Ideology vs. Reality

Daily Kos posted this comment about the ideological implications of the Hurricane Katrina disaster:

We have two competing world views in American politics. The first says that government cannot help people. That government must be as small as possible, and exists only to provide security from external enemies. The other says that government can be a force for good and can help make people's lives better.

This week, we are seeing the effects of the lack of government. The American people are seeing what happens when the GOP worldview is dominant. We've talked about the two disasters -- the hurricane itself, which was unavoidable, and the response to the hurricane and lack of leadership, which was.

We are seeing a third disaster -- the conservative world view itself, crashing and burning as reality meets ideology. Where government programs are slashed in the name of Norquist's drownable government, only to see an entire major city wiped off the face of the map as a result.

The reality that many people seem to be out of touch with is the reality of human suffering, especially those slow, personal disasters that show up more often in dry statistics than in dramatic media images. However this is exactly the reality that Jesus lived in and preached about. If people are thirsty, the only response that could be called Christian is to give them a drink. It is wise to identify and, where possible, eliminate the root causes of human suffering, but first, and always, human needs must be met.

The needs of about 30% of New Orleaners were not met; they were living in poverty. Many of these people were simply unable to leave the city before the storm. It is always the poor that suffer most in times of calamity, and this disaster is no exception. What we fail to recognize is that it costs society far, far more to rescue and repair than it would have cost to support and prevent beforehand—and those costs are not just economic, but also human and environmental. The reality is that any ideology that leaves human needs unmet will inevitably lead to disaster.

Comments

[Theodore Lukac]

You bring up a very salient point about the cost of prevention would have been substantially less than dealing with the fall out afterwards..... not to mention the human decency of it all.
ted

[Sylvia]

Thank you, and thanks for visiting!