Katrina in Perspective

As we continue to try to wrap our heads around the devastation wrought by Katrina and ask questions about the government's response, I think it is worthwhile to take time out for a reality check here and there. A little perspective never hurt anyone, now did it?

Thus far, the loss of life related to Katrina is being reported at 648. Surely the death toll will rise in the days ahead. And of course we have also seen massive destruction to property and infrastructure. The magnitude of the disaster cannot be understated.

Nonetheless, those who are attempting to exploit Katrina for political purposes drone on endlessly about the government's belated and ineffectual response. And indeed it was belated and ineffectual. But they go on to speak of the racism which left the predominantly poor and African-American communities behind. On Wednesday, George Galloway repeatedly raised a disingenuous refrain about the government's failure to "even pick up the bodies." (No, they were just focused on search and rescue, but no matter.) Some have raised questions about Bush and other administration officials being on vacation when the disaster struck. We've been told that this is all the result of global warming. That it exposes the inherent inequities of the capitalist model. We've also heard the chorus of commentary about how this was never supposed to happen in America. This is the sort of scene only to be witnessed in a Sri Lanka or some other Third World sinkhole, not emblazoned across TV screens in such a wealthy and capable country. How could such a thing happen in America?

Well ignoring the ethnocentric arrogance and latent racism inherent in such a question for a moment, how does this situation really compare with other such tragedies? And is it such a shocking development that it all happened right here, in America?

In August 2003, nearly 15,000 people died as the result of an unprecedented heatwave in France. Yes, that's right. The equivalent of five 9/11's! In a country in which air conditioning is much more rare than the US, the elderly suffered disproportionately in comparison to other demographics. And to whom should the blame for this huge, possibly forseeable disaster be assigned?

The new estimate comes a day after the French Parliament released a harshly worded report blaming the deaths on a complex health system, widespread failure among agencies and health services to coordinate efforts, and chronically insufficient care for the elderly...The heat wave hit during the August vacation period, when doctors, hospital staff and many others take leave.

And that's not all. While Jacques Chirac continued to enjoy his vacation in Quebec that August, the bodies of some of France's dead were left to decompose or just went unclaimed.

Bernard Mazeyrie, managing director of France's largest undertakers', noted that many of the bereaved were in no hurry to bury their aged loved ones, preferring to leave them on ice while they stayed sur la plage to finish their holidays.

Dozens of victims of France's heatwave who remained unclaimed despite appeals for relatives to come forward have been buried in paupers' graves in an official ceremony.

Has a rather familiar ring, doesn't it?

Using the logic streams of the exploiters in the case of Katrina, what sort of conclusions should we have drawn about France, the French people and the French government in 2003? That they discriminate against the elderly and poor? That Chirac didn't care about the elderly or those not wealthy enough to afford air conditioning? That the government did not respond quickly enough? That perhaps if French troops hadn't been in Ivory Coast they could have supported the relief effort? That the French don't have enough respect for the sanctity of family or respect for the dead to claim bodies or to give them a proper burial? That this is the cost of France not doing more to curb emissions related to global warming? And what of the rich doctors who played on the Riviera while so many lost their lives? Should we condemn the socialist model for its inefficacy? Should we have thought that in a country as rich and powerful and technically sophisticated as France, that it is inconceivable that such a fate should befall so many? After all, isn't that the sort of thing that happens in some Third World sinkhole?

Indeed.