If a man gets stranded on a desert island, we wouldn’t blame him for hunting any wild animals he might come across, for eating raw meat and failing to clean himself for days at a time. We wouldn’t call him uncivilized or crazy for breaking a few social rules or acting a bit, dare I say, savage.
No wonder New Orleans has fallen into chaos.
Like a full-scale, real-life version of “Lord of the Flies,” the people of New Orleans are entering day five of this natural disaster and things are falling apart. Between the flood waters of varying depths covering what was once their city — and in most cases their homes — and the early-September Louisiana sun, the people of New Orleans have become residents of a deserted island. And that’s exactly how they feel: deserted and desperate.
They were promised escape from the death-entrenched, overcrowded, misery pot of the Superdome, but for most people, the buses never came. Many have been stranded in their homes since Monday without food or clean water. Some of them have lost family members; some of them have lost everything.
The desperation these people are feeling cannot be described — certainly not by a young college student 875 miles away, We cannot understand their situation, so we aren’t really in a position to judge their behavior.
That’s not to say their looting, shooting, raping, carjacking or murders are justified, just that we are in no position to criticise those who are stuck living more like jungle creatures than like humans.
Perhaps such descriptions and the emotional reporting of your trusty CNN staff are simply exaggerated efforts to paint pictures on insufficient canvases, but there is a sense of duty to represent to those who don’t understand the situation exactly what things are like there, what it’s like to be deserted.
The problem is, the one person who needs to be listening to this overly sympathetic rhetoric is the person who many feel has deserted the refugees: President George W. Bush.
Clearly, everyone underestimated this hurricane and the damage it could cause; everyone underestimated how dire the situation in New Orleans would become. Still, it’s the president’s job to react quickly and appropriately when a situation turns serious.
Miraculously, the president was able to find the funding when he wanted to send a bunch of boys to Iraq, but here at home nearly a week has gone by and even emergency services and local government officials have been complaining that the administration is not acting fast enough.
The president took two days to build up the courage to fly over the area in a helicopter, saying that from where he was “It’s devastating,” but that “It’s got to be doubly devastating on the ground.” Thanks for that sensitivity, and the ground-breaking insight. When it comes to a natural disaster on this scale, it’s that kind of help we need from our president.
Or maybe we need swift action and true dedication. If the Astrodome is closed, we need to find somewhere else to take them. If the buses and helicopters don’t feel safe going into the heart of the city, we need to send someone else. We need to get those people out of the sinking city, to save them from each other before anyone else has to die.
The $10 billion relief aid bill will be seen by the House today, but it should’ve been put into effect by Tuesday at the latest.
It’s no wonder the people in New Orleans feel deserted. It’s no wonder they’ve turned to desperate measures in this chaos. The only thing left to wonder about is how long it will take our country to help them.
Write to Krista at
kdquesenberr@bsu.edu
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