Suppose there HADN'T been a Katrina?

and...

What if someone in "the government" (any level) had suggested removing the marginalized population out of NO and dispersing them throughout contiguous states which had the capacity to absorb the dispossesed poor without much obvious ill effect?

Then what if that same "government" suggested that NO could be 'transformed' into a more attractive venue for the rich cajun/creole cultural hertitage, thereby generating generous income from 'tourism'? And could then provide tens of thousands of 'entry level' jobs to aid contribut to the economic well being of a large 'flexible' workforce?

I doubt that anyone but the most socially dense amongst us would tolerate such a "Modest Proposal". We would be outraged!!

But I suggest that what will happen will be what I outlined above, in one form or another.

And I'm outraged.

The dispossesed of New Orleans deserve to have their lives returned to them as completely as possible. Although they lived in a city that was assuredly built in the wrong place: even though they "should have known" to have left New Orleans at the first opportunity; they stayed, in good part because those who were well aware of the drawbacks to living in the Big Easy were loathe to encourage a migration of so large a low-wage work force. The displaced poor of New Orleans were not dealt with honestly. A situation NOT of their making and one that has been in place for a very long time.

The disaster of Katrina illuminates what some have suspected and many have been burdened with: America is an imperial power exploiting an internal "third world".

CB