Two Days

My god. Two days is all it took.

Two days without water, food, and electricity. In two days a vibrant, bustling city of almost a million was reduced to a flooded, lawless wasteland where people shoot at the authorities they criticize for not coming to help them. Where thugs loot HOSPITALS. Where the police scanners ask for three essentials: food, water, ammunition.

Just two days to descend from civilization to chaos. The stories coming out of New Orleans could have been coming out of Baghdad or Fallujah.

Thousands are dead. Probably thousands more will die. The administration will try to scapegoat FEMA or the state authorities. The show will go on.

My only hope is that people will make the logical connection between the scope of this disaster-after-the-disaster and the fact that the resources to provide aid were redirected to “fight terrorism,” and what an utter failure that has been.

It hurts, to see people die because of poor planning. Maybe it will hurt enough now that the people are Americans that something will change.

I am still trying to get my head around the fact that I am only two days away from living like animal, no matter where I am.