New Orleans, 2015- A premonition

[yankeedem]

Good news, New Orleans will be rebuilt!

The government bought out all the homeowners that were flooded out in the Great Flood, after their houses were condemned. But unfortunately, $50-100k doesn't buy much and most of the working class folks resettled somewhere else.

As far as the eye can see, there are spanking new townhouses ($350k). On every street corner is a Emeril's and a Starbucks. Fast, efficient trolleys whisk residents to a clean, new, city center.

At night, tourists and locals alike partake in the French Quarter Part Deux- The Disney Experience. On every corner, you hear jazz again, piped in on discreet loudspeakers.

Every night, the Mardi Gras parade steams by, in the tradition of the Main Street Parade at Disneyworld. No reason a tourist in August should miss Mardi Gras excitement! The beads thrown have attached coupons for attractions like Dr. John's Missisippi Queen Casino and the "Ghosts of New Orleans" wax museum.

Every restaurant and bar is a "theme" restaurant, owned by our country's great restaurant chains. Fish is flown in from Thailand and Macao everyday, to be thawed and served to appreciative yuppies looking for the great food for which NO is known, served to them by smiling (white) servers no older than 25.

There aren't too many police, only a few are needed to chauffer the odd poor person who remembers the old New Orleans out of town. The police make their way up the hills on the perimeter of the city, formerly called "levees". They are reportedly built to withstand a Cat 8 (as if there was such a thing) hurricane.

But New Orleans hasn't left its memories of the flood behind. In a small vestibule inside the Superdome (now with flush toilets!), there is an interactive museum describing the events and aftermath of the great flood, from the hurricane, to the Great George W. Bush rallying the troops to save the city.

[madmax]

1. I've been thinking the same thing myself. n/t

[markus]

2. There will be civil war in the south first

I promise.

[wellstone_democrat]

5. I hope to God you are right

...

[Nikki Stone 1]

6. I'd actually fight for the South in that war!

:)

[Freedomfried]

3. Port of NOLA is one of the biggest seaports in the world

Without the port of NOLA there is no New Orleans, and without the working class, there is no seaport.

But I sure understood what you're trying to say.

[yankeedem]

4. How about workcamps

and there are always bridges for them to live under :sarcasm:

Edit- how did I forget grammar and punctuation this week?

[markus]

13. All the workers can be housed up in the razed Ninth Ward

in the new Gaza Strip they will build there.

[Bucky]

7. Let me take a guess on who will build those Cat 8 levees. Starts with "H"?

Now let me guess how much they'll overcharge for the rebuild. Rhymes with "too fucking much."

[yankeedem]

9. How wrong you are

it's actually a company called "Kellogg,Brown and Root". Much different. They use labor from the new Iraq to save on labor costs.

[dogindia]

14. corporate coup.

Death coup. Iraq was not enough.

boats turned away. Red cross kept from helping. Waiting 5 days to bring in food and water.

Mass murder. I think America must find a way to end this regime.

They are deep liers. They own the media. It is not going to be easy.

[valerief]

8. New Corpleans

You're right on the money. New Corpleans.

[goclark]

10. That is exactly what will happen

but I think it will happen by 2009 at the latest.

Trent Lott will probably own lake front property there.

Hold on to your land NO --HOLD ON!!

[Walt Starr]

11. Spot on, this will develop into the biggest land grab in history

And it will be doomed to failure because everythign that made New Orleans special would not exist in the cartoon simulation they would attempt to erect.

[Pepperbelly]

12. What an obscene fantasy!

:smoke:

[DemBones DemBones]

15. You paint a picture of my fears. I posted yesterday

that there had already been too much ticky tacky touristy stuff added to New Orleans in the last 20-30 years, and I'm afraid there will be pressure on those rebuilding the city to go in that direction.

[thethinker]

16. This makes me want to cry

I was at the last Mardi Gras. New Orleans is so rich in culture, architecture and history. It must be preserved. There is no where else like it in the US.

No one needs another Disneyland.

[Big Kahuna]

17. I was thinking about this today...

I have kind of an active imagination. I was picturing a giant high-tech Arcology being built on the ruins, that surrounds and overshadows the French Quarter (kind of like the old North Church in Boston, surrounded by skyscrapers) Way too utopian to ever happen...

Then I pictured abandoned NO, becoming a Gibsonian (Cyberpunk Author Willian Gibson), Anarchist Autonomous Zone.. People living in dwellings made from recycled materials, handling things like sanitation, utilities, etc, in clever, creative ways.

I am afraid that the reality is, that New Orleans will be abandoned. It's a toxic waste dump. This disaster has shown me how thin our veneer of civilization is, and how delicate it is, and how UNSUSTAINABLE it is.