New Orleans: The Project of the New American Century
This article in the Boston Globe today discusses how the reconstruction of New Orleans will be grounded on conservative principles. Among them are school vouchers, waiving the prevailing wage law, and weakening clean-air laws. The reason they use is to rebuild the city as fast as possible. There is a lot wrong with this whole approach. Firstly, there is no reason that rebuilding New Orleans should be a rush job. Of course, it is important to get the people back to their home city, but rushing such a massive reconstruction unlike any we have seen in recent memory would leave far too much room for careless errors. Democrats argue Republicans are using the reconstruction effort as a political opportunity, which seems to be the case if they want to do this as quickly as possible, as opposed to doing it as diligently as possible to ensure the safety and prosperity of the city once it is resurrected. As for school vouchers, say what you will. It would divert money from public schools, but this is a reconstruction, and honestly, I am willing to see something different tried here. However, weakening clean-air standards is a bad move. The city is already in a state of pollution with oil from cars and homes floating around the streets, dead bodies, waste and trash floating in the streets for days as well. Within days the city became a giant cesspool. It will take a massive environmental cleanup before that city could ever inhabit people again; I cannot understand how lowering environmental regulations can be any part of the solution here. Nor is repealing the prevailing wage law. I would imagine that it will take many people from the area working to rebuild their city. These people should be given hope and they should be inspired to partake in what could be quite possibly the greatest reconstruction we will ever have witnessed in our lifetime. If Bush is so hellbent on sticking to his idelogy and not doing what is truly best for the people, let him. Surely the media will let him have it, they love to do that. But I would issue a moral challenge, if you will, to any contractor who partakes in this: pay all of their workers at least $3 more than the minimum wage. Since Lousiana does not have a set minimum wage, let us set the threshold at $8.15- the federal minimum wage is $5.15. What is wrong with giving the people a respectable wage? Surely these contractors will be getting more money than they will know what to do with from the government.
While the Republicans are optimistic and are bringing forth ideas about the city's reconstruction, those are some of the things I wish they would do differently. Everyone should set aside their ideology and do what is best for the people of New Orleans. An example of what that is not is Rick Santorum; when he says that the city's conditions were a result of liberal policies, he contributes to everything that this should NOT be about. The people already know that they cannot count on him for anything other than him saying something ridiculous and he has rapidly become the mellowed-out version of Howard Dean. As for the Democrats, instead of just disagreeing with the Republicans and throwing accusations, they need to bring forth some of their ideas, they have yet to be heard. There really is a lot to be proven here; a majority of the people in this country lack faith in our government. While we have been trying overzealously to be the leading example in the world, our government has been rendered the ultimate challenge: to prove to its own people that they can actually work together and provide for the common good. They need to rally the country around this project, be optimistic, do not be so quick to issue blame but be quick to offer solutions. With that, perhaps we will regain some respect and credibility in the world. New Orleans is more than the reconstruction of a city or a study in geography, it is America's incomplete metaphor for the 21st century. Through this ordeal and project, the people will see the direction we are truly headed in. This is so incredibly difficult and unlike anything I will ever see in my lifetime, save for the tsunami. But if we cannot ultimately take care of our own and help them get their lives back together, how can we try and fix problems all over the world? Not just America, but the entire world, will be watching.
While the Republicans are optimistic and are bringing forth ideas about the city's reconstruction, those are some of the things I wish they would do differently. Everyone should set aside their ideology and do what is best for the people of New Orleans. An example of what that is not is Rick Santorum; when he says that the city's conditions were a result of liberal policies, he contributes to everything that this should NOT be about. The people already know that they cannot count on him for anything other than him saying something ridiculous and he has rapidly become the mellowed-out version of Howard Dean. As for the Democrats, instead of just disagreeing with the Republicans and throwing accusations, they need to bring forth some of their ideas, they have yet to be heard. There really is a lot to be proven here; a majority of the people in this country lack faith in our government. While we have been trying overzealously to be the leading example in the world, our government has been rendered the ultimate challenge: to prove to its own people that they can actually work together and provide for the common good. They need to rally the country around this project, be optimistic, do not be so quick to issue blame but be quick to offer solutions. With that, perhaps we will regain some respect and credibility in the world. New Orleans is more than the reconstruction of a city or a study in geography, it is America's incomplete metaphor for the 21st century. Through this ordeal and project, the people will see the direction we are truly headed in. This is so incredibly difficult and unlike anything I will ever see in my lifetime, save for the tsunami. But if we cannot ultimately take care of our own and help them get their lives back together, how can we try and fix problems all over the world? Not just America, but the entire world, will be watching.
posted by DM at 10:42 PM
6 Comments:
What ever happened that that most favored plank in the conservative platform, "states' rights"? Why can't the republican feds allow the locals to determine how they want to live according to their own community standards? Or is this another republican devils deal: the feds will help them rebuild if they promise to turn New Orleans into a super walmart with a statue of Pat Robertson in front.
The article is about how the reconstruction will proceed, not about how the locals will live once that is accomplished.
Good article, CH!
-Jack
Sean - "The article is about how the reconstruction will proceed, not about how the locals will live once that is accomplished." Really? That's not what this quote from the article implies:
"The conditions that people were living in I would argue were a result of liberal policies," Santorum said. "And now we've got some alternative ideas -- give us an opportunity to try to positively impact the lives of the poor in these communities... Let's try something different that may work, because what has been tried in the past hasn't worked."
The Repukes never stop at the "rebuilding" stage. They are like Gila Monsters. Once their teeth are in, they are in for the duration.
My mistake. I thought CH had posted the entire article, so I didn't follow the link.
Yeah, my first ever post to the sight was a novella. My bad. Either way, pretty interesting stuff going on here.
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