New Orleans - Non Politically Correct View

Before I started my mortgage, I stayed in a 1st floor apartment that suddenly flooded due to a damaged foundation, forcing me to new residence on the fly. I don't remember anyone coming to my aid and helping me out. I also don't think there'd be aid if someone's car in here was stolen and/or their company downsized. Aren't there plenty of age 20-somes full-time employees living at home because the world out there is so tough for making a decent living? Who's helping them?

Save lives, get the safety back, but let the people get on their own 2 feet. That same group would say 'tough luck' to anyone else down on their luck. I say unless someone has been a proven donator to people in need, then let them get on their feet by themselves.

I couldn't agree more...my bathroom on the first floor got flooded with raw sewage and nobody came to clean it up, so I had to take care of it. I don't remember thinking that the federal government owed me something at the time.

Of course, you could move a couple blocks away, not a couple states. Your basement getting flooded didn't take your job, your bank, all your friends jobs, their banks, their homes.

You went home and sucked on your mommy's teet like little babies, because your mom was still alive and had a home that was standing.

Let me guess, you voted for Bush too?

Keith Stone wrote:

Of course, you could move a couple blocks away, not a couple states. Your basement getting flooded didn't take your job, your bank, all your friends jobs, their banks, their homes.

You went home and sucked on your mommy's teet like little babies, because your mom was still alive and had a home that was standing.

Let me guess, you voted for Bush too?

My first job was out of state away from my friends. In effect, I already had no friends and also didn't ask for any help from my parents.

I say take the $$ that would be going to help their bank accounts and give it to the veterans who fought or are fighting for our country.

Of all the moron posts that get deleted here , how has this one survived for more than its 15 seconds?

A couple things in New Orleans bother me. One is the people who yell and curse into the camera, showing real rage about the situation. It has probably been blown way out of actual proportion by the way those people are shown in comparison to the people who are taking it calmly.

Seconly, I didn't understand how the news casters weren't doing anything. They would be right there, probably feeling fine with plenty of food and drink in their helicopter, watching people die. I watched an interview with a couple people from out of the country who got stranded there. The end of the interview was a voice over that said something to the effect of "when will they finally leave N.O., only time will tell."

I was like, wait...the interviewer and the canera crew left, why didn't they squeeze in these two more people?

Back to the point of the post...it's not a race issue. The fact that most of the low income people who did not evacuate the city (because the either didn't want to, or couldnt) is simply a fact that coincides with the situation not being handled correctly.

But you a white boy. You don't no da plight a da black man.

Nobody helped you because 1) you were probably stable enough in the rest of your life that you could handle it, and 2) it was of no interest to them, and 3) I doubt you got your story in newspapers, television, etc.

One reason people are aiding the Gulf region is in hopes that after rebuilding the area the economy will be stimulated by the new business (it takes jobs to re-build) and the aid-givers will eventually get a return on their investment.

How did you appartment flood? Was it a leaky pipe or a storm? Either way if your flooded appt had cost you nearly everything and your story was relayed to the public, you just might have got some help. If not money then maybe a good neighbor willing to help you clean up.

Keith,

Let me guess, you voted for Bush too?

I'm guessing that neither of those posters is actually old enough to vote. Its funny, I may be mistaken, but I don't recall those two complaining about the money being given out after after 9/11? I'm also certain that we won't hear a peep out of them when Halliburton and Bechtel get all the no-bid contracts to rebuild the city.

it's not the non-politically correct view...it's the child's view. young children have trouble differentiating their own situation from those of others, sometimes leading them to draw absurd conclusions about others. it is funny and appropriate when children do it. it is sad and concerning when adults do it.

Grow up. Out of curiosity, did you write a similar post after 911? Your situation isn't even close to what happened in New Orleans.Yeah...I lost my mom to cancer and no one came to my aid....but the rest of my family was there.My father lost his house due to mismanagement of bills, and no one came to his aid....but he did get to sell his house and start over and he still gets to see his family.However, if I lose the ENTIRE WORLD THAT I KNOW...including friends, family, schools, jobs, neighbors, house, car, pets, etc......the federal government better damn well step in and do its friggin' job!!What you need to get straight is that *you* can't protect yourself from terrorists. *You* can't protect community from hurricanes, tornadoes, and earthquakes. *You* can't prevent a foreign nation from invading us. *You* can't build a school. *You* can't build a highway. *You* can't build a hospital. This is exactly why *WE* pool our resources as a society to help out for the greater good.......unless you think all that tax money would be better spent as a slush fund for Bush's cronies.

ttc wrote:

Before I started my mortgage, I stayed in a 1st floor apartment that suddenly flooded due to a damaged foundation, forcing me to new residence on the fly. I don't remember anyone coming to my aid and helping me out. I also don't think there'd be aid if someone's car in here was stolen and/or their company downsized. Aren't there plenty of age 20-somes full-time employees living at home because the world out there is so tough for making a decent living? Who's helping them?

Save lives, get the safety back, but let the people get on their own 2 feet. That same group would say 'tough luck' to anyone else down on their luck. I say unless someone has been a proven donator to people in need, then let them get on their feet by themselves.

Well said.

Post of the week, thanks for that, fantastic.

I didn't post anything similar after 911. Regarding the new schools, highways, hospitals, etc...didn't the area leaders realize work needed to be done in protecting against this disaster when the sea level was changing over the years? In addition, donating cash to fill resident's bank accounts? Are you kidding me? Give the cash only to proven past donators (not that researching it is feasible).

I can't say helping them is wrong, because it's not. But we should feel no obligation to contribute beyond safety/health reasons. One, because it was self-inflicted (see sea level above). Two, just because it's a visible event doesn't make it more important.

The problem with some liberals is the fact that they want to just give money out to people. I should clarify such a statement: by having all these "aid" programs for different groups of people, don't you see your further perpetuating their dependence on the government? Everyone bitches about taxes...liberals, conservatives, whites, blacks, mexicans. Do you realize how much of your tax dollars is going to pay for people who refuse to look for work because they're living off of government checks? Much of this money is parlayed on non-necessitites (which keeps many of the people who are "using" the system in the same plight). Go down to your local pharmacy in the bad neighborhood and watch how many people come in with their medicaid cards for things like hydrocodone (an addictive pain medication), or vicoden, hell watch how many of them try to by syringes (for their "insulin") with their little blue or green card. Yeah, that's what your money is paying for. Whatever happened to "Pull yourself up by your bootstraps"? Well, we lost that whole ideal as a society years ago when people started cheating the system.

Hey, I'm all for helping those in need. But DAMN it makes it hard to care when I know that a lot of those people in need are indirectly stabbing me in the back on a daily basis by cheating the government for money and then using it on worthless shit just because they're an addict. Quit being a bunch of pussies and look at the facts. Many of these people DO NOT need federal aid. Sure, a lot of them do, so what do you want me to do about it? Go down there and build them a goddamn new house?

I'm sick and tired of you hippie assholes coming on here and telling me how bad everyone has it. You know what? When I said I was in support of the war, someone on here said to me: why don't you go over to Iraq and see if you're still in support? So I challenge you posters who want all this federal aid to go to the victims (I'm not talking about the aid going to pay for new streets, schools, etc., I'm talking about the direct deposits the government is trying to put into their accounts or give out as "debit cards"), get your whiny asses down to NO and help these people out. Donate your entire paychecks. Do whatever it takes to get these people back on the streets of New Orleans where many of them can lie, cheat, and steal to continue to make their livings. Go ahead...

Note: the last paragraph was written exactly how a liberal would write it. Don't bother responding to my post because I won't be back to view your response. Letsrun "politicians" are among the dumbest in the world. Can some people on this board who always create posts about how intelligent runners are please stop? Runners are NOT smart people as a whole.

That was the post of the week.

herewegoagain wrote:

The problem with some liberals is the fact that they want to just give money out to .... are NOT smart people as a whole.

Yes, it is true that large amounts of federal aid are wasted, given to people who are simply too lazy to work. This kind of inefficiency is one of the problems with large governments. However, programs like these have another side. There are many, many Americans who were simply born in a poor situation, and due to lack of education and any of a number of other factors are unable to earn enough money to sustain themselves. Welfare helps these people - they do not deserve to be treated as second class citizens so you can take an extra vacation to Cancun every summer.

This was not the post of the week, it spent more time attacking liberals than it actually did attacking their viewpoints. I can attack idiots who don't agree with me just like you. Want to see me? "I voted for Bush because I hate gay people. Gays are ruining the American institution of marriage."

Hurricane Katrina should not be seen as an oppurtunity to say "Wow why are we helping out these people." For once, get rid of your selfishness. Yes, people will cheat the system. But ultimately, great good will come from helping out the less fortunate. The people in New Orleans have been hit by a terrible natural disaster, and the entire city was essentially destroyed. This is the difference between a basement flood and this. If your town was buried under a few feet of water, the government would help out. Lose your house? We can all sympathize. But lose everything and everyone you have known for your entire life, and none of us have experienced anything remotely close.

well, actually you CAN protect yourself from hurricanes. (1) you can elect to not live in an area on the water that gets hit with hurricanes every year; (2) you can get insurance or (3) you can build/live in a house like most other people do in coastal areas -- on stilts or raised. for a city that is below sea level, it is shocking to see most of the houses built right at street level. go to florida, the jersey shore, or, for that matter, anywhere on the east coast, and you will see any house near the atlantic ocean to be either on stilts or raised 1-story. why were people allowed to build houses in no in the same manner that houses in iowa or nebraska are built is beyond me.

i think the original poster is spot on. why should i have to pay to rebuild someone's house that was below sea level and in a high hurricane location? i'm all for aiding these people relocate in other areas but not in no. it pisses me off to no end when i see these people in florida who live in hurricane alley get their houses destroyed, then put their hands out to have the federal government rebuild them in the exact location so then they can get destroyed again and then they can repeat the process.

You, simply put, are an idiot. You think the impoverished are worrying about which insurance to buy? No. They are trying to survive. Many have almost nothing to insure. The problem in New Orleans is not people who had the option of where to live, the problem is the people who didn't have cars to evacuate in. The problem is the people not who chose to live in New Orleans, but those who didn't. The poor, the young, the weak. The city was poorly planned and built, but we should not punish the citizens of the city for that. By your logic, we should not help the refugees in the Darfur region because they chose to live there.