The anarchy in New Orleans resembled nothing so much as the horrors of Lord of the Flies after the constraints of authority and civilization were removed. As usual, it is easy to conclude that neither we nor our neighbors would behave like that. Let us hope we are right in thinking so, but we should not be certain that we are. Much of what happened, was a crowd like any other getting out of control. Behavior that had been unacceptable became common. If our neighbors benefit from doing things they shouldn't and it seems that no harm will come to them, can any of us be absolutely certain that we would not join in?
On the other hand, giving to help those who have suffered because of Katrina has become close to a social norm. At work, the question asked has not been whether you will give, but when. I was hit up at the grocery store yesterday (Shoppers Food Warehouse), when the cashier pointed out that the Red Cross would accept contributions made there and then at the checkout stand. That is a mild form of extortion, but when it for an acknowledged social good, that's not always a bad thing.
Alan Abelson is a columnist in Barron's, and perhaps the best reason to buy the paper. You might think of him as the Mark twain of Wall Street, or a combination of Jeremiah and Bob Hope. He usually writes well pointed (and well aimed) wit. But this week he was somber as he described what had happened in New Orleans. He gave a warning to keep in mind over the next few months: we can expect the economic ills that will soon befall us to be blamed on Katrina. We should keep in mind when the bad news comes that our twin deficits (of foreign trade and the federal budget), housing prices that are out of control, and energy prices that were following them even before Katrina are not things that make for a healthy economy. "In sum," quoth Abelson, "never before will a hurricane have done so much to bail out so many people."
No comments:
Post a Comment