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 There are many organizations accepting donations or organizing volunteers in the Hurricane Katrina relief effort. These links are only a starting point: |
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| After the Storm: | |
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Working Through the Implications of Hurricane Katrina | |
 For days, the nation has been riveted by Hurricane Katrina -- the destruction of the storm, the sluggish government response and the violence and desperation facing those waiting for help. Even now, as the nation tries to bury the dead, tend to the injured and find homes for the displaced, the aftermath of Katrina raises questions about poverty, race, energy policy, the federal budget, in fact just about every corner of American society and the purpose of government itself. Most Americans are rightly focused on the relief effort, but already the debate over those broader questions is falling into the familiar political partisanship that bedevils so much public debate. We think those predictable responses are a disservice to the complex issues raised by this disaster and will do little to help the nation solve them in the long run. The situation calls for a different approach and we're asking our users to help us find it. In this special edition, we look at some of the questions raised by Katrina. We're asking you, the users of Public Agenda Online, to join us in a discussion on the implications of Katrina. You can , broadly examining what this disaster means for the nation and whether the partisan debate is helping or hurting the nation's ability to make sense of the tragedy. Or, you can join in on a focused discussion on one of the particular issues we've highlighted below. In these specific areas - poverty, race, the federal budget and the environment -- Public Agenda already has "Choicework" guides designed to help people work through the problem. You can use these Choiceworks and the background material to examine all the angles on an issue. Are the policy choices laid out still relevant or does the nation have to think in new ways to cope with these problems? Your responses will help us keep the guides useful - and we hope will keep the public's concerns at the forefront of this debate.   The stark, heartbreaking television images leave little doubt that it was primarily the poorest residents of New Orleans who were unable to escape the hurricane. After facing the flooding and looting in Katrina's aftermath, the poor will also have to rebuild their lives with fewer resources at hand. States that are taking in victims are already reporting a surge of applications for food stamps and other assistance programs. Hurricane victims obviously need emergency aid, but what else should society do about poverty? Was the U.S. on the right track, or did Katrina show that society was failing to help the needy?
  Television also showed that many, even most, of those left behind to face the storm were minorities. Certainly minorities are more likely to be poor in America, and that may be one reason. But some are already raising the more cynical possibility that the government cared less about helping minorities, although the White House and government agencies at all levels vehemently reject that. Others see racism in the news coverage, over the use of the terms "refugee" vs "evacuee" or "looting" vs. "foraging." Surveys show there is a sharp racial divide over public perceptions of Hurricane Katrina and that divide has to be dealt with.
  Unexpected expenses can throw off any budget and Hurricane Katrina is already the most expensive natural disaster in U.S. history. Some estimates put the total cost to the federal government at $200 billion or more, which rivals spending on the war in Iraq. In addition to the spending needed for relief and recovery, the loss of jobs and tax revenue from the devastated Gulf Coast will also hurt the nation's finances. All this comes at a time when the federal budget is facing not just a short-term deficit but long-term financial challenges, particularly for Social Security and Medicare.
  Rebuilding New Orleans and the Gulf Coast will take years, and some people question whether it can safely be done at all. The levees and other techniques the nation relied on to protect flood-prone areas failed dramatically. Is it foolish for people to even attempt to control nature? Or is a city like New Orleans too beautiful, too historic, too culturally important, too economically vital to lose? And the environmental damage resulting from Katrina will be massive, no matter how the rebuilding goes.Hurricane Katrina underscored the vulnerabilities of the nation's energy supply as well. With gas at $3 a gallon, what do we need to do to ensure we have enough energy at a cost our economy can absorb without doing too much harm to the environment?
Copyright © 2005 Public Agenda. No reproduction/distribution without permission
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