Joanna
-------------- Original message ----------------------
From: Dennis Claxton <ddclaxton at earthlink.net>
> At 11:34 AM 1/24/2008, you wrote:
>
> >They gave us Katrina relief; now they're going to fix the economy.
> >
> >Joanna
>
>
> But there was no intention to fix New Orleans. That wasn't simple
> incompetence, it was to some degree managed negligence.
>
>
>
> Catastrophic economics
> The predators of New Orleans
> Mike Davis
>
>
> >Not surprisingly, some advocates of a whiter, safer city see a
> >divine plan in Katrina. "We finally cleaned up public housing in New
> >Orleans," a leading Louisiana Republican confined to Washington
> >lobbyists. "We couldn't do it, but God did" (13). Nagin boasted of
> >his empty streets and ruined neighbourhoods: "This city is for the
> >first time free of drugs and violence, and we intend to keep it that way."
>
>
>
> >...if New Orleans, as many bitter exiles now believe, was allowed to
> >die as a result of governmental incompetence and neglect, blame also
> >squarely falls on the Governor's Mansion in Baton Rouge, and
> >especially on City Hall on Perdido Street. Mayor C Ray Nagin is a
> >wealthy African-American cable television executive and a Democrat,
> >who was elected in 2002 with 87% of the white vote (3).
> >
> >He was ultimately responsible for the safety of the estimated
> >quarter of the population that was too poor or infirm to own a car.
> >His stunning failure to mobilise resources to evacuate car-less
> >residents and hospital patients, despite warning signals from the
> >city's botched response to the threat of Hurricane Ivan in September
> >2004, reflected more than personal ineptitude: it was also a symbol
> >of the callous attitude among the city's elites, both white and
> >black, toward their poor neighbours in backswamp districts and
> >rundown housing projects. Indeed, the ultimate revelation of Katrina
> >was how comprehensively the promise of equal rights for poor
> >African-Americans has been dishonoured and betrayed by every level
> >of government.
>
>
> http://mondediplo.com/2005/10/02katrina
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ___________________________________
> http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk