"Salt the Earth"


Stone Bryson gives his opinion of rebuilding New Orleans.
Stone Bryson has a new article up at his website. It's a unique take, and one that I never considered.

One of the aspects that is never considered is the ‘how’ and the ‘why’ that particular culture flourished in New Orleans. Most of those in the ‘rebuild at any cost’ crowd like to pretend that it was merely the city itself, as though buildings, location, and meteorology were all that were responsible.  That is a dangerous fallacy, because the truth is much uglier. Ultimately, what built the culture of New Orleans was corruption - political, social, and economic corruption.

Every cultural earmark that defined New Orleans rose from oppressive poverty and stifling hopelessness.  These traits were fostered by a corrupt system of government that affected all aspects of living.  Institutionalized for nearly three centuries, this system has been the prime reason for the cultural attributes so cherished by those driving the rebuilding effort.  It is interesting to note that the vast majority of those behind said-effort are people of substance - i.e. those who are outside the institutional oppression.

I've held off on my own article on the New Orleans rebuilding. I do think that much of New Orleans wasn't a city as much as it was a tourist attraction selling "sin" and guilt and shame.

The rest of Mr. Bryson's article is pretty good.

— NeoWayland

Posted: Thu - November 3, 2005 at 10:49 PM  Tag


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