Re: nettime A Progressive Response to Katrina
Thanks Eric, for these clarifications. I agree wholeheartedly that nettimers could make a real contribution to , and above all, that we progressives must put forth constructive and detailed proposals and plans now! Best, Michael # distributed via nettime: no commercial use without permission # nettime is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets # more info: [EMAIL PROTECTED] and info nettime-l in the msg body # archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nettime@bbs.thing.net
Re: nettime A Progressive Response to Katrina
Hi Michael (and Nettime), I'll keep this relatively short after my epic email earlier this week. Just a few points: -- By no stretch of the imagination would I assert that FEMA and the Bush administration shouldn't be held accountable. As bad as some of the local failures were, the Feds were the only ones in a position to really make a difference. They failed miserably. And their failure was even more egregious given that it wasn't that they didn't have the resources (like the local officials) but that they bungled planning, management, initiative, response, you name it. Absolutely inexcusable, and we can definitely lay the blame for that on the Bush administration and what they've done to FEMA through spending cuts and ideology. -- I would differentiate between the act of rebuilding community and restoring the built environment. I absolutely agree that we owe it to those underprivileged communities to do the former, especially given that we had essentially abandoned those communities to fend for themselves for decades. My point was that the built environment that housed these communities was ecologically unsound, dangerous, and was part of the segregationist infrastructure of New Orleans. I think that we have to realize that exact replicas of many pre-hurricane New Orleans neighborhoods would simply be re-creating institutions of southern poverty and racism. -- And finally, on the appropriate response from the progressive left. My apologies for the flippant 'study groups' comment, it was a bit much on the rhetorical side. I would just say that we need to put forth clear and authoritative ideas that inspire, that show leadership, that give the electorate and the citizenry some intellectual traction so that they can believe that we are able to lead the nation in the right direction. Not half measures, not negative complaining, not equivocating, not just Lakoff's framing debates semantically, not lamenting Carter-ish 'malaise', not calculated Clinton-ish triangulation, not wallowing in the grey areas on every issue. Lead. And we need to do it now. Nettime is full of incredibly smart people. I'm regularly amazed by what I read from you folks. So that's my challenge to this group: help give us progressives a framework, a clear articulation of ideals, a clear and pragmatic progressive vision unrestrained by dogma, that we can contrast against the clearly articulated vision of the conservative movement. Give us the vision of JFK, not the muddle of Foucault. We need it now. Now. Eric # distributed via nettime: no commercial use without permission # nettime is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets # more info: [EMAIL PROTECTED] and info nettime-l in the msg body # archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nettime@bbs.thing.net
Re: nettime A Progressive Response to Katrina
Hi all, Thanks for writing this, Michael. Though I must say that as I read it, my progressive thoughts and my former-resident-of-New-Orleans thoughts are busily thumping one another in my head. As a result I have some significant reservations about these proposals recommendations. To mention a few: Katrina and its aftermath represent what happens when a national leadership buries its head in the sand The federal government maintained the levee system and provides FEMA; the state is the first responder for disaster law and order in the form of the National Guard, as well as statewide emergency planning; the local government is inherently responsible for preparations specific to the community; and individuals have a responsibility to themselves and to their neighbors. At all of these levels there was catastrophic failure. I don't know that it's reasonable to point the finger solely at the level most removed from the catastrophe, even if that level (the Feds) are ultimately the only ones with the resources to handle the largest emergencies. It's reasonable to ask if local officials, as the front line defense against catastrophe, to see if they did everything they could. According to a 7/24/05 article in the New Orleans Times Picayune, local officials knew they didn't have the money/people/resources to cope with a catastrophic storm, so they decided to make a DVD to let people know they were on their own. Great! Make a movie, give it to the poorest of the poor, and you've apparently done all you can. That's not leadership, that's fundamentally an abdication of responsibility. We can't do it is not acceptable at any level of government. It's their core responsibility to find a way. I saw it with another large New Orleans institution that I know very well. After evacuating it became clear that they weren't prepared with an adequate emergency plan for administration, communication, or coordination. Thousands of people affiliated with this institution were left in the dark for a week. Ultimately it's inexcusable at the institutional level when you've had decades of warnings. Large tropical storms and hurricanes hit the Gulf Coast almost every year. It's predictable, and we know in advance when they are coming. Everyone at every level is responsible for being prepared. We're seeing that failure at every level. I dislike the President as much as almost everyone else, but this isn't a good one to pin solely on him or this particular administration. They didn't end the third-world level poverty in the very heart of the South. They did not even end vicious racism. Agreed. I taught in New Orleans public schools for a short while. The segregation is systemic and the racism is real. And the racism goes both ways, incidentally, with a lot of resentment of the white socioeconomic power structure expressed through anger and violence. It's massively dysfunctional on a societal level. Bush's policies merely exacerbated what is still the shame of both parties -- Republican and Democratic alike. Also agreed. Additionally, I would point out that these extraordinarily disadvantaged neighborhoods like the Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans didn't spring into existence in January 2001 when Bush was inaugurated. There have been many unbelievably poor neighborhoods for decades, through Republican and Democratic administrations alike. (And overwhelmingly Democratic local government, I should add.) Not much has worked to help those people, whether we refer to a generation of Great Society programs or a generation of Reaganesque tough love. Everyone shares the blame. Let's bear that in mind when crucifying Bush. Finally, one reason for our current problems is the utter failure of the US system of education, which has failed to reach, interest or challenge most of our citizens. We have to find ways to make education available to all, captivating, and rigorous enough so that our citizens are capable of understanding the kinds of challenges we face, capable of global thinking and understanding, not afraid to tackle hard problems, not afraid to seem smart, less susceptible to lies and spin. I strongly agree here too. Education is the tipping point. But then again, almost everyone acknowledges the criticality of education and agrees that we could do more. It's a broader problem than just curriculums or funding. It's also a socioeconomic problem; at least in the short term, one of the strongest correlations with K-12 academic performance is not per-pupil funding but socioeconomic background and community values. You can spend lavishly on education in disadvantaged communities but the biggest factor is whether or not the students have the baseline resources allowing them to learn. This includes cultural values, an emphasis on education at home, proper sleep, medical care, and nutrition, a stable home life, and many other critical factors that can't simply be purchased with government funds.
nettime A Progressive Response to Katrina
Hello, I have prepared the following draft in response to Katrina and Bush's inactions. If you approve, please forward to your own lists. Best, Michael A PROGRESSIVE RESPONSE TO KATRINA It should be evident by now that Katrina is Bush's Monica, except the stained blue dress this time is spread across an area the size of Great Britain, the denial extends far deeper, and the now familiar lie is that no one could have predicted. But this time much, much more is at stake than a presidency. How America reacts to this infidelity --this utter lack of faith with our fellow citizens-- will determine our future for years to come. Progressives cannot remain silent. Nor can we afford the luxury of merely criticizing. We must make plain in the most concrete terms what we would do now. Further, we must begin to find ways to accomplish some of that, to use our progressive networks to influence what happens win the spreading crisis from this point out. Katrina and its aftermath represent what happens when a national leadership buries its head in the sand -- when it lives on fantasies -- such as: the inevitable triumph of the market in all situations; the inevitable triumph of democracy wherever our troops land; the inevitable superiority of one country; the impossibility that we will be affected adversely by global warming; that global warming is a liberal fiction; that it won't matter if the President staffs his high offices with incompetent cronies; that we don't have to worry about = the fate of the earth because the Rapture will come; or that lowering taxes and aiding the rich is the best policy for everything. Katrina exposes much longer-standing scandals too. The Civil War of the 1860's and the civil rights movement of the 1960's did not end the mistreatment of Americans of African descent. They didn't end the third-world level poverty in the very heart of the South. They did not even end vicious racism. One look at New Orleans in the aftermath puts the lie to all claims that affirmative action is no longer necessary. The Gulf area, the main source of the US's oil and natural gas, has been exploited for its resources like part of the third world., with the same squalid and inhuman results. One look puts the lie to the both real and metaphorical claims that a rising tide lifts all boats. Economic growth that is not distributed is a hoax and a lie. Bush's policies merely exacerbated what is still the shame of both parties -- Republican and Democratic alike. Katrina has lain all that bare. It is a terrible irony that the oil and gas extracted from the Gulf not only hasn't helped most of the Gulf states' citizens as it ahs been taken out, but its burning has helped heat the Gulf to spawn the intensified hurricanes that ensure disaster, and at the same time, increase the dangers from tropical diseases as the area warms. Global warming from fossil fuel combustion is no myth, and it must be fought, and fought at an accelerated rate, if we are not to have still worse disasters resulting from the uneven heating of the planet. We must reduce fossil fuels and also, most likely, find ways to reduce average temperatures by making the planet less absorbent of the sun's rays. We must find alternatives to automotive and truck travel, to oil, coal and natural gas, and we must do that quickly. We already have years of catching up to do. We cannot be safe in a world where most people are getting poorer, whether in the US or out of it. While we must work hardest to bring about equality at home, we cannot neglect the growing poverty in countries to our south, poverty further exacerbated by global warming and global trade alike. The answer to that cannot be military-related jobs, which would plunge the world into further unnecessary conflicts. Finally, one reason for our current problems is the utter failure of the US system of education, which has failed to reach, interest or challenge most of our citizens. We have to find ways to make education available to all, captivating, and rigorous enough so that our citizens are capable of understanding the kinds of challenges we face, capable of global thinking and understanding, not afraid to tackle hard problems, not afraid to seem smart, less susceptible to lies and spin. Our nation is now at a crucial turning point. It is a moment of heightened consciousness. The inadequacies of our current course may never be plainer. If progressives fail now to point us most clearly in a new and better direction, what can we expect? Drift, despondency, and myopia may remove all hope of an equal future. Rising cynicism, selfishness and drawing inward, may take over. Or fundamentalist fascism that rationalizes the carelessness already prevailing may win out. The progressive movement today is still weak, fragmented and overburdened. Still we have little choice but to rise to the challenge. We must find ways to band together, to propose enlightened principles and methods
