...Lifts All Boats


Boyd Blundell asks why so much attention is paid to an overseas conflict while the crisis along OUR Gulf Coast gets "short shrift":

No, really. When I try to advocate for New Orleans as a priority and question why it gets short shrift in media (and blog) coverage, a few people have referred to the recent events in Israel and Lebanon as a reason. They wonder how I can expect people to focus on New Orleans given what’s going on with Israel. But isn’t it equally fair to ask Americans the opposite question: how can you be so focused on Israel with what’s going on in New Orleans?...

So why don't politically aware Americans in general recognize how important it is to understand what happened, hold those who were responsible for the mess accountable, and effectively plan for future disaster? So much more energy is spent talking about potential Israeli policy options. For example, Josh is pretty almost alone (Huff Po with Harry Shearer would be another) amongst A list bloggers in agreeing to host something like this blog and give New Orelans a platform. Yet a whole ton of bloggers were roundly criticized for not blogging sufficiently on the Lebanon crisis. Am I within my rights to chastise these other bloggers for not blogging sufficiently about New Orleans (or even Josh for never linking to us)?

I think I should be, but I'd be interested to hear why not. I don't know how to say this without offending someone, but Israel is a foreign country, while New Orleans is an Amercian city. Americans should care more about the latter, just like I should care more about my son's allergies than I do about an acquaintance's illness, even if it's more serious, and that aquaintance is an important person. We need to care more about those closest to us; they are in our care.

I think part of the problem is that it's fun to play geo-political game master with the Israel situation, while New Orleans isn't nearly as dramatic. Also, the New Orelans flood response was an unmitigated American failure, and it's just a downer to think about that too much. But when Americans ignore the ongoing mistreatment and suffering of other Americans in favor of dramatic foreign policy arguments, I think it's a form of procrastination (recall the Jewish American exception above).

It will be interesting to see what happens over the next few weeks, because I think that most people will just want the New Orelans story to go away because it's just depressing. And it is depressing. It was only when I was away that I realized how stressful just being in this city is. So I think I understand the urge, but I think it would be irresponsible to just let everyone give into it.

I don't think Blundell suggests we ignore the Middle East crisis so much as we also note the crisis RIGHT HERE. A rising tide, as they say, lifts ALL boats--but at the same time, perhaps the citizenry here should be concerned about whether our own "ship of state" is leaking and/or listing...