New Orleans might just be teaching us something new about our care for the poorest among us.

For the longest time, because we all could feel a sense of "there but for the grace of random acts of evolution go I", we have tried to set up programs that cared for the poor without trying to pass any kind of judgement on why they might be poor.

We know that the poor's worth as humanity is no less than ours, but we confuse passing judgement on behavior with passing judgement on worth. Because of that, we don't want to accept that there might be any reason other than luck that some are poor and some are rich.

But New Orleans has at least hinted that we need to revisit those well-meaning notions.

We may have to start to accept that those who are unable to adequately provide for themselves are highly likely to be likewise unable to care for themselves. The days of implemementing more programs to just feed, clothe, and give them an income are going to have to be re-analyzed. We are going to have to look at ways to better care for them that accepts their inability to deal with any circumstance with any degree of self-reliance.