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09/08/2005: "New Orleans and the value of human life"

How does a free market society value human life?

Our Federal Government (under the influence of the Bush administration and their corporate financiers) had no problem rushing hundreds of thousands of troops to the middle east to protect freedom. When, it is now clear that the reasons for war were prefabricated and our interests are only to protect the valuable oil reserves from falling into the "wrong" hands. Yet, the same "conservatives" lacked the ambition to adequately protect a major metropolitan city in the USA from a predictable natural disaster. Tens of thousands of people in poverty were left behind in an evacuation because they lacked the funds to leave.

When a hurricane hit Cuba in 2004, the Castro government evacuated 1.5 million people, more than 10 percent of the country’s population. The Cubans lost 20,000 homes to that hurricane—-but not a single life was lost.

We as a nation have to start thinking about the influence our government has on each individual's perceived place in society. In a nation that rewards power and individualism with luxury and opportunity, it's no wonder some citizens have no problem looting during a national crisis. Our free market government loots countries devastated from war and poverty. Be it diamonds in Africa or Oil in the Middle East, our institutions are setting examples that citizens will continue to mimic on a personal scale.

The American Flag stands for all Americans. People should be praised for the commitment to their family and community, not valued by their labor and bank account.