Did the Federal government respond poorly to Katrina? I think so, on some levels. I don’t blame the Feds for the fact that people were stuck in New Orleans; that was the city’s fault. And I don’t blame the Feds for failing to act in the first day or two; that’s the State’s role. But when those folks were in that stadium for that long, ya gotta get ’em out. Somehow.
With that said, don’t ever forget that there are still people living in Government provided homes:
Nearly 2000 families still live in temporary FEMA housing.
Two Thousand.
Blink.
Blink.
How is that possible? When do they give up and just move on? Trust themselves and just start over?
Which brings me to my point, people in Haiti are learning the government isn’t going to come. And this is what they do:
a looter shot dead for breaking into an appliance store and crowds erecting new houses on shaky ground.
…
Tired of waiting for government help, the families lugged heavy bundles of wood and tin up steep hillsides to start rebuilding new homes on top of old ones.
And the quake is just over 2 weeks old. And the people are tired of waiting. And they should be. Because when you decide that you need the government to fix your problems…..your problems will never get fixed. Shocking that it would take Haiti to teach us this lesson.