For Better or For Worse

2 September 2005



Katrina Will Change American Society

The Mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin, has ordered everyone out of his town. The Crescent City, noted for its Mardi Gras celebrations, jazz and a genteel sensuality far removed from the straight-laced South around it, is untenable. America now will have thousands and thousands of refugees, cholera and dysentery, and $4 a gallon gasoline. A generation from now, historians will look back and draw a line at the end of August 2005 and say, “This is when it changed.”

After the Al Qaeda murders of September 11, 2001, New York City received an out-pouring of support and affection from all corners of the nation. The current unpleasantness is far worse, and America’s generosity to itself will be tested far beyond the events of four years ago. The Governor of Louisiana Kathleen Blanco says there are thousands dead. Many more have no food, water, medical supplies, electricity or housing. President Bush says it will take years to rebuild. He also said America will be stronger for it – from his lips to God’s ears.

Economically, this storm threatens not just the economy of the Deep South, but the entire world. The global economy is a very delicate flower despite claims of robust activity. If the US faces huge fuel bills, it will see rising consumer prices brought on by asset inflation rather than soaring wages. The American consumer has been the driver of the world economy, sucking in imports to keep East Asian manufacturers afloat. If the US consumer gives up, global recession or even depression could follow. The world has been down that road before, and it is extremely unpleasant.

But what is truly new here is the potential for the radicalization of the American people. The folks hit by the storm haven’t seen the rescue efforts, haven’t heard the mayor, governor or president speak because there’s no electricity for their TVs and radios. Their big worry is food and water, and in a part of the world that is inherently hot, and where people think of guns as household equipment, the potential for very nasty behavior lies ahead. Already, helicopters flying refugees to Texas have come under fire. And the fact that 35% of the Louisiana and 40% of the Mississippi National Guard is in Iraq will have repercussions. Mr. Bush may have thought Baghdad to be his legacy, but history may remember him as the man who either saved or failed to save the Gulf Coast.

Hundreds of thousands of people are going to feel let down if it truly takes 12-16 weeks before New Orleans is habitable again. The poor who couldn’t afford to leave will be joined by the middle class folks who will run out of cash soon as they burn through their savings and their houses remain underwater. All it will take is one person to tap into that anger, and a new movement in American life could be unleashed. The Bolsheviks and the Nazis came to power because someone offered a quick and easy solution to the problems of the day. America may need an extra dose of vigilance before next August rolls around.


© Copyright 2005 by The Kensington Review, J. Myhre, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent.
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