Dear David, you Australians have gumption, and from what I have seen on the news, there was certainly some around after Katrina who were helping their friends, family and neighbours. I think one of the problems is that the police, doctors, nurses, coast guard etc did what they could in a completely overwhelming situation. On the whole, a lot of the population left in New Orleans were ill, and / or poor in resources. I am not just talking about money, but about having the ability to cope - which has more to do with being self reliant, and adaptive to challenging circumstances. When a disaster occurs to a sector of society which is used to following directions, rather than thinking for themselves, they just don't have the coping strategies. The shock of the situation many found themselves in was sufficient to paralyse many into inaction.
No offence to any of the groups mentioned, but I think the history of a population can have a great deal to do with it's coping in such a disaster. Australia had a history of being settled by convicts, which actually was quite a bonus in survival terms - as on the whole many of these were risk takers, willing to do what they needed to to survive. In contrast, a large proportion of the black American population in the southern states are descended from slaves. Survival for slaves depended on following instructions, loking after you and yours, and on the whole, not taking risks. Such behaviour can become ingrained in a population, and I think that is partly why the population left in New Orleans in particular showed much less ability to cope. Karen In Coventry David wrote: Yes that's right. But here in Australia you will find that it's the ordinary people who are on hand who time and time again seem to display an inordinate sense of morality, duty and care. They simply do not wait for the official folk but get stuck in immediately and get things moving in the right direction. -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.344 / Virus Database: 267.10.23/99 - Release Date: 12/09/2005 -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.344 / Virus Database: 267.10.23/99 - Release Date: 12/09/2005 To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace-chat [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
