Tolerable destruction

I think we remember, that what laid

the catastrophe of Hurricane Katrina

most scaldingly before us, was a pre-

meditated acceptance of its outcome.

The Corps of Engineers and the gov-

ernments to which it reports were

comfortable with the genocidal dis-

tribution of the storm's damage. As

in the experience of HIV, as the or-

iginal George Bush so memorably stip-

ulated, the general population was

essentially home, free. 

In the present emergency, fair warn-

ing and a broader path restore us to

a more equitable guessing game, each

participant assessing his risks in a

more neutral statistical framework,

and discounting them accordingly. 
Survivors will be touched by fear,
but not by humiliation, and the or-
deal will feel like a struggle, not
a calumny. 

Now there will be suffering and 
death, not just compromised brake 
pads; but our exposure to risk will 
relieve us of lingering fellowship. 

Does that flow only from having no

choice?