One of my sisters-in-law hails from New Orleans (Nawlins, if that helps). Her mother died several years ago, but her dad was still living in sis’s childhood home when Katrina hit. He went to a veteran’s hospital, and disappeared from the world for a few days; but he made it.
The house was a different story.
When my brother took him back to survey the damage just after they started letting people back in, he said there were two separate mold-lines throughout the house – one from the initial flooding, then another when the levy gave way again. There was almost nothing salvageable in the house.
My brother asked ‘Pop’ about insurance.
Pop was quiet for a minute, then said, “We hadn’t had a bad one in so long, and after Rose died I just didn’t see the point.”
He had let the coverage lapse.
But one thing I never heard him say – he never blamed anyone else for what happened to his house. Or for the wild travelogue nightmare that followed the storm. This guy is mostly blind, uses a walker, is in just generally not-good condition, but he found a way to survive. And he harbors no resentment.
Probably a die-hard Republican then, right?
No. Just a realist. He believes that we are responsible for ourselves, that government is not and cannot be the answer to everything that happens to us.
The Republicans believe that if we give cheese to big business, eventually big business will share the cheese. The Democrats believe we should take as much cheese away from business as possible, and then make a big show of giving it to the little people. The Libertarian says, “Make your own stinkin’ cheese” and wants the government to stay out of cheese distribution.
I used to live in Cincinnati, and I remember seeing an article or two every spring about the “river rats” who lived along the banks of the Ohio River. Every spring their homes would be flooded, and every spring you’d see pictures of the same sets of families crying and shaking their heads as their home was destroyed.
I still remember one interviewer asking, “Why do you keep coming back here?”
The answer: “The river is beautiful, and this is home. You don’t just leave your home. Besides, the government fixes it for me every year.“
If you believe the government is the answer to all of your problems, please read the Constitution. Please read the words and understand the people who gave this country a kick-start in the mid to late 1700s. They were not designing a welfare state; it has taken 200 years and the two major parties to make that happen.
