Conservatives: New Orlean's Victims lazy, dependent on Gov.

[usregimechange]

I am sure we have all heard the arguement coming from conservatives that the New Orleans victims of Katrina are lazy and dependent on the government. A local SWMO conservative stated:

"It's that mentality that lead far too many able-bodied people in New Orleans to sit and wait on the government to provide for them, rather than trying to prepare for the worst themselves, or get out while the getting was good." http://community.cnhi.com/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/55410432/m/367109122/r/920104262#920104262



Can you tell if they are lazy and dependent on the government? No. Can you tell what their skin color is?

[Selatius]

1. They would have gotten out if the government had not abused their trust

Because then they would've been given the message beforehand that the government would rather let them die than come and help, and they would've gotten out rather than wait for help that never came.

These conservatives underestimate the trust people had in government prior to Katrina. That is where their criticism fails, and they also underestimate the people's power of mutual cooperation. When it comes to survival, people are far from lazy.

If the next time comes when I find myself in the same position with a coming hurricane, I'll be damned if I wait for help from the feds that may never come at all, especially when corporatists dominate this country. I'd rather spend my time trying to organize people to evacuate than sit around dying while they eye what is left of my home for development into a new stripmall or something.

[Swamp Rat]

16. Fool me once...

[napi21]

2. It's not laziness, but I don't think it's all racist either.

I know I thought about their situation a lot when the nedia was covering it 24/7. I'm white, lower middle class, own a home, car, husband works full time, etc. Just an average american household after the kids are grown and gone. I kept asking myself what I would do if some terrible disaster happened here, and my home was destroyed along with those of all my neighbors for miles around. Silly things like my phone book, insurance policies, computer, car, food, etc, was just GONE! You know, I never was able to answer what I would do, becasue I don't know! Even after all these months, I still don't know!!!!

That's the major problem for most of the displaced people from NO too, and there's no one to be a leader and tell them...Go here, do this, don't do that. Lazy is when you know you should be doing something and you just don't bother. That's NOT the case!

[Arkansas Granny]

10. I did a lot of thinking about their situation myself and came to this

conclusion. If I had been given an evacuation order when I was a single mother raising 4 kids on wages that were above minimum wage, but certainly not middle class, we could probably have gone as far as one tank of gas would have taken us. If it was a good week, maybe two tanks. And then what? I would not have had money for a motel room or enough money to feed all of us for several days. No, instead of trying to flee a storm and get caught in a strange place with no resources, we would have undoubtedly gone to a local shelter to wait things out as many in New Orleans did.

I agree with your assessment that it's not laziness and not all racist. I believe it is more economic than anything else. The poor are largely invisible in this country, regardless of race or color. It's when a tragedy occurs that affects them disproportionately that their plight comes to light.

[trof]

3. I fI had a nickel for every e-mail I've gotten

about that...I'd have a BUNCH of nickels.

[Sinti]

4. Their thinking is an extension of the myth of meritocracy

that we cling to in this country. If you do good you get good - NOT. The myth reinforces poverty, while absolving the wealthy from having any responsibility at all to those whose labor they reap the benefits of.

I would dearly love to take a bunch of these folks, take everything from them, including their education if they have any, and shove them into the projects for a year or two. How many of them could really pull themselves up by their bootstraps and get out?

I've known people that had 3 adults all working 2 jobs living under one roof, and one dude who had 5 total jobs (2 FT and 3 PT), none of them could get out of poverty. I'm not saying it absolutely can't be done, but it's not easy and it takes more than hard work, it takes a lot of luck, as well.

Not to worry, though, if things continue as they are the vast majority of these so-called "conservatives" will be standing in soup lines (if we can afford soup lines) before all is said and done. :evilgrin:

Edit:
oh my, typos

[usregimechange]

5. Than I hope they here that BS just once!

[Sinti]

7. Hopefully directly from the slime they voted for n/t

[shenmue]

6. That's horrible

What idiots. I can't believe people actually think that way.

Why shouldn't the people be able to draw on the services paid for by their taxes?

[Arkansas Granny]

11. I went over to Freeperville this morning to check their reaction

on another matter and ran across this thread:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1624120/posts

If you feel that you can stomach it, some of the responses to this thread will reveal just what conservatives think about tax dollars going to services for the needy.

I don't know if the young woman who posted the thread is actually a true person. I suspect that sometimes JimRob posts a thread like this just to get them going. They truly love their zots.

[Humor_In_Cuneiform]

8. There they go projecting again. They are the lazy ones

living off corporate welfare and the new medicare Pharmaceutical company support program.

And the tax breaks for those poor little oil companies, and the no bid contracts for Halliburtons etc etc.

[Hubert Flottz]

9. It was the government that didn't tell the people that a storm the ...

size of the one that hit New Orleans would probably wipe out the city. The Government knew but was too lazy and selfish to act! Too lazy to fix the things that the Corps Of Engineer's studies had warned Washington about in the past. Things like that a Cat.3 storm would probably take out the walls around the city. Too lazy ans selfish to spend the money to upgrade the things that could have saved hundreds of lives and billions worth of property.

[Feron]

13. The Sunday before the storm..

officials and the local media covered nothing but the hurricane and urged people to leave. They all said that this was the big one and officials (Jeff. parish I think) went on the air saying that they expected levees to be topped and to put an axe in your attic. It was nothing but nonstop stay and kiss your ass goodbye coverage.

There was plenty of warning it was going to get really ugly, but unfortunately many of the people that stayed behind lacked transportation.

The levees themselves are another story.

[usregimechange]

12. kick

[SPKrazy]

14. Hang On, I'm Sure You'll Get A Few On DU Too

I've noticed that a few posters show up on NOLA threads and bash the evacuees that left the area and haven't come back, like they had much choice.

[hopeisaplace]

15. may the cold b*stards who make this statement never find themselves

in need.

I find these comments made by people who believe this stuff
to be beyond hateful. There are no words for the individuals
spewing this crap. This isn't even ignorance, it's a psychotic
or something where these people don't want to recognize their
own contribution, as a member of society, to poverty. When you
can look in the mirror and see the face of suffering person instead
of yourself, you've graduated to "human being".

I'm sorry to rant, but I can not STAND this sort of ignorance.
Do we even remember the people in the Superdome suffering in the US
without water, living in filth, without toilets, ...the media reporting
the entire event first hand, while the GOVERNMENT couldn't even bring
a truck load of bottle water in!!!!!!!!!!!

You know what, I'm still PISSED about the Superdome images, and I WILL
NEVER FORGET. Never! These people can send these bullsh*t emails all
they want, because that will NEVER SHADOW THE TRUTH.

There, I'm done.

[DanCa]

17. Bush and conservatism failled the people of New Orleans.

It's amazing that we havent lost more cities because of this corrupt and pathetic regime. And they call themselves Christian. I wonder how many precious embryos were lost in the flood.