LESSONS LINGER
Taxpayers should not be responsible for cleaning up victims’ lives
BY HEIDI HARRIS

Hurricane Katrina continues to teach us all lessons, even months after she struck. The federal response has been costly and ineffective, and the truly needy have been impossible to distinguish from the opportunists.

Forgive me for sounding uncaring, but why is it the federal government’s job to replace anyone’s home lost to a natural disaster? I understand the role of FEMA in attempting to manage the immediate aftermath of an event, but beyond that, no one is owed a permanent home. FEMA has now created trailer “villages” in the Gulf area, consisting of row upon row of government-funded trailers, given to people who have been displaced.

In Baker, Louisiana, just north of Baton Rouge, nearly 600 trailers have been provided to evacuees, along with three meals a day, laundry and medical services, and transportation to the local Wal-Mart. Gee, how can I get those services?

Since the nice residents of the FEMA village have all day to get their lives in order, by looking for jobs or permanent housing, you’d think they’d do so. Not exactly.

According to the Christian Science Monitor, after the kids go to school, the residents while away the hours chatting with neighbors and strolling down the trailer-lined streets. Why look for a job when every need has been met? After all, the government’s giving you 18 months to get it together. Those of us who can’t imagine living in a trailer for any length of time would need no additional motivation. That’s not the case for people who are content to live life at government expense.

Natural disasters illustrate very clearly the differences in attitudes among citizens. Resourceful people will always find ways to get through the hard times. If you depend on the government for everything, you’re helpless. Why else would someone spend three days on an overpass in the direct sun, staring up at the sky? Resourceful people could be clearly seen on television finding shade, water and anything that would float. When government is supposed to take care of everything for you, why would it cross your mind to make provisions for your own survival?

One couple from Las Vegas was staying in a hotel in downtown New Orleans, so when they heard about the hurricane and knew they’d be trapped, they immediately went to the nearest store to buy food, water, and emergency items. In addition, they filled the hotel bathtub with clean water. Although they evacuated the first chance they got, they weren’t expecting the government to rescue them.

A recent poll conducted by the Marguerite Casey Foundation asked rich and poor people about the causes of poverty. Not surprisingly, people at or near the poverty level were more than twice as likely as rich people to say that factors beyond their control were responsible for their financial situation. Cause and effect does not compute. When the government is responsible for you, it’s also responsible for how well off you are.

Emergency housing is one thing, but building entire FEMA “villages” and allowing people to live there for 18 months will benefit no one. Ultimately, we are all responsible for ourselves. The government should not be responsible for picking up the pieces of every American’s life, and we do our citizens a disservice by allowing them to believe otherwise. LW

Listen to Heidi Harris on KXNT 840-AM’s morning show from 5 to 9 a.m. Contact her at heidi.harris@infinitybroadcasting.com.