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it's just not that simple.
Sep. 1st, 2005 10:27 ami've heard people bitching about gas prices. i've heard people bitching about people bitching about gas prices. think of it though, it's true this tragedy should have those of us not directly affected not only counting our blessings, but also reaching out and considering those who are directly affected, thinking less about our own relatively trivial problems. but! the rising gas prices are going to affect EVERYONE. these people are having to rebuild, and on top of that, pay exorbitant prices at the pumps, IF they can find the gas. it's going to raise the price not only of gas, but of everything else. everything, folks. one of the main things the storm ravaged areas are needing is fuel for the generators. that's FUEL people. that is now steadily rising in cost. and people who do not have a lot of expendable cash but who want to help, like myself and i'm sure a few of you, now have that much less that they can contribute due to the effects, direct and indirect, of the rising gas prices.
i've seen people acting as if new orleans deserved it, i mean, why would anyone live in a place only made inhabitable by manmade contraptions? well, welcome to most of the world. the entire world is sustained by manmade contraptions, for ONE example, see above with the fuel. and in terms of this storm, i don't think anyone really expected it to be this bad. i know i didn't. but even if they did, is it really conceivable to completely prepare for something like this? i'm thinking no. from what i've seen, new orleans was reasonably ok until the levee broke. and they have been asking for federal help for years to make the levees stronger to no avail, thanks to the "war" in iraq. so this is what we're left with. it's no one's fault, and everyone could have done better.
i've seen people bitching about the looters. i can certainly understand looting for necessities, as i said. and, while i don't condone the violence and looting of televisions, carjacking, etc., i can't really judge those people. granted, once they shot at rescue people, it got harder for me to find compassion, but how can i possibly understand where those folks are emotionally and psychologically? most of the folks who are still there were trapped there. as i understand it, all routes out of the city were pretty much closed prior to the mandatory evacuation. and even if they had a way out, did they have the money? seems to me, most of the people there are from the low-economic sector. did they have money for bus tickets? if they did, did they have somewhere to go? did they have money for a hotel if they didn't have family or friends in safe areas? i can tell you right now, i am not really what is considered in the low-economic sector, but i wouldn't, at this moment, have the money to get out of alabama if i needed to. not even gas money at this point (see above). and these people, their homes are ALL-THEY-HAD. i'm sure their line of thinking is even if their home withstood the natural disaster, would it be looted? probably. and they'd have nothing. is having nothing better than death? i think so, but that's my opinion. from my life view. i suspect, even still, 98% of the people, if they could have left, they would have.
as i understand it, people are walking around dazed and lost, eyes glassy. sure, it's easy to judge from where we sit, but we have not endured what they are enduring. we cannot possibly know what they have been through in the past few days, nor the bulk of their lives. we can't possibly walk a mile in thier shoes. shoes they had to steal in order to even HAVE shoes.
sure, it's maddening that someone is shooting at officers and rescue helicopters, but who knows what kind of information they are getting? who knows what they are experiencing? who knows how much cognition they are working with at this point, with no power, no safe water, no home, no communication options, being met with guns pointed at them when they may be one of the people who are only taking what they need? maybe some have just_simply_lost it. and who's to say we wouldn't fare the same way under those circumstances? i'd like to think i would react differently, but, again, that's pretty easy to say from my air-conditioned, electrically powered, running watered, life-going-pretty-much-status-quo seat.
point is, nothing about this is simple.
i've seen people acting as if new orleans deserved it, i mean, why would anyone live in a place only made inhabitable by manmade contraptions? well, welcome to most of the world. the entire world is sustained by manmade contraptions, for ONE example, see above with the fuel. and in terms of this storm, i don't think anyone really expected it to be this bad. i know i didn't. but even if they did, is it really conceivable to completely prepare for something like this? i'm thinking no. from what i've seen, new orleans was reasonably ok until the levee broke. and they have been asking for federal help for years to make the levees stronger to no avail, thanks to the "war" in iraq. so this is what we're left with. it's no one's fault, and everyone could have done better.
i've seen people bitching about the looters. i can certainly understand looting for necessities, as i said. and, while i don't condone the violence and looting of televisions, carjacking, etc., i can't really judge those people. granted, once they shot at rescue people, it got harder for me to find compassion, but how can i possibly understand where those folks are emotionally and psychologically? most of the folks who are still there were trapped there. as i understand it, all routes out of the city were pretty much closed prior to the mandatory evacuation. and even if they had a way out, did they have the money? seems to me, most of the people there are from the low-economic sector. did they have money for bus tickets? if they did, did they have somewhere to go? did they have money for a hotel if they didn't have family or friends in safe areas? i can tell you right now, i am not really what is considered in the low-economic sector, but i wouldn't, at this moment, have the money to get out of alabama if i needed to. not even gas money at this point (see above). and these people, their homes are ALL-THEY-HAD. i'm sure their line of thinking is even if their home withstood the natural disaster, would it be looted? probably. and they'd have nothing. is having nothing better than death? i think so, but that's my opinion. from my life view. i suspect, even still, 98% of the people, if they could have left, they would have.
as i understand it, people are walking around dazed and lost, eyes glassy. sure, it's easy to judge from where we sit, but we have not endured what they are enduring. we cannot possibly know what they have been through in the past few days, nor the bulk of their lives. we can't possibly walk a mile in thier shoes. shoes they had to steal in order to even HAVE shoes.
sure, it's maddening that someone is shooting at officers and rescue helicopters, but who knows what kind of information they are getting? who knows what they are experiencing? who knows how much cognition they are working with at this point, with no power, no safe water, no home, no communication options, being met with guns pointed at them when they may be one of the people who are only taking what they need? maybe some have just_simply_lost it. and who's to say we wouldn't fare the same way under those circumstances? i'd like to think i would react differently, but, again, that's pretty easy to say from my air-conditioned, electrically powered, running watered, life-going-pretty-much-status-quo seat.
point is, nothing about this is simple.
