OT: New Orleans (VERY long!)

I believe this is a case where we are seeing history re-written before it even has a chance to become history!

Some journalist in Florida.

Pat P

Best wishes

Ericka

They`ll soon find some reason to sack them!

Pat P

I imagine that, although it IS a generalisation, most people with a brain-cell would take it as read that the GENUINE welfare claimants were not included in the statement.

Pat P

And I have pointed out that there are more than a very few. Neither of us has actually "proven" this, one way or the other. Neither of us has to justify anything. You and others who have posted agree with Ericka and feel I am harsh and unsympathetic. Fine -- that's nothing new. In broad, general terms, I feel that the bad people had an advantage over the others because they (the others) were not used to taking decisive action in caring for themselves. Our whole society has become one of waiting for someone else (be it some level of government, industry or even a home owners association) to solve whatever problems happen to crop up. What I find rather strange is the number of people who think that the poor wouldn't have the resources to stockpile several days worth of food and water when they know a natural disaster is near. I am even more mystified at the number of people who are mortified that I should even THINK people might be capable of walking away from the horror they ended up living in! If they didn't have the food and water to take with them, it was readily available after the storm. If it's harsh and insensitive to wonder why these people didn't try to get away or protect themselves then I am harsh and insensitive! The whole thing was "mob mentality" at its worst. The mob just happened to become one of sheep.

Hopefully she`ll soon be moving much nearer to town and can get herself off welfare. She`s raised four boys practically single-handed, all of whom have done well and are working, paying their taxes etc., and are independent - and never, ever, been in trouble with the law.

What I mean by telling you this is that she`s TRYING to get off that treadmill. Too many in a far more comfortable position than she is just sit back and let it all come to them. There are certain areas, even in our quite "respectable" little town, where these "parasites" are provided with housing and money, and still steal, deal in drugs, and generally make themselves a nuisance - and that`s just the tip of the iceberg compared with some places!

So I quite believe that the same situation and "parasites" exist in N.O!

Pat P

Regardless of how you feel about "W", the President (and this means any President) couldn't mobilize military personnel until the State authorities ask for the help. Pick a recent President you have liked more than "W" (or disliked less since) and it would have been the same for him during his presidency.

I bet they aren`t, if it`s anything like here! Human nature is more or less the same wherever you are!

Pat P

> I registered so that I could read this very timely article. Here's > another one for all of you who think those of lessor means are just lazy > bums:>

> Dianne

That`s another generalisation, Dianne - we`re all guilty of them, of course. I don`t think ANYONE thinks that ALL those of lesser means are just lazy bums - but one hell of a lot of the fit ones are!

Pat P

Florida, where Governor Jeb Bush is the President's brother. I wonder--

Lucille

The hurricane was over as was the massive flooding.

I`m sorry to say that we have the highest percentage of teenage and unmarried mothers in Europe - and they don`t even (usually) stop at one (back to the parasitic government funded ones again). Heaven help future genealogists!

Meanwhile the world is dying because of overpopulation. Now I see that there is going to be a food problem in Southern Africa this year. There will be more appeals for us to dip our hands in our pockets, but I bet there aren`t any appeals for birth control in some form!

Pat P

How do you know who was looting and who wasn't? Were you there? Did you interview them?

Yes, that was one of the points of the article. However, I did not see the article make the distinction that you are making between Welfare parasites and Welfare recipients in general. That article condemned the welfare state as a whole and all recipients, as far as I could tell.

How do you know what they feel? Have you interviewed them? Do you have access to sociological surveys that reveal their attitudes? How do you know which recipients fit which profile? Again, I didn't see the article making any such distinction anyhow.

Elizabeth

Pat P wrote: ....... That`s another generalisation, Dianne - we`re all guilty of them, of course.

We should just let it go, Pat -- people DO NOT want to give any credence to this stand. Face it, the group has spoken and WE are wrong! Are you sufficiently chastened and apologetic for thinking there are more Welfare Parasites than the "studies" show? I didn't think so -- neither am I -- LOL!

Let's just be very clear that a lot more Jews perished in the pogroms in Russia and Poland and other places than walked out with their possessions on their back. And how do you know that none of the poor of NOLA tried to do the same thing? Seems to me your argument is based on speculation and false information.

Elizabeth

But again, how do you know which of the people still in NOLA fit that stereotype and which don't? The article implied, and you seem to agree, that anyone left in NOLA after the levee broke fits that stereotype. That's what people are objecting to. It's not that people aren't reading you, it's that we're disagreeing that anyone left in NOLA is there because they refused to help themselves. You know one person who was able to leave after the flood, so you assume that everyone should hav been able to leave, but I think that's a false assumption, that's all.

Elizabeth

I think you should read it again more carefully, then, especially the last two paragraphs.

Elizabeth

I don't know any Democrats who take that view either. That's one of the false accusations used against Democratic lawmakers by those who run against them. The US does not have, nor has the Democratic party every advocated, a comprehensive welfare state.

Elizabeth

But, Tia Mary, you have yet to quote any data other than your personal experience. The data's out there, why are you insisting that others provide it. You don't know how to use google?

Exactly how are people supposed to get that education? Have you looked into the costs of tuition lately? Don't know anyone who ever got pregnant by accident? It's easy to tell people what not to do, but what do we or should we do for them once they've made those mistakes?

As for the difference between rights and privileges, that's not all that clear cut. Political theorists and lawmakers don't agree on what is a right and what is a privilege. How is the average person supposed to be clear on it?

Elizabeth