I just received this, it is quite interesting, O.K. so it isn’t a surfcraft issue but I would love to hear the opinions of other Swaylockians.
This does in no way reflect my own opinions.
Rolly
Just a little history lesson that you can share with your friends. I find
it pretty interesting. Conducting a little research and “googling”, I
found that in 1927 a major, unnamed hurricane struck the city of New
Orleans. It was actually more powerful than Katrina. The scope of damage
was much more severe because this particular hurricane actually hit the
city, whereas, Katrina missed it by 25 miles.
The interesting difference is the response the government gave in 1927 to
those hurricane evacuees, compared to the evacuees of Katrina, I mean
“survivors”…sorry Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson. How much aid did the
government dispense at that time? Zero, not one dime And, you know how
much aid the army offered? The only aid from the army came in the form of
loaning the city of New Orleans tents and camp stoves. Ironically, later,
the army sued the city for reimbursement. So what was the big difference?
It was the attitude the people had towards the government at that time,
compared to the attitude of Katrina’s victims. The 1927 “survivors”
expected nothing from the government. Eighty years ago, people understood
that the government was there to " protect life, liberty and the pursuit
of happiness." Today’s Americans expect the government to " provide life,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness." That’s a major difference. And now,
a few weeks later, when the government failed on all three levels of
local, state, and federal to provide for their needs, Americans were
therefore sorely disappointed.
Jackson and Sharpton spend their opportunities arguing about
semantics…"they shouldn’t be called refugees, they should be called
survivors". Unfortunately, they’ve missed the boat. If these guys had been
right-minded, it was another perfect opportunity to deliver a very basic
message to their people.
Fact, if you are poor and uneducated in America, this is what happens.
Fact, if you depend on the government, you will be sorely disappointed.
Fact, if you are poor in America, there is no reason for you to be
uneducated. It’s free for 12 grades!
And if you really apply yourself, there are enough grants and assistance
out there for higher education, which will raise you above the poverty
level.
And no longer will you depend on the government and be disappointed.
It’s unfortunate that this lesson will be missed by most, if not all, of
the “survivors”.
A couple of other points should be brought to light. President Bush has
asked the congress for 50+ billion dollars worth of aid for the
“survivors” and to clean up of the city. Interesting isn’t it? One million
people displaced and out of work from that city, sitting all day in
shelters, waiting for the next handout. Of course, the thought never
occurred to anyone that just maybe, "Hey, we should give all these folks
jobs filling sand bags to plug the levees, clearing trees and rubbish, and
the countless other labor tasks." (Wonder how many of them would want
government aid if they had to work for it? No, you don’t need to answer
that because we already know.)
And finally, they have hardly begun the task of picking up dead bodies,
and already the finger pointing continues. The congressional hearings and
probes will go on. Millions will be spent on a wasted diatribe of a
bipartisan “witch hunting expedition”…all of which will be nonsense. If
you’re a democrat, you are going to blame the President. If you are a
republican, you are going to blame the mayor and the governor. This is
another case in point of how the government will once again fail it’s
people when it would be better to spend those millions educating the poor
and misplaced citizens of New Orleans so that they could go out and get a
new and better life, instead of wasting it on useless blame investigations
by incompetent politicians vying for media attention.