Ministry of Truth

Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans about one year ago. Since then it has been a point of debate. Was FEMA’s response to the disaster adequate or not? By now almost everyone has accepted the fact that it wasn’t.

“FEMA director Mike Brown is an incompetent fool…given his performance this disaster, we can bet he’ll be getting a presidential medal of freedom and a nice promotion by Bush…welcome to Bush’s new America, where the third world is our world.” -Daily kos

 A more interesting issue is whether or not the Government is responsible for defending its citizens against the forces of nature. There is no doubt in my mind that a government is responsible for keeping order on the streets and defending against foreign invaders, but what about storms like Katrina? It’s a difficult question to answer. In any case, an organization like FEMA isn’t necessary or proper. The Government exceeded its mandate when it created FEMA, and even then, was not able to live up to it. Citizens of New Orleans recieved a rude awakening when their levies broke. As we all know, the city was completely destroyed. In such a case, the Government’s only job is to ensure the safety of its citizens, not from the storm itself, but from other citizens who armed themselves and looted stores. Citizens have a responsibility (if they value their lives) to defend themselves from such storms as Katrina. Those who fail to do so will die. Such is life. It makes me uneasy to think that a government organization is held directly responsible for the common sense of its citizens. Even more horrifying is the fact that FEMA is supporting those who wish to rebuild their houses at high risk areas.

“[D]o we really want to help rebuild homes and government property in areas that should never have been built on in the first place?” -James Bovard

FEMA’s rationale is hard to comprehend. Why subsidize the same home owners that were washed away by the storm? Many of them could not take care of themselves and were no doubt killed, and the rest complained to FEMA. If FEMA is intent on wasting money on high risk homes so that the same disaster can be relived in the future, then the organization must not have seen, heard, or learned anything from the disaster. Although this is a weak post, I welcome your comments.

Any questions for FEMA? http://www.fema.gov/about/what.shtm