Conservative ideology has always been set on proving that government is less efficient and more wasteful then the private sector. The Bush administration went out of its way to accept this ideology and make it true. Instead of supplying funds to New Orleans, or municipalities it funneled money to large contractors like Halliburton early on believing that large private sector firms were more competent and appreciative then local business could be. The result has been a disaster for the people of New Orleans. Money has been moved away from public services like education, subsidized housing, and health-care and into charter schools, planned developments, and private hospitals. Instead of letting the people of New Orleans decide what the priorities of rebuilding were, this administration let the market decide. Some people have pointed to this as evidence of a conspiracy against the poor and middle-class of Louisiana, but there is no conspiracy: it is merely incompetence and greed.

The idea that private enterprise is more efficient that government has been accepted as gospel since the days of Ronald Reagan. It has never been true. Private enterprise is inherently corrupt – it has to be. It’s primary goal is not to deliver goods or a service, but to generate profit whatever way possible. Within that marketplace the only reason private enterprise delivers any quality of goods or services is due to competition and regulation. Conservative ideology was taken in by the notion that the larger and more successful a company the more competent it is. But when the government issues a massive contract there is no competition; the is no reason for the company to deliver goods or respond to the needs of citizens, and larger companies are inherently better at generating profits then delivering services.

The people of New Orleans are ready and capable of rebuilding their city, but this government, and its cadres, have withheld financial support. The people of New Orleans continue to suffer today because this administration is determined to prove its ideology of a low-tax privatized empire. It is beyond time that we recognized that this ideology is a failure, and return to the idea of a government for the people.

Gross ineptitude and callous disregard are the only two phrases which come to mind in characterizing the federal relief efforts in NO. For the past few days I have watched the news coverage and spoken with colleagues trapped in the NO area, and my feelings are moving more and more towards anger. As we learn more about the failure of our government to protect and serve all of its citizens my frustration and fury grows stronger. It now seems that the DHS kept the Red Cross from bringing relief into NO; that relief delivery was halted for Mr. Bush’s photo op; and that instead of being unaware of the effects of Katrina federal officials had been briefed by NHC the day before.

Given the history of how incompetence in our government has been handled in the past, I am sure we only months away from a ceremony awarding some honor to FEMA director Mike Brown (who was fired from his prior job, overseeing horse shows, for incompetence).

In ancient times we would have called upon the furies to bring justice to those who are untouchable and have offended the laws of humanity. Today we seem to be left with few other options. Those who failed our brothers and sisters in the storm ravaged areas are secure in their political positions; our leader brays about compassion and sacrifice while he pushes through another tax cut for the wealthy. As citizens we have shown remarkable compassion and empathy — we have sent money, and goods, we have opened our homes to those who have lost theirs, we have demonstrated that America is a land of caring neighbors. Why can’t we expect the same from our government?

Thomas Hobbes wrote, several hundred years ago, that before the organization of civic society that life was short, brutish, and nasty. In the aftermath of this storm, it seems that we have returned to our roots. Yet, this behavior is not limited to the children of Katrina, but seems to extend to those sitting in their upholstered offices.

One ‘christan’ has spoken with glee of the destruction:

“New Orleans now is abortion free. New Orleans now is Mardi Gras free. New Orleans now is free of Southern Decadence and the sodomites, the witchcraft workers, false religion — it’s free of all of those things now,” Shanks says. “God simply, I believe, in His mercy purged all of that stuff out of there — and now we’re going to start over again.”

It is hard to imagine anyone suggesting that the citizens of NO are the recipients of some kind of divine or earthly justice — let alone a man of christ. The spirit of these words are more reflective of Torquemada then of a modern pastor. It is men like this, and others who cite divine retribution for the storm, and those who profit from this despair that are the true criminals — they are the looters of the human spirit, the defilers of the American dream.

One of OPs is blogging his experience. His tale is pretty chilling: people looting, cops looting, general chaos in New Orleans. Very sad stuff. My thoughts are with all the people suffering in this tragedy:

It is a zoo out there though, make no mistake. It’s the wild kingdom. It’s Lord of the Flies. That doesn’t mean there’s murder on every street corner. But what it does mean is that the rule of law has collapsed, that there is no order, and that property rights cannot and are not being enforced. Anyone who is on the streets is in immediate danger of being robbed and killed. It’s that bad.

Just days before “Southern Decadence”, an annual homosexual celebration attracting tens of thousands of people to the French Quarters section of New Orleans, an act of God destroys the city.

May this act of God cause us all to think about what we tolerate in our city limits, and bring us trembling before the throne of Almighty God

Why is it that these people will exploit any tragedy to peddle their bigotry and hate? No, the increase in hurricanes isn’t caused by global warming and warm water shifts, but be cause God is mad at New Orleans — before he was mad at Indonesia, before that New York — God’s wrath seems to be pretty random, one would think he’d be smiting San Francisco or the Supreme Court building. Too bad idiocy is not a sin.

These people are trying to survive in an almost impossible situation, and that the theft of food for self preservation is a moral question which goes back thousands of years. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that the current media would find any excuse to exploit people’s suffering to create polarizing images and encourage racial stereotypes.

Yep, I guess you can’t trust those people — they have no moral fiber and are only concerned about their immediate needs; it’s no wonder most Americans don’t trust them — but what do you expect of the media.

For more info: National Hurricane Center