Author Joseph Boyden gets it. The story of New Orleans connects people of different countries and ethnicities, the way he sees it. This stands in stark contrast to this blogger and his recent post. It's not only about recovery, it's also about identity.
I will buy Boyden's book and read it because he gets it.
Some people are jerks. They will never get what happened in New Orleans. Because they don't want to. Someone is sticking up for us, and I will stick up for him.
We are all in this together. I thought that after 9/11/01, and I think that now. If one of us is suffering, we are all suffering whether we know it or not. I hope more folks start knowing it.
Hooverism
-
A few months ago I posted some notes on a couple of semi-recent books, one
of which was *Ages of American Capitalism *by Jonathan Levy. One of the
main...
4 days ago
1 comment:
Some people see what happened only through the prism of their own prejudices.
I don't know why the most virulent of red state types feel it necessary to 'pile on' our misery, but I think it has to do with the fact that they don't like taxes, they don't like government and they expect this example of 'government failure' to turn us all into libertarians, instead they see us screaming until we are deaf about justice and equity.
The invisible hand is not engaged in situational justice, it is a belief in a morality of cumulative efficiency, not justice. By this logic, it would be vastly better for the insurance companies to keep their profits, pay no claims and 'invest' in the economy. Afer all, 'greed is good'. Except the insurance company is the feds, the levees were built by the feds, and many people lost more than the federal insurance monopoly would allow (either as renters, or those who lost more than the $250,000 maximum policy)
The tension here is Locke vs. Hobbes. These dumbass red state types that want us to 'suck it up' are happy with the injustice because they like the present Leviathan (Bush and the taxcutting, free spending, and warmongering neocons) of the moment so much, they don't want it t go away, even if it must fail and be impeached. Teh last thing they want to hear is a messy social contract argument with the premise of equity to get in the way of their agenda.
Of course, the Levithan today is immune to courts of equity. Try though Joe Bruno might, (and though Stanwood Duval might rule) the basic legal/political assumptions at this point are that New Orleanians are on our own. Humpty Dumpty is not going back together.
So all we can do is shame them into showing their racism, their ignorance, and their fears.
Post a Comment