ATTITUDE: Suffer under Caesar...
ATTITUDE: Suffer under Caesar...
The Hurricane Katrina disaster is still as fresh and alive as the toxic mold its flood waters left behind. Three weeks have now passed since that tropical storm swept over the Southern Gulf Coast like a runaway freight train, smashing everything in its path and leaving a wretched aftermath of misery and complex problems in its wake.
The President and the present administration are currently under intense fire for not having responded with the alacrity and rapidity that such a massive catastrophe would demand, as determined by any reasonable analysis of the circumstances. By vacillating negligently over what to do in terms of how to coordinate an adequate emergency response, Bush has indicated clearly that his regard for the white middle class appears far greater than that he maintains for the black underclass that predominates in the southern Louisiana region (67% of the New Orleans population for instance is Black, if the most recent US census was able to count all the pimps, hookers, drug addicts, pushers, gangstas and hip-hoppers accurately in that miserable city). As the Bush Administration spin-doctors scamper about putting out firestorms of political innuendo, it is clear enough to anyone who can analyse the given data rationally that had the devastation occurred in a large northern city principally peopled by whites, Bush, Cheney, Karl Rove, and the entire Republican political oligarchy would have absolutely shitting their pants in their haste to show the flag, console the grieving, etc. (at very least putting on the carefully orchestrated appearance of a supremely caring leader of the nation taking matters in hand).
Instead, the nation's President and his cohorts floundered about in denial until the rising pleas for help from those in the devastated area could no longer conveniently be ignored. And if that weren't bad enough by itself, the discovery soon emerged that the 'appointee' director of the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) was probably incompetent to meet a challenge as great as the Katrina Disaster posed and had apparently padded his resume and made false claims about his background and capabilities. Further, while the ground level emergency personnel in FEMA apparently are highly capable and well trained, the top level of FEMA administrative managers (all political appointees with no particularly well-suited professional backgreound for the heavy responsibility they were given) have been shown to be shamefully imcompetent. The sum of all of this is that it is yet another demonstration of the pseudo-patrician disdain and disregard Bush has for those who are not card-carrying members of his cozy little Republican family of wealthy entrepreneurs and the upper-class elite. A joke making the rounds recently highlighted this "attitude shear factor" as follows: "At a recent press conference, the President was asked by one of the media reporters how he felt about the Wade versus Roe question; Bush apocryphally replied, 'Well, I don't really care how they leave New Orleans.' " Funny yes, but as with all humorous allusions, there is a grain of starkly grim truth hidden within it that lies very close indeed to the surface.
Three weeks after the disaster, Bush et al are now finally frantically putting damage-control strategisms into place, making the obligatory public appearances, and getting the best men involved in the attempts to first of all explain and excuse Bush's initial apparent disregard, and second start the massive machinery of Federal recovery efforts. Yeah, bettah late than nevah, y'all, but bidness first!....
Just yesterday, we were told in a national address that the money for the recovery (initial estimates range in the vicinity of more than $200 billion dollars and that's probably way off the actual , eventual cost) will be paid by us, the US taxpayer, which effectively means that without an increase in taxes (which Dubya says he will never do) that the national debt, already in the multi-trillions, will soar still higher into earth orbit. Meanwhile, complaints about the lack of Federal troops, National Guard resources, and all of the other usually available disaster resources are still not being associated with the terribly costly, needless, and entirely STUPID US war in Iraq (that has also cost, to date, another 200 billion dollars of national debt) that has drained the nation dry of emergency response and public order personnel (read: national guard troops, local law enforcement officials, and fire/emergency personnel, who have all been sent off to 'democritise' the Southwest Asian region. Anyone who cares enough to read back through past months (years, even) of rational, scholarly criticism of the present Iraq quagmire, will quickly stumble across all the Elektra-like predictions of serious problems within the US homeland, should we suffer any internal national emergencies (such as Hurricane Katrina) while half the nation's entire military forces are off adventuring for the neoconservative cause. And now all the little warning Swallows of prescient concern have returned to Capistrano (again!). Surprise, surprise.
While there is no doubt in my mind that much of the incredible poverty, economic misfortune, and social suffering that New Orleans is well noted for are due to a legacy of established racial bias that has not ever been entirely eradicated, the fact is also not lost on me that a good part of the onus for improving the lot of poor southern Blacks has fallen on the shoulders of that very same underclass, only to be shirked. One of the many problems with New Orleans is that it has become a city of severely polar stratified economic status, wherein a permanently poor underclass has grown up to maintain the services, structure, and image of New Orleans the fabulous Mardi-Gras/Jazz tourist destination. Corruption, crime, gang activity, drug running and addiction, prostitution, and a whole host of illicit activities are so thoroughly blended into the infrastructure of urban New Orleans that the recent unfortunate events involving destruction wreaked by Hurricane Katrina have had an effect not unlike that of a cherry bomb tossed into a hole full of rats. That sounds cruel and harsh at best, but to a certain extent it is true, and it is now no longer possible to ignore or overlook that softer, grossly rotten, and seamy underside of a city best known to the oblivious northern tourists as a place to find seasonal cheap thrills and jazz.
On the flip side of the coin, with the notorious American predilection for exaggerated political correctness now coming to the fore and as the nation responds to New Orleans' suffering, I find much to worry about over the logistics of that response. Given the level of corruption and graft that has traditionally resided in that city, it is worrisome to think about all the billions of dollars in Federal aid, grants, loans, and rebuilding funds that are starting to pour into the area. What about oversight? What about effective administration and tracking of all that influx of wealth? How can we determine that it is going to end up where it is functionally needed, and in a form that will most assist homeless, distraught, and impoverished people instead of lining some local fat-cat's pockets?
There is also still another concern that rears in my mind and that concerns efforts to relocate New Orleans refugees in other states. Yesterday, a media person interviewed a family of poor Blacks who had been brought to the Stockton (California) area. The wretchedly poor mother of 7 children was ecstatic about the relocation and expressed her determination (in very, very bad grammar) to remain in California, remarking on how 'friendly' all the people here are, and how it (California) was such a radical improvement over their circumstances back in New Orleans. When I heard that, I couldn't help but reflect: "Multiply that sentiment by thousands of similar ones, and let's see what sort of eventual impact THAT demographic effect has on the deteriorating quality of life in this already over-crowded state of former plenty and prosperity!" Oh yeah, that's all we need here...a ready-made impoverished underclass of thousands of poor Blacks to swell out the ranks of those already on public support, involved in gang affairs, drug dealing, prostitution, and all of the wonderful depredations vastly poor people have become so used to (albeit much of it in order to survive in an uncaring environment of hate and racial polarity). Diversity is our strength? I think not...unless those 'diverse elements' are seriously interested in contributing positively to society, the economy, and the overall level of American cultural welfare.
In terms of the question that has come up, given the absolute and complete destruction of New Orleans that has taken place, "Can we rebuild New Orleans?", my feeling is that it would be best to simply plough the entire area under and relocate everyone in another part of the State of Louisiana that is not so dreadfully vulnerable to massive flooding and tropical storms. Yes, New Orleans has a cultural legacy as the 'birthplace' of jazz and yes, the city of New Orleans is synonymous with the spirit of Mardi Gras, but are those claims to fame worth a massive rebuilding effort costing hundreds of billions of dollars, simply to have similar natural disasters threaten the area again in future? If New Orleans were built on higher ground (above sea level and not below it), I'd immediately say yes. However, most of the city lies below sea level and unless a vastly expensive floor prevention program were undertaken (such as that used to protect the port of Amsterdam in the Nederlands), it simply doesn't make any sense at al to toss all that Federal money into a sink-hole. Money is, after all, what its all about in life; that's the crass, perhaps even cruel, but unignorable bottom line. Is a legacy of Mardi Gras and jazz worth 500 plus billion dollars? That's one question I won't have any chance to weigh in on personally, but you can bet your bottom dollar that I will have the 'pleasure' of sharing the burden of such a Mad Hatter reconstruction scheme (along with all other Americans who are smart enough to live in areas that are not subject to frequent natural disasters) in the immediate future.
Meanwhile,
there seems to be no doubt that (figuratively) Bush fished while New Orleans drowned (to put a new twist on that Neronic phrase).
Life in America! Don't you love it? What concerns me personally the most about
the sad events in Louisiana is the plight of
the thousands of poor pets abandoned to the flood waters. While human critters
have been given a sophisticated brain to complement their basic spinal cord, animals of course
lack the supposed benefits of higher rational thought (to the best of our
knowledge) and must rely on their human masters for everything from basic food
and shelter to love and affection. The fact that pets were left behind in the
wake of Hurricane Katrina is partly understandable, since rescue crews were
under strict orders not to remove animals--humans only were airlifted to dry
ground--but that doesn't lessen the tragedy. Now that the rescue and relief
response is under way in New Orleans, animal advocate groups such as the ASPCA
are now being allowed in to rescue family pets abandoned in that area. A number
of these are being taken to other states and being placed with 'pet foster
parents' pending identification of their owners and repatriation. Recently we
took in one such lucky dog, a young (6 months) Siberian female, to live with us
and our two Siberian adult dogs. She's a beautiful and smart little thing and it
reminds me that her story is just one of so very many thousands like it. She is,
of course, one of the lucky ones. Many were unable to survive and were killed by
the rising waters, starvation, dehydration, and lack of protection from the
elements. The immensity of the whole New Orleans tragedy is so far beyond our
human ability to conceive of anything so all pervasive that our attempts to sort
it all out and make some sense of it all is marginal at best. The tragic plight
of the animals is just one single face of this many-faceted dilemma and I
suppose the supreme lesson that we may grasp from the experience is that no
matter how badly we human beings manage to screw up our own affairs, visit pain
and suffering upon each other, and inflict misfortune upon other elements
of our world, nature is ultimately and by far the most powerful and awesome
force to reckon with in our universe. To grasp that fact is to necessarily grasp
a small bit of humility, in the course of our lavish self-adulation as clever
little opposed-thumb primates. An old aphorism puts it succinctly: "Man
proposes, nature disposes."
In New Orleans, I am certain that many of the abandoned animals left behind belonged to poor people who in many cases lacked automobiles and/or personal transportation. I am equally certain, knowing and appreciating the strong bonds that exist between animal lovers and their pets, that any pet owners who did have a car and evacuated prior to the storm's hitting New Orleans took their family pets with them. An unanswerable question remains concerning how many New Orleans residents who did have personal transportation and could have evacuated, didn't. One can only speculate on how many voluntarily (and foolishly) elected to remain at home and not leave, having refused that strongly advised course of action. Irresponsibility is a personal characteristic of many individuals, but I would bet even without seeing any reliable data, that the poorer one is in America, the more irresponsible the person. In a city like New Orleans, known for its dirt-poor poverty level among the 67% of the population that are black, one could make book that basic ignorance and plain old stupidity ranked high up on the list of 'irresponsibly factors' in that catastrophe.
I set out with the idea of tackling the concept of 'attitude' herein before I got side-tracked by the Imperious Attitude of 'Augustus Caesar Bush'. I was set to thinking about the role 'attitude' plays in current American society by a trip to the local bicycle store today. There is in Sacramento a bicycle business known as 'The Bicycle Works'. The owner apparently has contributed to pro-bicycle causes and advocacy groups and supports pro-bicycle causes in the community. As such, I would have expected him to be a friendlier individual on a personal basis--that is, on a business-to-customer basis. I was recently looking for a couple of odd items to equip my latest road bike, a 1969 French 'August Sutter' 10-speed derailleur that I recently restored (or rather, perhaps I should say 'upgraded'). The bike was an acquisition from eBay, where I 'won' it from a fellow on the East Coast who was selling it cheaply. After it arrived, I found that there was a slight patina of surface rust on some of the chrome parts and the running gear, brakes, crank-set, and all were quite out-dated, hence I added modern brakes, shifters, derailleur, and a number of other things to make it suitable for contemporary street riding. At any rate, lacking a couple of odd bits, I decided to go to 'The Bicycle Works' since it was Sunday and closer to me than a preferred shop that lay across town.
The owner of said store appears to be in his late 50s, has white hair, and a somewhat imperious manner ("Don't waste my time" and "I do not suffer fools gladly") about him. "Old Fart Attitude" is how I would describe this affect. It's the familiar old "I know everything there is about bicycles, since I've been in the business for 35 years, and there's nothing you can teach me" phenomenon. Well, I was asking for a part that I had just ordered several more of from a shop back East, and this gentleman takes me to task for asking for something that he says his many years in bicycles assures him doesn't exist. Frankly it was more of the same 'sour' attitude that keeps me away from his store to begin with, and here it was again. It quite takes all the fun out of this otherwise enjoyable aspect of bicycle culture--pleasant and civil interaction between cyclists and bicycle retailers. What struck me as particularly ironic about this head-on encounter with rudeness was the fact that when I entered the shop, one of his young desk clerks was commenting to a colleague about how he had run into a rude customer the previous day. Apparently the clerk had asked the fellow the usual "How may I help you?". Not receiving a answer, he asked again. Still no response. A third query prompted the customer to glaringly turn on him and icily declare "I'll let you know when you can help me!" Of course, it wasn't the remark as much as the obviously hostile manner in which the retort was delivered that had bothered the clerk. This clerk waited on me after my initial encounter with the 'old fart attitude' owner and he was a very pleasant, friendly, and good natured individual--not at all supercilious or obsequious in his attempt to help me find what I was looking for.
There are many kinds of 'attitude' being flung about right now in our culture, as 'flinging attitude' seems to be perceived as cool by today's adolescents (just as much as it was when I was a kid). The difference between the affective 'attitude' in my youth and that currently in vogue is that today's youthful attitude is being largely designed, configured, and fueled by the the commercial marketing harpies and sales vultures of the corporations that target the wealthy consumer population that young people constitute. This is yet another instance of an anti-social youth nuance that has been isolated as a marketable gimmick to co-opt, exploit, and use to sell more stupid material stuff to unsuspecting juveniles. 'Attitude' of course is for the most part an actively negative personality characteristic, whether it is the coolly cynical disdain of some post-pubescent dude who is 'stylin' to impress the chicks or the supremely cynical angst of some jaded old fart who thinks everyone about him is an idiot. Fortunately, great big gobs of 'attitude' are usually counteracted by one brief, sincere, and random smile encountered on the street between two perfect strangers who both recognise the fact that it is indeed a beautiful day. Sadly, there aren't many feelings surfacing in the New Orleans area right now except confusion, despair, rage, misunderstanding, resentfulness, and hopelessness.
In terms of the local Sacramento bicycle shop scene, there really isn't much choice for a cyclist who wants the best in both bicycle repair competence and cycling knowledge. Close by my neighborhood are two other bike shops, both actually on the same street and only a few blocks apart from each other. The first is 'College Cyclery', a local landmark located near Sacramento City College (a 2-year "junior" college) that has been in existence since the 1920s. Ironically, it suffers from both the adolescent 'cool attitude' and the 'old fart attitude', since its owner is another of those white-haired young Methuselahs who have been in the business since Orville flew over Kittyhawk and he hires adolescents as help who are right out of the youthful disdain mold. Too bad.
The other shop was up until recently quite good
and really the only serious local choice of a diehard bicyclist, That shop would
be 'The Bicycle Business', also situated near Sacramento City College, but a
place that caters to those who prefer expensive imported Italian (&
Belgian) frames (Colnago, Mercyx, etc.) and custom-built road bikes. They
formerly were quite a good shop, where one could find friendly people who were serious
about bicycles--whether for road racing, mountain riding, or commuting. Very
recently the ownership and management of this shop changed (I am uncertain
exactly how, but the former top-notch mechanic is no longer there, nor is the
most prominent of the former owners). The current owners (if that is what they
actually are) are very young and still possessed of a bit of that 'cool' factor
I mentioned that is a bother.
Across the highway and further on is another shop, 'American River Bicycles', which seems to be operated by a group of young mountain bikers who affect post-punk attitudes, style, and mannerisms (a product of the 'extreme sports' school). Not exactly a favorite place on my list of shops and also a store that once took an order of mine for a 54 tooth chain ring for my mountain bike, promising it within several weeks, and then failing to obtain it or even notify me about the status of the order. Almost a year later I finally got an admission out of the owner (after persistent badgering) that he couldn't find the chain ring in the size I wanted (I ended up getting it from 'The Bicycle Business' guys, who had no apparent trouble locating one, despite the abnormally large size). 'American River Bicycles' niche clientele is the 'family consumer', selling mostly to middle-class urban whites who want a bicycle to putz around on, but know absolutely nothing about them at all. For people like me, this is a place to stay well away from.
Sidelight: One of the positive effects stemming from the current high gas prices (as the cost of a barrel of Saudi Light Crude heads towards $100 per) is that fact that there is a noticeable increase in the number of bicycle commuters to be seen on the streets of Sacramento. American consumers need and deserve a swift kick in their seat of awareness, after decades of cheap oil and wasteful petroleum consumption habits, so I cannot help but watch the whole process of consumer agony over gas prices with a certain measure of smug satisfaction. Every time I see a large SUV type vehicle on the street I find it hard to suppress what would likely be termed a shit-eating grin, knowing that the pain of feeding its maw is starting to really hurt. The fact that people continue to buy such monsters as the Lincoln Navigator, the Ford Expedition, and the Cadillac Escalade (not to mention the Hummer) in the face of present fuel prices stupefies me to no end. P.T. Barnum's well known axiom again, I guess ("there's a fool born every minute"). Which reminds me of a quote I recently ran across: "How can we ever make things perfectly fool-proof, when nature keeps coming up with more perfect fools?"
Ah well, the search for a perfect bicycle shop goes on fruitlessly, but the daily encounter with various types of attitude is going remarkably well. Meanwhile, be well and watch out (ever vigilant!) for dreaded 'brain rot syndrome' (not necessarily an exclusive legacy of Hurricane Katrina!). PS: The cartoon above left is the work of one of my favorite cartoon artists, Dan Piraro. Aside from perfectly capturing the absurdity of the human race in his regular daily cartoon series 'BIZARRO', Dan has in this particular bit of humorous illustration masterfully framed the ultimate human irony: the creation of new human life is actually an act of death. Ye shall reap whereof ye shall sow, since as we all know, the number one leading cause of death is birth!
Alors! Chez Doc Boink, September 2005.
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