Exhaustion, impotence, anger
Sep. 4th, 2005 07:32 amDrifts of land gulls all across the park; looks as though it is going to be a beautiful day.
I have been pretty impotent, you know, in the face of others' pain recently. I want my dear![[profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
larians to be OK, and am sure he will be, but there is something hopeless and miserable about not being able to make it better. He has been very brave and positive. Soon, this stupid situation will be over.
New Orleans is also on my mind. It's not just the human disaster - as many have pointed out, there have been far greater catastrophes in other areas of the world - no, this is different because of the aftermath. In most disasters, the tragedy happens and then there is rebuilding, painful, but comparatively fast. Here, the Hurricane seems to have just been the beginning. I have never seen such disintegration. It is like watching healthy teeth being pulled out of a mouth, and then watching the jaw suddenly crumble...
Where's the organisation? The infrastructure? The support for victims? What is the point in being able to 'Shock and Awe' the benighted population of another land if the richest country in the world cannot protect its own people? What is the point of all that money if there's no food, no medicine, no security, no care? To have the power of a giant overseas and no fresh water at home? Consider me shocked and awed now. The people deserve better than this.
Cities have spirits, I tell you. Every place has a genius loci, a spirit of place, made up of many things. Study London for any length of time and you will believe in the genius loci, for it is powerful and hard. Below, is a little cartoon of the genius loci of New Orleans, a child of stereotypes, kitsch-sinister, cute and nasty. My only beef with it is that it is called, 'Katrina will pay,' as though the hurricane was to blame. The hurricane is innocent. But those who have should have acted, and have done nothing, or those who have taken advantage of the carnage...these are a different matter. I like the pic, so here it is:
http://skary.net/katrinaDA.jpg
Don't know why I can't sleep, I'm pretty tired. Maybe I should just go and sit in the back garden, watch the morning grow bright.
P.S Forgot to say, prints, posters, magnets, stamps, etc, of the picture are for sale, all proceeds to the Red Cross. Those who are interested, check outkatytowell's last entry in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
darkvictoria, or her stuff at deviantArt store, (http://www.deviantart.com/print/197606/) and cafepress (http://www.cafepress.com/skary) for more information.
I have been pretty impotent, you know, in the face of others' pain recently. I want my dear
larians to be OK, and am sure he will be, but there is something hopeless and miserable about not being able to make it better. He has been very brave and positive. Soon, this stupid situation will be over.New Orleans is also on my mind. It's not just the human disaster - as many have pointed out, there have been far greater catastrophes in other areas of the world - no, this is different because of the aftermath. In most disasters, the tragedy happens and then there is rebuilding, painful, but comparatively fast. Here, the Hurricane seems to have just been the beginning. I have never seen such disintegration. It is like watching healthy teeth being pulled out of a mouth, and then watching the jaw suddenly crumble...
Where's the organisation? The infrastructure? The support for victims? What is the point in being able to 'Shock and Awe' the benighted population of another land if the richest country in the world cannot protect its own people? What is the point of all that money if there's no food, no medicine, no security, no care? To have the power of a giant overseas and no fresh water at home? Consider me shocked and awed now. The people deserve better than this.
Cities have spirits, I tell you. Every place has a genius loci, a spirit of place, made up of many things. Study London for any length of time and you will believe in the genius loci, for it is powerful and hard. Below, is a little cartoon of the genius loci of New Orleans, a child of stereotypes, kitsch-sinister, cute and nasty. My only beef with it is that it is called, 'Katrina will pay,' as though the hurricane was to blame. The hurricane is innocent. But those who have should have acted, and have done nothing, or those who have taken advantage of the carnage...these are a different matter. I like the pic, so here it is:
http://skary.net/katrinaDA.jpg
Don't know why I can't sleep, I'm pretty tired. Maybe I should just go and sit in the back garden, watch the morning grow bright.
P.S Forgot to say, prints, posters, magnets, stamps, etc, of the picture are for sale, all proceeds to the Red Cross. Those who are interested, check out
katytowell's last entry in darkvictoria, or her stuff at deviantArt store, (http://www.deviantart.com/print/197606/) and cafepress (http://www.cafepress.com/skary) for more information.