The Smallness of Man

Looking again at my post from Monday, the tone seems too jovial - almost flippant - in the face of a terrible disaster. In my defense, at the time of my post the full extent of the destruction was not yet known. I did not mean to be disrespectful.

It seems like a long time ago since that post - the sights I've seen and the stories I've read since then are horrifying. This natural disaster is of a scale I am not able to grasp fully.

But it is the breakdown in the social order that is truly terrifying. I don't believe there is anything wrong with taking water, food, diapers or medicine in the face of the deprivation the poorest citizens in New Orleans now face. But the wanton looting of electronics, jewelry, clothes; the violence committed against the first line responders (police, guardsmen, paramedics); commandeering vans from nursing homes; breaking into hospitals - why? It's disgusting, horrible behavior.

And it really bothers me that every racist in America (and beyond) is looking at the images from New Orleans and saying 'see there - those n***ers are savages'. I actually know of someone who observed 'you can take the people out of the jungle, but you can't take the jungle out of the people'. That type of behavior is disgusting, too.

There will be plenty of time to evaluate the lessons from Hurricane Katrina, and there are millions of reasons to try to figure out how to be better prepared. Impressions just a few days into this tragedy include the smallness of man in the face of nature, and the importance of public officials respecting those they represent, honestly committing all their personal resources to their work. Public service should be a humbling privilege, not a narcissistic exercise in self-promotion.

The poor, suffering people of New Orleans appear to have been failed by those elected to represent them. Shame on them.