.S., and very few murderers were successfully prosecuted. It seems the gangs had developed a very efficient procedure with which they could insure an extremely low risk of imprisonment...they killed the witnesses. Generally, folks refused to cooperate with police. Also, the police force's legacy was one of corruption. It was a sorry ass excuse for a city....a cesspool of evil and lawlessness.

So...if New Orleans is rebuilt, what will we have? The Port of New Orleans is important to us for freight shipping and rail transportation. It's one of our busiest ports. It sits at the end of our biggest river. Transportation is the basis for the existence of New Orleans. The city is an exotic mix of cultures and history. Many people love the architecture and the heritage, the food and the atmosphere. But what about the poverty, the corruption, the vice and the fact that almost half of the city sits below sea level and is, by most estimations, sinking? The total area of New Orleans is about 48% water and some of the city is 10 feet below sea level. We aren't going to win this battle with Mother Nature. We can't build sea walls or levees strong enough..we can't install pumps big enough to hold off Mother Nature when she really lets loose. We are attempting to rebuild a doomed city. We can't say how long we can hold off the inevitable...should we try?

Even if we would end up with a beautiful, safe, inviting place....should we try? I'm reminded of the displaced farmer and family who have, for the third or forth time, lost their home to a mid-west flood. "What are your plans?" asks the T.V. reporter. "We're going to rebuild" they reply. "What the hell for?" I can't help but think, "are you people fucking nuts?". For arguments sake, let's say that you walk down an alley in your town and are mugged. The next time you walk down the same alley, you are mugged again. Do it again....same result. How many muggings will it take before you decide to use another route? How many floodings will have to happen before the farmer decides to rebuild in a different location? How many hurricanes will New Orleans have to endure and how much damage will have to be inflicted before somebody decides to rethink building a city below sea level in hurricane alley? And, many scientists believe the intensity and number of the hurricanes is increasing due to global warming.

What am I missing here? We made more progress rebuilding Europe after World War II than we have made rebuilding New Orleans in the same length of time.  It's been more than 2 years since Katrina. Under the Marshall Plan, most of Europe was rebuilt and in better shape than New Orleans is now or  will be in another 2 years or 4 years or more. Maybe we don't really want to rebuild New Orleans and we just won't admit it. If a white person says it...let's don't rebuild New Orleans, he will be accused of making a racist remark and reprimanded for obstructing the reconstruction of Mayor Nagin's "chocolate city". If a black person says it, he will be chastised for abandoning his brothers and sisters in their time of need. From a logical stand point, rebuilding only makes sense if the main effort is focused upon the economics of transportation. But, the emotional stand point is,  in this case, more powerful than economics. We will rebuild...if we can get it done before another category something hurricane wipes out the progress made.

I wouldn't stay in New Orleans....but I never would have been a citizen of New Orleans in the first place. Maybe that is why I don't get it...why I don't understand.