As a conservative Christian, I seldom find areas of agreement with Richard at Metroblogging New Orleans; we’re probably as politically and culturally opposite as two people can be. But on one issue, I absolutely could not agree more:
Yes, we all hope that New Orleans will gradually become better than it was before the storm. (In certain ways, I think it already is.) Will it be perfect? Will it be utopia? I’m probably the wrong person to ask. To me, perfection has to exist in a bubble, and given the fact that everything is interconnected these days–informationally, electronically, meteorologically, and so on–that’s pretty much impossible. But New Orleans will continue to be a hub, there will be people living here, there will be Mardi Gras, there will be crime, there will be inequality, and there will be an ease of life unknown in most of America.
Also, I don’t think I’m the only one with these opinions. They’re pretty well documented elsewhere. Very few people–except some of the hippies who moved here after the storm and don’t know when to give it a rest–are still griping about storm-related stuff. Anyone who’s still here has to have made peace with it in some way.
I should add that by focusing only on the devastation and sadness that Katrina brought, in 60 minutes Chris Rose and Anthony Bourdain erased two and a half years of progress. The homes that have been rebuilt, the families and businesses that have returned, all the little triumphs that many of us have had, most of which came thanks to personal chutzpah and savings accounts–it’s like none of that mattered. Which is offensive and condescending and reprehensible, to say the least.
Yes. And thank you for saying it.
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