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September 01, 2005
The Big Queasy
The first half of this week, we saw the worst of Mother Nature. The latter half, we've seen the worst of human nature.
In 48 hours, New Orleans has become a living, oozing animation of The Lord Of The Flies. With conditions there appalling and frustration turning to desperation, the trappings of civilization have quickly fallen away, leaving man to his most primitive and savage nature. And the disintegration has called up some of my most primitive and savage emotions.
I've watched first in sadness, but then with increasing anger, the looting and disgusting conduct of those remaining in New Orleans. The argument that people were desperate and trying to survive held up so long as people were looting foor, water, blankets and shoes. But when people started stealing cameras and televisions, the people taking them became nothing more in my eyes than thugs and criminals, people with far less of my sympathy than they'd had just hours earlier.
When people began shooting at rescue helicopters, unleashing sniper fire on hospitals, raping women in the streets, setting fires in the Superdome and shooting Guardsmen there, my disgust turned to rage. You can't argue "survival" anymore -- shooting at rescuers, trying to kill people, rape, and arson aren't survival necessities, they're just criminals and the absolute bottom of society showing just how animal-like they can be, my thought went. And I have to admit to you, as awful as it is to say, there's a part of me that feels like these people aren't deserving of rescue -- that I don't want to give my money to people who've given themselves over to the most savage of human instincts. By the time I heard of the snipers firing on hospitals trying to evacuate the sick, I even started IMing friends:
Shoot. To. Kill.
I even made a few comments that perhaps we should have the Red Cross and FEMA stop everything, pull out, let them drown (since they sure seem to want to, firing on those trying to help them), let the flood waters wipe everything clean a la Noah, and save their money and resources for a rebuilding effort. Drop a bunker buster on the Superdome and let them play caveman if they wanted to. And never mind the arguments about race and class - those are flimsy attempt to excuse uncivilized behavior. New York has poor, and we're the most diverse city on the planet. On 9/11, no on rioted, no one looted, and no one shot at rescuers. New Yorkers of all classes and of every race of humanity drew together, not came apart at the seams. So part of me just doesn't want to even hear any argument trying to explain or excuse the behavior we've seen in New Orleans since Tuesday -- because they don't, uh, hold water.
But that's only part of me. Because I started thinking about the whole thing. And for starters, it's dangerous to generalize the entire remaining population on the actions of perhaps a quarter of them. More importantly, though, I started really thinking to myself about the answer to one question:
What if it were me?
What if it were you, Christopher, who was facing dehyrdration and hunger, who had been forced to sleep near backed up sewers, who'd just lost your home and possibly family members or pets, who'd watched flood waters continue to rise, who was running out of dry land, who had sat for four days in 90 degrees and 90 percent humidity, and who was probably at least somewhat physically sick from exposure to all the toxic sludge in the water? What if it were you, Christopher, who had been watching people die (literally) in front of you for days, and who had been made to sleep near the corpse of your loved ones? Now it's you who is dehydrated, hungry, sick, and perhaps mentally impacted from the last few days -- either from sleeping next to corpses, or from post-traumatic stress disorder. How do you react, Chris?
I can pretty much assure you that if I were of sound mind, I wouldn't be firing a gun at anyone who wasn't threatening me or my family; I wouldn't be raping anyone, or stealing more than I needed to live. I have to think I'd pretty much draw the line at making sure I had food at water. But that's if I were of sound mind. If I'd been through everything that the people in New Orleans have been since Monday, I don't know what kind of mind I'd be in... both mental illness and physically illness might be ravaging my system and impacting my judgement. Would I behave as savagely as what we've seen in New Orleans? I sure hope not. But I don't know for sure. I suspect that if you are really honest with yourself, you don't know for sure how you'd react either.
In the meantime, whichever side of the argument you fall, please don't forget that there are all kinds of people who are not looting or firing on rescuers... and they need our help. Please do what you can.
Comments
I have to believe that there is a very small percent of the population that are committing the types of crimes you have pointed out in your entry. I do believe that the government needs to step it up, secure the city (by force if necessary), and get the remaining people out of the city until the flooding can be stopped, the levees repaired, and the water pumped out. We are not even in the worst of Hurricane season yet. September is traditionally the worst month, with mide-September being the mid-way point in the season. If another hurricane hits that region, you are going to see a lot more death and destruction.
Posted by: Seadogs at September 2, 2005 11:49 AM
The residents of the South don't have to worry about hurricanes anymore: Dumbya will declare war on that incessant axis of natural evil: hurricanes, tornados and floods. Unfortunately, he's chosen to chase these natural scourges in Iraq.
Posted by: The SpinMD at September 2, 2005 01:49 PM
Society broke down completely in New Orleans. I think a big part of this was because FEMA was keeping help from coming into the city. Why? They felt if supplies came in then people would not leave. I saw a man on CBS news today from Jefferson parish that said that FEMA turned back two trucks full of water from Walmart. That they were calling everyone for help that they could think of but FEMA would NOT let the help in. The Coast Guard brought them fuel for generators but when they went to pick it up from the dock, FEMA turned them back. FEMA also had the communications line cut at their Sherriff's office. Then armed guards had to be posted after they re-connected the lines themself.
Checkpoints were set up outside town to keep people out AND people in. The excse for that was so that people weren't just wandering the country side, to make rescue when it finally came in easier. I hate to think just how many additional people suffered or died as a result of FEMA's misguided actions.
Posted by: Marine's Girl at September 5, 2005 04:02 AM
