Friday, September 30, 2005
A City of Eccentrics
Even though it has been more than a month already, I’m still shocked by the aftermath of the storm hitting the great city of New Orleans. On top of the fact of seeing a modern American city being abandoned was the ineptness of government leadership at many levels. First, though is the fact of seeing a city with so much history being left for ruins.
From what I know of New Orleans, it’s a city of eccentrics even in the earliest days of its history. There are many characters that have walked the streets of the city, but in the interest of time (and memory), I’ll mention but a few.
The first name I can think of is Bernard de Marigny de Mandeville, an inveterate and profligate gambler who introduced the game of Craps to America. Marigny’s eccentricities probably came from his father who once hosted a dinner party for the exiled Duc d’Orléans (and future King Louis-Philippe of France). Dinner was served on plates of solid gold. Ever the royalist, Pedro (or Pierre) de Marigny felt that the plates could not be used again since they were touched by royalty. So, he ordered them thrown into the Mississippi River. (He was called Pedro instead of Pierre because Spain had control of Louisiana at the time.)
When Pedro died in 1800, his 25-year-old son Bernard became the richest man in North America. His reign didn’t last too long. Addicted to gambling, Bernard de Marigny was constantly in debt. His trump card was the property his family owned. What he did was parcel out his family plantations into real estate ventures. In this way, his plantation on the northern shore of Lake Pontchartrain became the City of Mandeville. Another plantation near New Orleans became the Faubourg Marigny, one of the city’s colorful neighborhoods.
One of Bernard’s good friends was the pirate Jean Lafitte, famous for helping Gen. Andrew Jackson in defeating the British at the Battle of New Orleans in 1815. In fact, Marigny was one of the people who convinced Lafitte to join the American cause, albeit temporarily. Lafitte also taught Marigny how to fight with swords, a skill that Marigny used successfully in defending his honor at the city’s Dueling Oaks. Since Lafitte was a pirate and an outlaw, he was constantly hounded by the authorities, especially his nemesis, the American Governor of Louisiana, William C.C. Claiborne. Once, Claiborne put out a ransom for Lafitte’s capture, to which the pirate returned the favor by offering a ransom for the capture of the governor!
William Claiborne himself has a story. Coming from Virginia’s tidewater aristocracy, he was one of Thomas Jefferson’s protégés. When Jefferson was president, he appointed Claiborne to be the first governor of Tennessee. Then, when the U.S. made the Louisiana Purchase from France, Jefferson sent Claiborne to oversee the transfer of power. He was then made the territorial governor of the southern territory. (Meriwether Lewis of Lewis and Clark fame was made territorial governor of the northern section.)
When the transfer was made, Claiborne and his fellow Virginians were shocked to see free blacks among the local militia. Being of aristocratic stock from their home state, they couldn’t conceive that black men could ever be armed let alone walk freely. Not that there wasn’t any slavery or hierarchy in New Orleans or Louisiana (there was), but the hierarchy was not as pronounced as it was in the U.S. From seeing this, Claiborne and his fellow Americans knew that they had to get used to this fact. Even though the French Creoles were resentful of the Americans, Claiborne was able to get elected the first Governor of Louisiana. (The fact that he married into a prominent Creole family didn’t hurt either!)
It was only after the Civil War that New Orleans adapted the same race codes and hierarchical attitudes as the rest of the south. Prior to this, those of mixed race (or mulattoes) were considered an in-between group between white and black, and they thrived on their bit of hierarchical superiority. After the war, the one-drop rule prevailed and mulattoes were grouped among the other blacks. From this, however, came a new cultural mix. That, and the fact that New Orleans was America’s original “sin city”, brought out a dichotomy of cultured excess along with a volatile, hell-for-bent attitude. So, in the houses of ill-repute of Storyville came a new type of music played by local “professors” like Jelly Roll Morton and King Oliver. A city of eccentrics needed an eccentric form of music, which is what Jazz was. (Storyville was one of those attempts at regulating sin named for a city alderman named Sidney Story.)
New Orleans has many such people and stories to tell, and I’m sure that you will have read of most of them during these past few weeks. I just wanted to touch on some parts which might not have been told. Since I like to collect stories, I have a particular fondness for the city since its stories were more colorful. (There really was a streetcar named Desire!). So, I did get emotional and angry at what happened to this great city.
I strongly feel that much of what went on in New Orleans was allowed to happen, although not in the way some might think. I don’t believe that the federal authorities purposely waited four long days before they sent any help. That was just shear incompetence. What happened to the city occurred long before Hurricane Katrina hit, and it’s the same thing that has happened in other parts of the country. Basically, what happened was that they were abandoned. They were told “We don’t care about you.” (Sadly, there are some who are still saying this.)
For many years now, the U.S. has been steadily following a philosophy of limited government on the federal, state and local levels. At some level, this may be for the good since the opposite of a limited government can be a big bloated bureaucracy. Yet, limited government can also mean limited resources, limited ability and limited responsibility. New Orleans was a victim of such limited government, and, as we have seen, limited government can quickly turn into no government. In short, having a limited government means “We don’t care!”
The opposite of limited government does not have to mean a bloated bureaucracy, which could happen if all one does is pour money to try to solve a problem. However, that’s not always the case. During the Great Depression, one of the programs of the New Deal was the Works Progress Administration (WPA) which brought many unemployed people much needed work in building roads and buildings all over the U.S. The WPA was anything but bloated. In fact, many of us still use the facilities created by the them. Such programs need people with vision.
Now, we don’t have such a vision, or at least, those with such a vision aren’t in power. Instead, we’re contracting out the work because it’s deemed to be more efficient. Yet, how is it efficient when we have no-bid contracts? Whatever happened to competitive bidding? We have leaders who lack leadership skills and have no vision and no imagination. All they have is an uncompromising ideology that says government is bad.
What happened in New Orleans is a direct result of this ideology. I’ve heard some say that the welfare state was to blame for the poverty and that the city itself had a bloated and inefficient bureaucracy. There may be some truth to what is said, but it’s not the whole truth. New Orleans has been losing its tax base ever since its middle class and businesses moved out. Without this tax base, no community would be able to serve its residents well. Compounded with that is the lack of funds coming from the state where the city is seen as a liability more for its poverty and racial make-up than for the fact that it’s below sea level. Then, on top of that is the fact that the federal government didn’t see the importance of the city (see poverty and/or race). With so many places wanting their own share of federal money, how could New Orleans compete with that?
One of the things that upsets me about the whole episode is the way many commentators were comparing the Gulf Coast after Katrina to a Third World country (Bangladesh on the Mississippi). I’ll tell you this: No third world country would have waited four days to send help to a stricken region! In fact, when the tsunami struck last year, Sri Lanka, India and other neighboring countries sent help almost immediately! Yet, here we are, the strongest nation on the planet, and our leadership didn’t even know what to do for four days? Oh, for an ounce of competence!
You can hear the political spin with all the excuses, but there is no excuse. The philosophy of limited government is a sham. If it meant having an efficient government run on less money (which was the selling point), then it would work. However, in practice, that is not the case. For many, it has even been fatal. Some commentators see the Katrina fiasco as a possible paradigm shift for this country, and I would agree with them. In the interest of time, I’ll write about it in my next letter. Meanwhile, keep praying for the people of New Orleans and others in the Gulf region. If the predictions are right about global warming, more storms like Katrina are in the offing.
P.S. Coincidentally (or not?), I had been listening to American Folk Music before the storm hit. It’s amazing how the songs of Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger and Bob Dylan still make a profound statement today!
From what I know of New Orleans, it’s a city of eccentrics even in the earliest days of its history. There are many characters that have walked the streets of the city, but in the interest of time (and memory), I’ll mention but a few.
The first name I can think of is Bernard de Marigny de Mandeville, an inveterate and profligate gambler who introduced the game of Craps to America. Marigny’s eccentricities probably came from his father who once hosted a dinner party for the exiled Duc d’Orléans (and future King Louis-Philippe of France). Dinner was served on plates of solid gold. Ever the royalist, Pedro (or Pierre) de Marigny felt that the plates could not be used again since they were touched by royalty. So, he ordered them thrown into the Mississippi River. (He was called Pedro instead of Pierre because Spain had control of Louisiana at the time.)
When Pedro died in 1800, his 25-year-old son Bernard became the richest man in North America. His reign didn’t last too long. Addicted to gambling, Bernard de Marigny was constantly in debt. His trump card was the property his family owned. What he did was parcel out his family plantations into real estate ventures. In this way, his plantation on the northern shore of Lake Pontchartrain became the City of Mandeville. Another plantation near New Orleans became the Faubourg Marigny, one of the city’s colorful neighborhoods.
One of Bernard’s good friends was the pirate Jean Lafitte, famous for helping Gen. Andrew Jackson in defeating the British at the Battle of New Orleans in 1815. In fact, Marigny was one of the people who convinced Lafitte to join the American cause, albeit temporarily. Lafitte also taught Marigny how to fight with swords, a skill that Marigny used successfully in defending his honor at the city’s Dueling Oaks. Since Lafitte was a pirate and an outlaw, he was constantly hounded by the authorities, especially his nemesis, the American Governor of Louisiana, William C.C. Claiborne. Once, Claiborne put out a ransom for Lafitte’s capture, to which the pirate returned the favor by offering a ransom for the capture of the governor!
William Claiborne himself has a story. Coming from Virginia’s tidewater aristocracy, he was one of Thomas Jefferson’s protégés. When Jefferson was president, he appointed Claiborne to be the first governor of Tennessee. Then, when the U.S. made the Louisiana Purchase from France, Jefferson sent Claiborne to oversee the transfer of power. He was then made the territorial governor of the southern territory. (Meriwether Lewis of Lewis and Clark fame was made territorial governor of the northern section.)
When the transfer was made, Claiborne and his fellow Virginians were shocked to see free blacks among the local militia. Being of aristocratic stock from their home state, they couldn’t conceive that black men could ever be armed let alone walk freely. Not that there wasn’t any slavery or hierarchy in New Orleans or Louisiana (there was), but the hierarchy was not as pronounced as it was in the U.S. From seeing this, Claiborne and his fellow Americans knew that they had to get used to this fact. Even though the French Creoles were resentful of the Americans, Claiborne was able to get elected the first Governor of Louisiana. (The fact that he married into a prominent Creole family didn’t hurt either!)
It was only after the Civil War that New Orleans adapted the same race codes and hierarchical attitudes as the rest of the south. Prior to this, those of mixed race (or mulattoes) were considered an in-between group between white and black, and they thrived on their bit of hierarchical superiority. After the war, the one-drop rule prevailed and mulattoes were grouped among the other blacks. From this, however, came a new cultural mix. That, and the fact that New Orleans was America’s original “sin city”, brought out a dichotomy of cultured excess along with a volatile, hell-for-bent attitude. So, in the houses of ill-repute of Storyville came a new type of music played by local “professors” like Jelly Roll Morton and King Oliver. A city of eccentrics needed an eccentric form of music, which is what Jazz was. (Storyville was one of those attempts at regulating sin named for a city alderman named Sidney Story.)
New Orleans has many such people and stories to tell, and I’m sure that you will have read of most of them during these past few weeks. I just wanted to touch on some parts which might not have been told. Since I like to collect stories, I have a particular fondness for the city since its stories were more colorful. (There really was a streetcar named Desire!). So, I did get emotional and angry at what happened to this great city.
I strongly feel that much of what went on in New Orleans was allowed to happen, although not in the way some might think. I don’t believe that the federal authorities purposely waited four long days before they sent any help. That was just shear incompetence. What happened to the city occurred long before Hurricane Katrina hit, and it’s the same thing that has happened in other parts of the country. Basically, what happened was that they were abandoned. They were told “We don’t care about you.” (Sadly, there are some who are still saying this.)
For many years now, the U.S. has been steadily following a philosophy of limited government on the federal, state and local levels. At some level, this may be for the good since the opposite of a limited government can be a big bloated bureaucracy. Yet, limited government can also mean limited resources, limited ability and limited responsibility. New Orleans was a victim of such limited government, and, as we have seen, limited government can quickly turn into no government. In short, having a limited government means “We don’t care!”
The opposite of limited government does not have to mean a bloated bureaucracy, which could happen if all one does is pour money to try to solve a problem. However, that’s not always the case. During the Great Depression, one of the programs of the New Deal was the Works Progress Administration (WPA) which brought many unemployed people much needed work in building roads and buildings all over the U.S. The WPA was anything but bloated. In fact, many of us still use the facilities created by the them. Such programs need people with vision.
Now, we don’t have such a vision, or at least, those with such a vision aren’t in power. Instead, we’re contracting out the work because it’s deemed to be more efficient. Yet, how is it efficient when we have no-bid contracts? Whatever happened to competitive bidding? We have leaders who lack leadership skills and have no vision and no imagination. All they have is an uncompromising ideology that says government is bad.
What happened in New Orleans is a direct result of this ideology. I’ve heard some say that the welfare state was to blame for the poverty and that the city itself had a bloated and inefficient bureaucracy. There may be some truth to what is said, but it’s not the whole truth. New Orleans has been losing its tax base ever since its middle class and businesses moved out. Without this tax base, no community would be able to serve its residents well. Compounded with that is the lack of funds coming from the state where the city is seen as a liability more for its poverty and racial make-up than for the fact that it’s below sea level. Then, on top of that is the fact that the federal government didn’t see the importance of the city (see poverty and/or race). With so many places wanting their own share of federal money, how could New Orleans compete with that?
One of the things that upsets me about the whole episode is the way many commentators were comparing the Gulf Coast after Katrina to a Third World country (Bangladesh on the Mississippi). I’ll tell you this: No third world country would have waited four days to send help to a stricken region! In fact, when the tsunami struck last year, Sri Lanka, India and other neighboring countries sent help almost immediately! Yet, here we are, the strongest nation on the planet, and our leadership didn’t even know what to do for four days? Oh, for an ounce of competence!
You can hear the political spin with all the excuses, but there is no excuse. The philosophy of limited government is a sham. If it meant having an efficient government run on less money (which was the selling point), then it would work. However, in practice, that is not the case. For many, it has even been fatal. Some commentators see the Katrina fiasco as a possible paradigm shift for this country, and I would agree with them. In the interest of time, I’ll write about it in my next letter. Meanwhile, keep praying for the people of New Orleans and others in the Gulf region. If the predictions are right about global warming, more storms like Katrina are in the offing.
P.S. Coincidentally (or not?), I had been listening to American Folk Music before the storm hit. It’s amazing how the songs of Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger and Bob Dylan still make a profound statement today!
