The Levees You Have, Not the Levees You Need

This is from a post I made on Alternet.org, in response to some of the typical nonsense about... well, just read it. Some people somehow thought I was in earnest:


Frumkinlovesmoney [another poster] is right, you people. The American taxpayer can't be expected to do everything.

In a post under Katrina's Economic Impact, Frumkin tells us that New Orleans was (was?) a corrupt city with "one of the most corrupt police departments in the nation."

MY POINT EXACTLY! Why bother dispensing taxpayer dollars to shore up the levees when God, who hates a corrupt police department, is just going to flood the city anyway?

I say it's time for some PERSONAL RESPONSIBILTY here. Why didn't these people have their own equipment to deal with this? They knew they were living in a potential hurricane zone - why didn't individual households purchase their own medical supplies, heavy pumps, lifeboats, helicopters, levees, and so forth?

You want flood control, mister, go buy it yourself. Go down to Home Depot and say, Hello, I'd like to buy a flood control, and then get to work and earn the money to pay for it. You're worried about mosquito-borne disease? Don't expect a hand-out, get off your butt! Buy a can of Raid, rent a helicopter and spend your Saturday spraying the standing water.

You want to rebuild the wetlands that, until a few decades ago, shielded New Orleans from this sort of thing? Fill your trunk with sacks of potting soil and get to work. You want a war in Iraq? Pay for it yourself! Don't expect the American taxpayer to do everything.

And why should it be the *National* guard that deals with this. They're, correctly, busy guarding the nation in Fallujah.

This is a municipal issue, and as such it should be dealt with by the Municipal Guard. Or maybe the Inter-Municipal Guard.

If people were dumb enough have a corrupt police department in a hurricane zone, well, I say that whatever happens is their own damn fault!

How do you tackle these problems? Let the locals choose pay for their OWN issues, or not. It's YOUR responsibility, YOUR choice, and if you screw up, don't ask the American taxpayer for a hand out - just like we did with Iraq. You think Don Rumsfield would come looking for a hand out from the American taxpayer? No way.

That man shows tremendous stoicism and courage in the face of other people's pain and danger. Take a cue from him and show a little backbone. You go into a hurricane with the levees you have, not the levees you need.