Thursday, September 01, 2005
Putting things in perspective
I've seen more than one person in the U.S. government suggest that the people caught in New Orleans without food, water or shelter were responsible for their plight in a way, since they refused to obey mandatory orders to evacuate. Are the people who make these sort of statements completely unaware of this concept known as poverty? Or is that they live in a universe where they don't have to come to terms with it? One of Josh Marshall's readers puts things in perspective.
Yes, it's hard to imagine the richest country in the world having this level of desperation-inducing poverty. But yes, this kind of poverty does exist and pretending otherwise doesn't make it go away.
The real question that needs to be asked is why the government did not provide buses or some such to help the poor (caught without cars or the money to buy gas) evacuate?
Lots of people in that area - the poor and the old and the sick - get checks from the goverment on the 1st of the month. They spend for the month with that money, so by the end of the month they are broke.
The storm hit on the 29th. Many people could not afford the $50 to fill their gas tanks to leave.
Yes, it's hard to imagine the richest country in the world having this level of desperation-inducing poverty. But yes, this kind of poverty does exist and pretending otherwise doesn't make it go away.
The real question that needs to be asked is why the government did not provide buses or some such to help the poor (caught without cars or the money to buy gas) evacuate?
