It’s about values, not politics
What kind of world do we want to live in? What kind of nation do we want to be citizens of? Those questions are more urgent after Katrina than before. No one knows as I write this how many people have died, maybe thousands. No one knows how many people will be displaced from their homes, maybe hundreds of thousands. And some of those people may live for a long time in what in other parts of the world are called refugee camps. How could this happen in America?
How could the head of Homeland Security and of the Federal Emergency Management Agency both say three days after the storm they didn’t know how bad it was when anyone who read or watched the news knew it? How could the President say "no one knew" this could happen, when multiple studies had warned of exactly this scenario for at least four years?
The New Orleans metro area has over a million people. Officials reported that 80% of the population evacuated ahead of the storm, or at least the flooding; but that leaves over 200,000 people. Why didn’t they leave? Some people who were interviewed said they thought it wouldn’t be that bad or they stayed to protect their property. But the vast majority, it is increasingly clear, stayed because they had no choice. They had no transportation and no money and no place to go. Many lived alone, elderly, handicapped, unable to leave without help.
The most important national conversation we need to have is not about the ineffectiveness of our disaster plans nor about the need to improve and strengthen the levee system for the city of New Orleans. That was not the only city that was flooded. Many other towns along the Gulf Coast were devastated, and after a week many people in other places have yet to receive any help. The most important conversation is about how our nation treats the poor. Many of the poor in that area are African-American, and part of the conversation must be about race and about how racism continues to breed poverty. But poverty — and the way we treat people who live in poverty — is what we must talk about.
This is not about politics, it is about values. I don’t care whether the people creating the laws and policies, and enforcing and interpreting those laws, are Republican or Democrat. But I do care that they hold values that will motivate them to do more to protect the poor. In recent years more and more national policies and laws have allowed the rich to grow richer and the poor to become poorer. That must change! Last year the total income of Fortune 500 CEOs increased by 58%. Last year Exxon Mobil had their best year ever. When more people are slipping below the poverty level, and when "the middle class" are falling deeper into debt, I am appalled that our leaders continue to cater to the rich and the powerful.
I am among that large group of Americans who has always said, "But what can I do? I’m only one person." If enough individuals raise their voice together, someone will listen. If enough people vote for people with values that consider the poor important enough to protect, something can be done. We hear a lot these days about voting for people with "moral values." Taking care of the poor is a moral value! Having compassion for people who cannot take care of themselves is a moral value. Putting money into protecting our cities from natural disasters and into protecting the people in times of disaster is a moral value. I believe it is much more moral than fighting a war in another country and pushing our country deeper into debt for that war.
This is not about partisan politics. I disagree strongly with most of what the Bush Administration has done since 2000, but not because they’re Republican. I disagree with their values. I do not consider the decisions they have made about Iraq and about tax breaks for the rich and about cutting funds to help the poor moral decisions. If they were Democrats, I would feel the same way. It’s about values, not politics.
