Refugee ? - USM Forum -- Message Board

Date: Sep 23, 2005

Refugee ?

Date: Sep 23, 2005

Marx's cousin wrote:

In much the same way,USM faculty members are victims. They suffer under an exploitive administration that uses their labor to enhance capitalist profits.

Take if from me, cuz, the system you describe has existed at USM for quite a while. Something is seriously wrong with the academic environment here.

Date: Sep 23, 2005

Hopefully, you are just trying to bait some of the posters here and don't believe that Marxist Victimization Crap...Congrats on planting the seeds for an interesting thread...I can't wait to see responses to this one...

Date: Sep 24, 2005

ShirleyUGest wrote:

Hopefully, you are just trying to bait some of the posters here and don't believe that Marxist Victimization Crap...Congrats on planting the seeds for an interesting thread...I can't wait to see responses to this one...

Power to the People.The first step toward overcoming victimization is realizing you are a victim.

Date: Sep 25, 2005

Ah, yes. The rich conspire to control the weather and directed Katrina to New Orleans. Ridiculous. Plus, personification of natural disasters is getting pretty old.

Forget that poor residents of New Orleans have benefited from federal aid and have done little with it. Forget that New Orleans residents have failed to protect their children from gangs, drugs, and poor schools through their indifference to their declining society. Forget that the black mayor of New Orleans failed to properly carry out a hurricane action plan. Forget that the democratic governor of Louisiana failed to carry out the proper procedure (i.e., executing her own plan) to get federal aid more quickly. Forget that, if the mayor of New Orleans had his way, at least a couple of hundred thousand people would have been allowed back in New Orleans...just in time to get drowned by Rita's damage. By the way, don't ever forget that New Orleans survived Katrina quite well...until the levee system broke...whose responsibility is that? Try the City Government's.

The word "victim" connotes powerlessness. For most of those affected, they had the power to evacuate, to insure their properties ahead of time, to buy that flood insurance, to buy that loss of business insurance...yet many failed because of arrogance. Those affected built their houses on the proverbial sand rather than the rock. Should anyone really be surprised that the situation became unstable? The storm was bad, yes. We were powerless to stop its destruction, yes. However, we were not powerless to the extent that we can be called "victims" of Katrina. We may, however, be "victims" of our our pride.

Date: Sep 25, 2005

Weatherman wrote:

Ah, yes. The rich conspire to control the weather and directed Katrina to New Orleans. Ridiculous. Plus, personification of natural disasters is getting pretty old. Forget that poor residents of New Orleans have benefited from federal aid and have done little with it. Forget that New Orleans residents have failed to protect their children from gangs, drugs, and poor schools through their indifference to their declining society. Forget that the black mayor of New Orleans failed to properly carry out a hurricane action plan. Forget that the democratic governor of Louisiana failed to carry out the proper procedure (i.e., executing her own plan) to get federal aid more quickly. Forget that, if the mayor of New Orleans had his way, at least a couple of hundred thousand people would have been allowed back in New Orleans...just in time to get drowned by Rita's damage. By the way, don't ever forget that New Orleans survived Katrina quite well...until the levee system broke...whose responsibility is that? Try the City Government's. The word "victim" connotes powerlessness. For most of those affected, they had the power to evacuate, to insure their properties ahead of time, to buy that flood insurance, to buy that loss of business insurance...yet many failed because of arrogance. Those affected built their houses on the proverbial sand rather than the rock. Should anyone really be surprised that the situation became unstable? The storm was bad, yes. We were powerless to stop its destruction, yes. However, we were not powerless to the extent that we can be called "victims" of Katrina. We may, however, be "victims" of our our pride.

I love you Calvinists! With some personal responsibilty and hard work, anyone can be rich and President of these United States (or governor of Florida)!

BTW--major levee systems are regional if not national resources--municipalities do not have the taxbase, materials, and manpower to construct or maintain these systems. Blaming the "black" mayor of NO for the failed levees shows a lack of insight into the complexity of the problem. The mayor fell short in planning for a high probability catastrophic event, but not for a failure to erect better levees. But if you work harder and take more responsibility for your logic...

Date: Sep 25, 2005

GL and Weatherman are both right, in a kind of paradoxical way. New Orleans has reaped what it sowed, it has to take a lot of blame for its laizzez-faire indifferent attitude and its lack of concern for the corruption and criminal dealing which has always characterized its public life. However, it is also true that many of those hurt worst are not at fault. It's not as easy to become "not poor" as middle class people think it is. It's especially not easy in a town that will spend millions of dollars to throw a huge party and let its children go to school in nasty, un-airconditioned decaying buildings. NO has its charms, but it can be a depressing and demoralizing place to live.

It's also true that many, many middle and working class people both black and white (think New Orleans East, Gentilly and Chalmette particularly) were the hardest hit of all. 80,000 houses in Chalmette may have to be razed, and an equal number in Kenner.

There's enough blame to go around. This situation has festered for generations, under every sort and color of mayor and city leadership. This is a day we all knew would come.

Date: Sep 25, 2005

Try reading John M. Barry's Rising Tide -- interesting how history can teach us so many lessons, if we'd only pay attention to that liberal arts "fluff."

Date: Sep 27, 2005

The irony is that the levees are one reason that the south Lousiana marshes no longer buffer wind & water they way they once could. The problem: Bienville didn't listen to his engineer, who wanted to build the town somewhere else to begin with!

The big lesson of a hurricane like Katrina or Ivan or Camille or <INSERT FAVORITE HURRICANE HERE> is that there are places where humans ought not to set up anything resembling permanent habitation. For the most part, that's any place on the surface of the planet.

We are arrogant little monkeys when it all comes down to dust, aren't we?

Now, if y'all will excuse me, I need to start planning my NEW utility shed, which will be build a million times bigger & fancier than the old one

Date: Sep 27, 2005

and I also recommend John McPhee, The Control of Nature (at least I think that's the right title. It's been a while since I read it.) The section on the Corps' work in the Atchafalaya Basin is, I recall, quite a story of having a tiger by the tail.

Date: Sep 28, 2005

LVN wrote:

and I also recommend John McPhee, The Control of Nature (at least I think that's the right title. It's been a while since I read it.) The section on the Corps' work in the Atchafalaya Basin is, I recall, quite a story of having a tiger by the tail.

Correct, LVN. I keep several copies on hand, to dole out to anyone I can. The hurricanes will seem like just a warmup once the big Band-Aid called the Old River Control Structures falls off.