[Mb-civic] FW: Interesting Commentary

[Michael Butler]

------ Forwarded Message
From: "Suzanne Peika" <suzannepeika at msn.com>
Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 19:34:46 +0000
To: michael at michaelbutler.com
Subject: FW: Interesting Commentary




>
>Subject: Interesting Commentary
>
>
>What's really behind the chaos in New Orleans
>
>Back in the 70's, my wife, baby daughter, and I lived in Goodna,
>Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane.
>
>We were young and inexperienced and like most couples our age lived pretty
>much hand to mouth. It was a struggle to make ends meet. Any savings we had
>went as a down payment on the home we were buying. Once a week my wife went
>shopping and bought the food and supplies we would need the following week.
>
>  ! Like the Southeastern United States, the area we lived in was
>subtropical and prone to cyclones (same as hurricanes). One day a cyclone
>approached our area. It wasn't a big one as cyclones go, so we weren't too
>concerned. We figured 6-12 hours of high winds and all would be back to
>normal. Except things didn't go exactly according to plans. The cyclone
>moved in over top of us and hit up against another pressure front and
>stopped dead. And there it sat for two days. Not too much wind but oh did
>it rain. An inch an hour for 48 hours. That's right - we got nearly four
>feet of rain.
>
>Now Brisbane is built on the Brisbane River, not an impressive river as
>rivers go - only a few feet deep and a hundred feet wide in the western
>suburbs where we lived. At least during normal times. Four feet of water
>over several hundred square miles is one hell of a lot of water. Trust me
>on that one - I've seen it. And all of that water all had to get to the sea
>via the Brisbane River. During the night, our little Brisbane River rose
>and rose. The police were magnificent. They woke people up and evacuated
>thousands of homes during that long night. Only two people drowned in our
>area - residents of a mobile home park whose trailer was swept away. The
>police commandeered trucks and backed them up to the local grocery store
>and  loaded all the food and necessities, drove them to high ground and
>parked them.
>
>  By mid morning the river was 60 feet deep and three miles wide. We lived
>on a hill so we weren't submerged. When you walked over the crest of the
>hill and looked down into the valley where there was once a highway,
>railroad line, shopping centers, and thousands of homes you were stunned
>into silence. All you could see was water everywhere. No electric poles, no
>roof tops, nothing. Everything was under water.
>
>  We took stock of our situation - it wasn't good. The flood came on our
>weekly shopping day so the house contained very little food. We had some
>candles and a flashlight. Nothing else. There was no electricity or water.
>Fortunately it was warm weather.
>
>We were in stunned disbelief. So were our neighbors. However, we decided we
>had better quickly organize ourselves. We knew we were going to be isolated
>and without water or power for some time. We started collecting all the
>rain water we could. Without it we were screwed. We dismantled and
>reassembled a non-mortared barbecue under our carport. We started
>collecting all the firewood we could find. We assessed the food situation.
>Some people had full freezers. We separated what we could eat over the next
>several days and dug pits and buried the rest. Everyone shared what they
>had without a single word of what came from whom.
>
>Needless to! say we survived - and in good shape. The R.A.A.F flew some
>food supplies in (especially fresh bread that the local prison was baking
>and fresh, unpasteurized milk from local farmers.) by helicopter. In fact I
>look back on those days with some fondness. Our carport became the hub of
>the neighborhood. At night we would just sit around the fire and talk.
>
>The thousands of people who were displaced didn't go to refugee camps. They
>went into the homes of those not flooded - sometimes friends or relatives,
>often strangers. Nobody forced you to take in another family, everyone just
>did it.
>
>Hundred! s of millions of dollars was raised throughout Australia. The
>relief agencies didn't screw around with the money either. As soon as the
>water receded in a weeks time, they set up centers in every hamlet. Anyone
>who was submerged was given an initial $4,000 in CASH to tide them through.
>More came later. Was there some abuse? A few instances but not many and the
>there was follow-up to deal with that.. Was there any looting? Virtually
>none.
>
>What does this have to do with New Orleans? Plenty.
>
>Why didn't the people in the Superdome make any effort to organize
>themselves? Why didn't groups of men patrol the restrooms to prevent rapes?
>
>We have gone a long way in the past 40 years to creating a dysfunctional
>society where self reliance, pride in one's self and a sense of right and
>wrong are no longer esteemed or even valued.
>
>We have allowed our government and media to say to people that you are not
>at fault for what you do. You are victims, little children who can't look
>after yourselves.
>
>  We have told our minorities that everything that! goes wrong is the
>result of racism. That you cannot succeed in a racist society.
>
>  We have told the dysfunctional that we will look after you no matter how
>egregiously you act.
>
>We have excused crime saying that poverty creates crime, when we all
>instinctively know that it is the crime that creates poverty.
>
>We have told young women that it is okay to have babies without fathers.
>There is no stigma attached - in fact if you have a baby we will shower you
>with money and benefits so you can move out of your parent's house and have
>even more babies. Even if this guarantees your babies will be raised in
>poverty.
>
>We have told young men that it is okay to father as many children as you
>can. The government will assume the father's traditional role and look
>after the mother and "babie daddies."
>
>And most importantly, we have called morals old fashioned and judgmental.
>What right does society have to say that something is right or wrong?
>
>And what have we gotten for this? (not to mention the $1 trillion we have
>spent on the poor) Citizens who, at the first sign of trouble, stand around
>bewildered. You see it on the news. Faces screaming, "Help me!", "Tell me
>what to do!"
>
>God help us. We're reaping what we sowed.
>
>
>
>
>Breathe in your blessings; breathe out your prayers.
>
>
>
>Yahoo! for Good
>Click here to donate to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.

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