Time to let New Orleans sink?

The only ones keeping them there and in that situation are themselves.

That is not true. First of all, if they decide to move on their own, who will buy their home? Aside from the fact that no homes are selling today, who would buy a home in an area that is constantly being flooded? Many have tried to escape, but cannot financially. Try to put yourself in their shoes, no money in the bank, the only asset they have can't be sold. It's easy to say it's their fault, but such an attitude doesn't always hold water. We could easily extend such an attitude to areas of the world such as Darfur, or anywhere that there are refugees.
We have potential refugees in our own country. It seems that some people are more concerned with refugees in Darfur than they are with refugees in their own country. My God, these are our citizens.

Originally posted by bow chikka bow bow
Why should anyone be concerned about the people who live in NO?

They CHOOSE to live below sea level. They saw what happened after katrina, yet they decided to stay anyways. To hell with them.

Are you really that COLD-HEARTED as the snowman in your avatar?

reply to post by spacevisitor


If I lived in an area well known to receive catastrophic damage from natural disasters, demanding someone help me is the last thing I would be doing.

They CHOOSE to live there. Let them suffer the consequences of their choice. Thats called personal responsibility which I know isn't a very common trait down in NO given the welfare rate of its citizens, but they NEED to learn the hard way evidently.

One guy who isn't all that broken hearted about the impending Gustav doom:

To say "the hell with em" concerning people who live in New Orleans because of the hurricane situation...you might as well say "the hell with em" in all of the other dangerous areas of the North America as well.

To hell with Los Angeles and San Francisco as well, because they've already been struck with powerful earthquakes before and they're going to get even worse ones again.

To hell with the citizens of coastal Hawaii and Alaska, as well. Because eventually they're going to get swept away by a tsunami and they'll have nobody to blame but themselves.

Also, to hell with the Seattle area as well because they have to worry about earthquakes, tsunamis as well as Mount Rainier pouring pyroclastic flows into the region.

To hell with me and all of the idiots living here on Vancouver Island, as well, because of the earthquake/tsunami threat.

Oh yeah and you can't forget those simple minded folk living in the American mid-west and tornado alley. To hell with em if they're going to live in a part of the country with heavy drought, dangerous flooding and loads of tornadoes/violent storms.

...oh, wait...New Orleans is the only predominantly black "lower class" region of all the dangerous places I listed off. I wonder if that had anything to do with singling out New Orleans over the other danger zones? I edited in this paragraph after you added the black looter photo from MySpace, because I'm sure that was no coincident either!

I could go on and on with this sarcastic rant, but I will stop now.

I'm going to close it however by saying that conversations like this is what is wrong with our "western" society today. Money and economics (which is just a scam to control us anyway...google Money as Debt) are more important than human life.

And just because people choose to live in a certain part of the world that might be dangerous to live in (and sorry to say most parts of the world are dangerous to live inside of in one way or another), doesn't mean that they should die or lose everything that belongs to them just because they made that choice and something bad will happen. Whether it's New Orleans or anywhere else, that's their home, and who are we (or the government) to judge whether or not they can live there or not?

Money and economics is a necessary evil but it is NOT and never will be more important than human live. Although by the way most people act these days, people sure as hell don't think that way anymore.

[edit on 31-8-2008 by matth]

reply to post by matth


Actually money is more important than human life. Need I list the evidence?

I never said they deserve to lose everything. If they do, tough cookies, thats their problem, and not one to be unconstitutionally subsidized by the taxpayers.

reply to post by matth


A star for you matth because you expressed exactly my feelings about the matter.

reply to post by bow chikka bow bow


Actually money is not more important than human life. Just because the "western" society we live in puts us in a society where you need money to survive, it doesn't make it more important than human life. And if you or anyone else here (whether it's 1 reader or 1000 readers) think that money is more important than human life, then I feel sorry for you and your pathetic existence around material things. You can't take any of your money with you when you die.

And because New Orleans is so dangerous to live in and they'll be getting what they deserve when this hurricane strikes, I can only assume that you live up in the mountains protected from all natural/man made disasters?

reply to post by spacevisitor


Thanks Spacevisitor I am glad there are at least some people out there who get what I'm saying!

What do you mean "Let it sink." New Orleans is going to sink no matter what we do. If you mean don't spend any more money on it and let the people move somewhere safe. Then I say "Way to go!!" No more government handouts for stupid people.

I do not ask for a government handout when my roof blows off and my living room floods in a monsoon storm. People have a choice where they live. At least people with two good legs anyway. People who are on the government dole can collect their handouts in another city as well as NO.

Let the rich people have the swampland to play in with their atv's and swamp boats.

There was a refugee who came here to Arizona and was given a house rent free to live in. They destroyed it and left without notifying the owners. I am sure others have the same story to tell.
[edit on 8-31-2008 by groingrinder]

[edit on 8-31-2008 by groingrinder]

Originally posted by matthThanks Spacevisitor I am glad there are at least some people out there who get what I'm saying!

No worries, darlin'! There are PLENTY of people that share your lack of grasp on reality. In fact, a lot of them will be going back to their death trap complaining about how they lost everything they invested in and expecting others to pick up the tab.

Why would I give my pity to people who are aware that NO is a death trap but continue to invest their $$ and life to live there? It is idiotic and extremely unwise. They have made the choice to live there and thus, my pity will be better spent elsewhere.

Only fools pity fools.

reply to post by bow chikka bow bow


Yep -- it's pretty damn easy to weather the storms when you're hundreds of miles away from them. I'm in Utah right now -- no hurricanes, no tornadoes...it's barely sprinking outside, what is everyone whining about???


This is something I've learned these past few years:

If someone says they never gossip...they're probably one of the biggest gossipers around. In fact, said person may even tell you a bit of gossip as a way of proving they don't gossip. (Didn't make sense to me either.)

If some guy goes on some long sensational rant about how women should be respected and all other guys are pigs...he'll probably be the first man to grab your boobs after the first round of beers.

If someone says that they would never, ever demand help during a natural disaster and that everyone that does is a whiney loser that deserves it... Well, I’m sure you can imagine.

reply to post by justamomma


I assure you that I am no fool, and I also assume that if you're going to make a comment like that towards the people of New Orleans, then you can also go on the record by making those same comments towards the people of Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver and St. Louis. And if you don't, then that just proves your level of hypocrisy and ignorance on the situation.

And I don't think these people are looking for your "pity". Maybe instead they're looking for a little bit of help that their government did not provide for them three years ago.

I will continue by saying that it is very easy to look at these people as second class citizens looking for handouts when all you're doing it watching this unfold on cable news, or maybe you're in a close-by city watching the refugees come in. But I would be willing to bet any amount of money that if the shoe was on the other foot and this was happening in your city, you'd be the first to cry and beg for a "handout" as well.

I will close by saying that karma is a biotch, and if you don't believe in karma then I will refer you to the quote, "what goes around comes around" and we'll see what happens when another natural disaster, maybe not a hurricane but something, affects your life and we will see how you react.

reply to post by matth


Hmm.. so, what are *you* doing to help out? All I see is that you are expecting from and blaming the government to do the dirty work that I doubt you are willing to do yourself.

Being the hypocritical bitch I am, I will be housing and taking care of general needs for some of my friend's family who may not have had the sense to stay out, but at least had the sense to get out.

And the whole karma schpill you gave shows you are lacking that grasp of reality that I referred to earlier. If it is about karma, then I guess we could say that these ppl must be paying for something they did which, in that case, they deserve even less pity.

However, I have a better grasp of reality and can see that nature doesn't pick and choose based on what ppl have done in their lives. To think otherwise is silly.


[edit on 31-8-2008 by justamomma]

Unfortunetly I can see both arguments here. People too poor to move and all there investments are not worth selling.

But the real issue is if you and your family have survive a disaster like Katrina why the heck would you stay? Chalk it up as a one time disaster deal? I think many jobs were created in the wake of Katrina and government money for relief keep them there.

If I have to choose between my families safety or a house I choose my family. That is what is disturbing to me, anyone can move their family to a rescue home out of harms way if they choose. You need very little resources to make this happen.

Hence I refuse to live on the coast or areas which this could happen. The end result is what the people get if they want to live there.

Do we say to hell with middle America every time some small town gets destroyed by a tornado? Should we write of Los Angeles and San Francisco....... surely those folks are wise enough to move away from an earthquake prone city? Surely they have the wherewithall to just pull up stakes and travel further north, south or east. What about flood-prone Cape Fear? What about places so inherently cold and ice-stormed that no sensible person would live there?

To me these are all non-issues. NOLA has been sub-sealevel for its entire history. So has Tampa, Florida. Bad things have, can and will happen there. Let us all just write off places that get hit with disaster -- to hell with them!! Right?? Right?? no, that's dead wrong. Find me a place in the continental U.S. that is 100% devoid of possibility of disaster. Perhaps some forgotten corner of Nevada? Bullcrap.

People live where they are. The reasons for moving or growing up in a place are legion. In my opinion, very few folks radically change their lives by choosing where to live and doing so. Only the very rich get to choose.

So, should the U.S., as a nation of voters, elect to abandon any city or town, damn their eyes if they choose a city such as New Orleans, rich with culture and diversity -- not to mention an incredibly vital shipping and refinery port ? If that ever happens, then I submit to you that the bulk of America, land of the free and home of the brave, has just become so self-serving and selfish that they care for naught but their own local wellbeing.

Originally posted by justamomma
Hmm.. so, what are *you* doing to help out? All I see is that you are expecting from and blaming the government to do the dirty work that I doubt you are willing to do yourself.

What am I doing to help out? I am doing nothing because I live in another country in another part of the World. It doesn't mean I'm not allowed to have an opinion and it doesn't mean I'm not allowed to debate with people like you. I will donate money to relief aid just like I did in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina, even though it's probably not even going to go to helping the people who really need the help.

Beyond that there is nothing I can do, and I have no intentions of bringing up the money I donate as a way to brag about the fact that I'm doing something to help and rub my good deed in everyone else's face for not doing anything.

Being the hypocritical bitch I am, will be housing some of my friend's family who may not have had the sense to stay out, but at least had the sense to get out.

Well I never called you that so I hope this post isn't going to turn into one of those things where you start putting words into my mouth and then arguing with me the words you put there yourself. I'm glad you're housing some of your friend's family who aren't going to be as fortunate as you.

So once they come into your home are you going to give them a judgmental lecture about how they are fools for living there and that they should not get your pity and they're getting what they deserve for living in New Orleans, just like what you're doing on this message board?

And the whole karma schpill you gave shows you are lacking that grasp of reality that I referred to earlier. If it is about karma, then I guess we could say that these ppl must be paying for something they did which, in that case, they deserve even less pity.

Ahh, more putting words in my mouth. I was talking about karma in the sense of judging people for living in a dangerous part of the world and talking about what they should and should not do. Maybe one day you will be put in that same situation and we will see how you react. That's all I meant and for you to imply anything more is just you putting words in my mouth, which means you can't debate what I actually said so you have to invent arguments to debate with instead.

However, I have a better grasp of reality and can see that nature doesn't pick and choose based on what ppl have done in their lives. To think otherwise is silly.

Ok good, you don't believe in karma. So that's why I included the quote "what goes around comes around", because the same thing can be implied. Anyway if you want to debate I'll debate you, but if you're just going to put words in my mouth then don't bother because I have no interest in debating the ignorant. That's why I come to this website, to get away from ignorance and the close minded.

So Argentus,

Are you saying you would submit the life of your family, mother, father, wife, kids for a city rich in culture over and over again?

I don't get it except for personal choice on where to live thats it! I'm not arguing helping out victims but they are victims of choice as would you be if you chose to stay there.

When the place is underwater... the only ones doing any rebuilding will be the fish. It doesn't matter how poor a person is... they can't live in the water.

reply to post by annestacey


A star for you, because I think that is something that we all can agree on!

Originally posted by jwstarry
If Gustav makes a direct hit on New Orleans, is it time to let Mother Nature reclaim the entire Mississippi Delta region?

If not, is that something you might ever consider?

With the threat of globalwarming and the onslaught of more frequent and stronger storms, does it make any sense to continue to rebuild the region? When does apathy set in? Apathy towards rebuilding, apathy towards giving charity to those that stay, apathy towards sending tax dollars which could be used elsewhere.

I personally feel it is time to let New Orleans slip quietly underwater and meet the ssame fate as Atlantis. That is my two cents just wondering if anyone has reached the same conclusion or quickly heading that way.

Oh my gosh i was thinking today about New orleans going the same way as Atlantis i said to my Mum aswell "i bet New Orleans sinks before long with all the water its just like a boat get to much water on it and its going to start to sink"