The Broken Contract - great article about Katrina

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Taken from truthout.org
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/092505B.shtml

The Broken Contract
By Michael Ignatieff
The New York Times

Sunday 25 September 2005

A contract of citizenship defines the duties of care that public officials owe to the people of a democratic society. The Constitution defines some parts of this contract, and statutes define other parts, but much of it is a tacit understanding that citizens have about what to expect from their government. Its basic term is protection: helping citizens to protect their families and possessions from forces beyond their control. Let's not suppose this contract is uncontroversial. American politics is a furious argument about what should be in the contract and what shouldn't be. But there is enough agreement, most of the time, about what the contract contains for America to hold together as a political community. When disasters strike, they test whether the contract is respected in a citizen's hour of need. When the levees broke, the contract of American citizenship failed.

more http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/092505B.shtml