Theos-Talk Archives (September 2005 Message tt00087)

I have read the various postings concerning Hurricane Katrina and the Gulf 
Coast region with interest. I wish to offer a few observations.

1) Daniel Caldwell and Paul Johnson are agreeing with each other. 
Hopefully it can be built upon for the future.

2) My sense of things is that the "first responders" were slow to respond. 
As Bart and David have noted, the first responder role is one that is 
traditionally and constitutionally filled by state and local government. 
That we automatically blame the President of the United States because 
residents of New Orleans, Louisiana are without food and water for 5 days 
says much about how our country has evolved since 1776. In time, I suppose 
there will be little reason left for state, parish, and city governments of 
the people and for the people. Certainly no reason for individual self 
reliance and responsibility.

3) There are probably many reasons for the apparent slow start to the rescue 
and recovery operation, but I doubt seriously that one of them was the fact 
that the vast majority of victims were black. I think that folks would have 
to be succumbing (perhaps on an unconscious level) to their own deep-seated 
hatred for the Bush Administration to play the race card in a situation like 
this. Hatred is no respecter of race. Some folks hate Bush as much as they 
believe he hates blacks.

4) I live in Georgia and our county has already sent law enforcement 
personnel and emergency supplies into the area. Most of the state and local 
governments in the region are responding in a similar manner. The outpouring 
of support at the local level is encouraging. Why, as a nation of 
individuals, do we constantly look to Washington DC to do those things that 
we could do for ourselves?

5) There will be other disasters.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bart Lidofsky" <bartl@sprynet.com>
To: <theos-talk@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Saturday, September 03, 2005 3:09 PM
Subject: Re: Theos-World Big Daddy, Victimhood and New Orleans


> david-blankenship@comcast.net wrote:
> > The mind set that looks to Washington first and never blaming the
> > victim for at least some of his problems is anathema to both the
> > American character and Theosophy. Both first assume the citizen or
> > the soul should take personal responsibility for his own destiny.
> > Most of the remaining New Orleans' citizens did,or were forced to do,
> > this and were waiting for relief to arrive. Some were sleeping on
> > the ground because no housing was available.
> The responsibility goes largely on the shoulders of the corrupt
> Louisiana and New Orleans government, who were required, by law, to have
> an evacuation plan or let the U.S. government know that they didn't have
> one, so that the U.S. government would be prepared to move in.
>
> Bart
>
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> Yahoo! Groups Links
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