Let's not get our panties in a bunch that people are stealing things. First off, if things continue in the manner that they are going, then all of the stuff being stolen is going to be underwater anyhow.
Let's also think for a moment that the people who find themselves in New Orleans are there for simple reasons. Society failed them.
They are mostly black and poor and most of them did not have the ability to evacuate New Orleans. Perhaps they didn't have transportation or money. Some were disabled; some didn't get going in time.
The Hurricane goes through and most of them have lost everything they own to an act of God. They have no electricity, no clean water, no jobs, no possessions and no immediate help. Most of them have no hope.
The looting you're seeing is a reaction to having lost everything and having your world radically changed for the immediate future. They have nothing. That all of the stuff is going to be underwater allows them to rationalize the looting. Why should some clothes and some toys for you kids be allowed to sink to the bottom of Lake New Orleans because it’s wrong to steal? Insurance claims are going to be filed on the items regardless.
We could have stopped it with National Guard troops. You remember those guys. They train 1 weekend a month and 2 weeks a year to assist us with the defense our homeland, whether from people or nature. They do it out of a sense of community. They're your friends and neighbors. They’re Citizen Soldiers and they’re here to protect you.
Except when they’re fighting a war of choice in Iraq.
The reality is that the National Guard should have been in there getting people out before the storm hit. The National Guard should have been back there coordinating the rescue and relief efforts. They should have been working to shore up the levies and reinforcing any weak spots. They should have been getting people the food and water they need. They know what they're doing in situations like this and they're good at it.
They weren't available though, because so many of them are in Iraq. When choosing to fight what was so clearly a war of choice, President Bush, who so often opines about keeping America safe, has left our country in a position where it cannot defend itself from neither man nor nature.
The water is still rising in New Orleans. More people are going to drown. The death toll will rise. People will want an explanation.
When the citizen soldiers of Louisiana and the rest of the nation should have and most certainly wanted to be home to do whatever was necessary to help defend and protect their fellow citizens, they find themselves in a never ending quagmire in the desert. They find themselves the constant target of attack and far away from home.
I cannot myself comprehend what must be going through the minds of those who would have been the first responders... The citizen soldiers of New Orleans and the surrounding area can only have heavy hearts at the site of their home city destroyed and their friends and neighbors sitting on roofs hoping to be rescued before the water washes them away from their homes and into an uncertain fate.
Imagine yourself there right now. Sitting on a roof. It’s hot. Muggy. Water is all around you and it’s rising. There are no lights. No traffic noise. Nothing. Just darkness and uncertainty. You hear the water moving around your home. You have questions. Will the other levies break? Will the houses foundation hold? Will the water rise above the roof before someone comes to get me? You have no cell phone. You have no television. No electricity. No food. No Water. No internet. All forms of communication are cut off. All you can do is wait.
I pray for those trapped in New Orleans, and when everything that can be done to rescue and save those who need is accomplished, I pray the nation will stop to consider our path in the world, and ask ourselves what really makes us safe.
Bush and his elective war hold much responsibility in the events of the past few days. Maybe when he returns to work tomorrow, after finally cutting his vacation short, someone can read him a memo telling him how bad he screwed us.
Sleep tight, Georgie Poo.
-The Oklahoma Hippy
