nylabelle & laken1 -- i used 9/11 comparison as a reference point b/c after it happened many people were making a similar *type* of argument about overall prepardness and questioning why the buildings couldn't structurally withstand the heat. i *believe* that legislation is now in effect (at the very least it was discussed) dictacting that the iron in buildings be able to withstand a higher temperature.
the overall point is hindsight is 20/20. when things like this happen it's really easy to say "well why didn't x,y,z" occur to make you more prepared. but it's never that simple.
I would just like to add that I was not among those who was complaining that the Twin Towers weren't built to withstand the heat. I wouldn't even liken preparations for NO to those of 9/11. The water is warming in the Gulph Coast and the likelihood of an event like this increases with every hurricane season. I'm not blaming the city of NO, but rather I'm questioning the federal government and their 'cost effectiveness' in this whole scenario.
I do agree -- no one expects planes to be flown into skyscrapers, but the idea of a major hurricane hitting a coastal city in a flood plain isn't much of a stretch.
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"We live in an age where unnecessary things are our only necessities." --Oscar Wilde
I think that when something like this happens and there's a lack of the basic necessities of life, humanity starts to slip away and people are reduced to survival mode and instincts. Obviously, this is the case in NO. I never thought I would see this happen in the US.
Did you ever read Thomas Hobbes? He has a theory about Social Contract -- that laws and order are the only thing that separates man from animals, and that the loss of law & order is the loss of humanity as well. I don't mean to get all philosophical, but it's the first thing I thought of.
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"We live in an age where unnecessary things are our only necessities." --Oscar Wilde
NylaBelle wrote: I think that when something like this happens and there's a lack of the basic necessities of life, humanity starts to slip away and people are reduced to survival mode and instincts. Obviously, this is the case in NO. I never thought I would see this happen in the US. Did you ever read Thomas Hobbes? He has a theory about Social Contract -- that laws and order are the only thing that separates man from animals, and that the loss of law & order is the loss of humanity as well. I don't mean to get all philosophical, but it's the first thing I thought of.
Actually, that sounds really familar to me. I think I may have read that in one of my college classes.
Did you ever read Thomas Hobbes? He has a theory about Social Contract -- that laws and order are the only thing that separates man from animals, and that the loss of law & order is the loss of humanity as well. I don't mean to get all philosophical, but it's the first thing I thought of.
Yeah - that's the first thing I thought of, too. I've been thinking that all along with all the media propaganda (and not so much propaganda). I've always held what I thought was a healthy amount of skepticism towards Hobbes and other philosophers who describe government in this way but I don't know... maybe he was right. It's definitely something to ponder on, although I'll probably save it for a brighter day.