Posted on 09/30/2005 5:46:26 PM PDT by Taxman
Failure of an Idea—And a People
In his 1935 State of the Union Address, FDR spoke to a nation mired in the Depression, but still marinated in conservative values:
“Continued dependence upon welfare,” said FDR, “induces a spiritual disintegration fundamentally destructive to the national fiber. To dole our relief in this way is to administer a narcotic, a subtle destroyer of the human spirit.”
Behind FDR’s statement was the conviction that, while the government must step in in an emergency, in normal times, men provide the food, clothing and shelter for their families. And we did, until the war pulled us out of the Depression and a postwar boom made us, in John K. Galbraith’s phrase, The Affluent Society.
By the 1960s, America, the richest country on earth, was growing ever more prosperous. But with the 1964 landslide of LBJ, liberalism triumphed and began its great experiment.
Behind the Great Society was a great idea: to lift America’s poor out of poverty, government should now take care of all their basic needs. By giving the poor welfare, subsidized food, public housing and free medical care, government will end poverty in America.
At the Superdome and New Orleans Convention Center, we saw the failure of 40 years of the Great Society. No sooner had Katrina passed by and the 17th Street levee broke than hundreds of young men who should have taken charge in helping the aged, the sick and the women with babies to safety took to the streets to shoot, loot and rape. The New Orleans police, their numbers cut by deserters who left their posts to look after their families, engaged in running gun battles all day long to stay alive and protect people.
It was the character and conduct of its people that makes the New Orleans disaster unique. After a hurricane, people’s needs are simple: food, water, shelter, medical attention. But they can be hard to meet. People buried in rubble or hiding in attics of flooded homes are tough to get to. But, even with the incompetence of the mayor and governor, and the torpor of federal officials, this was possible. Coast Guard helicopters were operating Tuesday. There were roads open into the city for SUVs, buses and trucks.
While New Orleans was flooded, the water was stagnant. People walked through to the convention center and Superdome. The flimsiest boat could navigate.
Even if government dithered for days—what else is new—this does not explain the failure of the people themselves.
Between 1865 and 1940, the South—having lost a fourth of its best And bravest in battle, devastated by war, mired in poverty—was famous for the hardy self-reliance of her people, black and white.
In 1940, hundreds of British fishermen and yachtsmen sailed back and forth daily under fire across a turbulent 23-mile Channel to rescue 300,000 soldiers from Dunkirk. How do we explain to the world that a tenth that number of Americans could not be reached in four days from across a stagnant pond?
The real disaster of Katrina was that society broke down. An entire community could not cope. Liberalism, the idea that good intentions and government programs can build a Great Society, was exposed as fraud. After trillions of tax dollars for welfare, food stamps, public housing, job training and education have poured out since 1965, poverty remains pandemic. But today, when the police vanish, the community disappears and men take to the streets to prey on women and the weak.
Stranded for days in a pool of fetid water, almost everyone waited for the government to come save them. They screamed into the cameras for help, and the reporters screamed into the cameras for help, and the “civil rights leaders” screamed into the cameras that Bush was responsible and Bush was a racist.
Americans were once famous for taking the initiative, for having young leaders rise up to take command in a crisis. See any of that at the Superdome? Sri Lankans and Indonesians, far poorer than we, did not behave like this in a tsunami that took 400 times as many lives as Katrina has thus far.
We are the descendants of men and women who braved the North Atlantic in wooden boats to build a country in a strange land. Our ancestors traveled thousands of miles in covered wagons, fighting off Indians far braver than those cowards preying on New Orleans’ poor. Watching that performance in the Crescent City, it seems clear: We are not the people our parents were.
And what are all our Lords Temporal now howling for? Though government failed at every level, they want more government.
FDR was right. A “spiritual disintegration” has overtaken us.
Government-as-first provider, the big idea of the Great Society, has proven to be “a narcotic, a subtle destroyer of the human spirit.”
Either we get off this narcotic, or it kills us.
Author Unknown.
Thoughts? Comments?
Article is not terribly interesting because most of the "events" used to create a conclusion didn't happen!
For the sake of discussion, which ones would those be?
I think the only thing still on the list that no one has definitively disproved are the rape robots, but I could be mistaken.
The point the author was making, and it is a valid one, IMHO, is that the welfare mentality has lead to a breakdown in self reliance and in community.
There are documented stories of looting and gun battles. I do not know what the "rape robots" are.
While it is true that there were some gross and lurid exaggerations of the situation, the fact is that too many people sat around, did nothing to police themselves and waited for government to save them.
On the whole, I think the author has made his case that a "spiritual disintegration" was evident in New Orleans.
It was not evident in Alabama, Mississippi and Texas to any great degree, BTW. At least not that I know of.
By the way, thanks for your comments. Guess this topic is not of much interest to anyone tonight.
I'm interested because the author punched a few of my "the American society is on the verge of meltdown" buttons.
The real disaster of Katrina was that society broke down. An entire community could not cope.
Katrina was, in fact a disaster; however, it is inaccurate to say that "society broke down" or that "[a]n entire community could not cope".
The population of New Orleans before the Hurricane was abour 480,000 people. Most New Orleanians removed themselves from the city and from danger without having to be told to do so.
Only a relatively small segment of the New Orleans community failed to cope. That small segment of the community has been irretrievably broken down for generations. The Hurricane is not the cause of the underlying problems. It is merely the prism through which these chronic problems are now revealed.
One small element of the community failed to heed warnings for reasons known only to themselves. Some who took a chance on the hurricane "turning" at the last moment were caught off guard by unexpected flooding.
Many of those who remained in the city live marginal lives because of poverty, lack of education, drug abuse or some combination thereof. They have become dependent upon someone else [the nanny state] to make all their decisions and to provide for all of their needs. When there was an emergent situation, and no one was there to make their decisions, the helplessness of these people could no longer be concealed.
There are decent, worthwhile people in this segment of society. Many work to the extent of their ability and try to hold their families together. Many live in fear and are victimized by the criminal element in their midst -- sometimes by their own children.
It is society that has let these people down by making them helpless and dependent. May God forgive us.
Thank you for your comments.
It would be more correct to say that "certain elements of society or the community could not cope."
I did not post this essay to bash New Orleans. I love the place.
The author points out the reason that a "small segment of the community has been irretrievably broken down for generations."
Perhaps some good will come of it all, and those who remain and those who return to New Orleans will work together to end their government dependency -- dare I say "move off the plantation?"
The author points out the reason that a "small segment of the community has been irretrievably broken down for generations."
The author did not point this out. Those are MY words!
You may bash New Orleans if you wish. Its problems are insoluble. Many talented people who thought they would never leave New Orleans -- 100,000+ since 1960 -- finally abandoned the city and now live happy, productive lives elsewhere. I was part of that exodus and admit that I left a bit of my heart behind. I remember that one of those talented people said or wrote something like: "I drank up all the gin and moved to the mountains." Funny thing is that once one leaves one is unlikely to return. That does not bode well for the repopulation of the city.
We have a miscommunication -- I should have said that the author points out that the welfare mentality in New Orleans is responsible for the "small segment of the community has been irretrievably broken down for generations."
This is what "the author" said:
"The real disaster of Katrina was that society broke down.
An entire community could not cope. Liberalism, the idea that good intentions and government programs can build a Great Society, was exposed as fraud. After trillions of tax dollars for welfare, food stamps, public housing, job training and education have poured out since 1965, poverty remains pandemic. But today, when the police vanish, the community disappears and men take to the streets to prey on women and the weak."
This is what I said:
"Only a relatively small segment of the New Orleans community failed to cope. That small segment of the community has been irretrievably broken down for generations. The Hurricane is not the cause of the underlying problems. It is merely the prism through which these chronic problems are now revealed."
With all due respect, I think you are attributing my disagreement with "the author" to "the author" him/herself.
"[T]he author" states that "society broke down" and "[a]n entire community could not cope". The point I have tried, unsuccessfully, to convey is that it was not "society" and/or "[a]n entire community" that broke down and could not cope. Most of New Orleans functioned as it should have functioned -- by autokinesis. It was a relatively small segment of the population that was such an unmitigated disaster.
I am new to this and perhaps I just do not understand how to play the game; however, I believe we are posting at cross-purposes when we actually, probably, are in total agreement.
Welcome to the FRee Republic.
The purpose of my posting this article in the first place was to throw some fuel on the welfare mentality fire. The author identifies the reason that a segment of the society broke down -- the welfare mentality. I really don't think he/she was speaking to the entirety of the New Orleans population.
I was not disagreeing with you -- I think we do agree.
Slashing tax-funded "bum & deviate" and "mooch & sponge" programs is especially attractive given recent events. To do it will require dealing with some two-legged rats who get money from the wretched and depraved - I'll be willing to vilify (because they're truly vile) the subsidized housing and rent-to-own and pawn shop corpo-rats.
The stories of rape gangs, mass rioting, etc. were stories ~
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