http://hugues.blogs.com/commvat/2005/09/katrina_et_les_.html

But doing so doesn’t necessarily lead to thinking that the American or the French responses to their local catastrophes were proof of governmental incompetence. Is it not possible to accept that not everything is always under control? Are we so sure we should be able to tackle any problem by just doing “the right thing”, hence consolidating dykes or providing everyone in the land with air conditioning?

No, a society infested with more than its share of vicious thugs isn’t necessarily a polite society, armed or not.

The French Quarter (the original part built by the French) is in fact above sea level.

A tortuous analogy, granted, but YOU started it.

~#blows raspberries#~

Numbnut >> Yet, somehow, little France managed to get a Katrina-like death toll out of a heat wave. This suggests that Steyn’s emphasis on the failings of French society was not misplaced.

Quite possibly, but this doesn’t detract from that point made by the likes of Soubzriquet – that it has diddly-squat to the response, or lack of response, to NO. You state that that nothing could have been done to hold back the full fury of a grade 4 hurricane… again, yes, but a damn sight more could have been done to lessen the effect. Just as GWB could have shown a better sense of urgency when initially interviewed. Just as medical aid could have arrived #before# he did to cast his Olympian eye across the bayou.

But, aside from all your Hutton-ing, you do have a point about the cheese-eating surrender monkeys… who the bleedin’ ‘eck would build a city below sea-level in hurricane-country?

And, once again, mostly the poor and elderly.

I have no particular quarrel with Professor Healy.

Snobbery: The French regard air-conditioners as vulgar and American. Big government: The French healthcare system is designed for the convenience of its employees, so in summer it’s on vacation. Heartlessness: The entire country goes to the beach in August, and having grand-mere along would be too much of a drag, so it’s easier to leave her in her airless city apartment

I have never a columnist engage in a more naked (and snide) display of Schedenfreude in response to a disaster. Sorry, but there is no asbolutely no comparison of the Steyn piece to Kieran’s post on the social ecology of New Orleans.

You might want to catch the edition of Now on PBS this weekend.

So an armed society isn’t necessarily a polite society?

Ho-hum.

…even if we could make a sensible comparison `The French screwed up too’ is a truly pathetic defense of incompetence.

I’m not defending, I’m trying to figure out what this post was about.

Mark Steyn says disasters expose the structure and weaknesses of the social order. Oh, no wait, Kieran Healy says that. Well, anyway, we all agree.

So what are we arguing over? Well, some of you regard Steyn’s observations with distaste, but accept Healy’s. Steyn criticizes France, whereas Healy critiques America. All this would make sense, if Steyn overlooked (or undervalued) the defects in America’s social order, as illustrated by disaster.

So I consider what the French heat wave debacle says about France, and what the New Orleans hurricane debacle says about the US. Of course no such comparison can ever rise to the level of being “sensible”. But France gets the worst of it.

Yes, the scene in New Orleans is horrific right now. Yes, better planning and response could have alleviated the misery and saved many lives. That is always true, in every disaster.

But a heat-wave shouldn’t even be a disaster. A heat wave does not compare to the sudden catastrophic flooding of a large densely-populated area, having an exceptionally vulnerable social ecology. A heat wave does not disrupt communications or transportation. A heat wave does not sweep buildings from their foundations, or cause the collapse of local government.

Yet, somehow, little France managed to get a Katrina-like death toll out of a heat wave. This suggests that Steyn’s emphasis on the failings of French society was not misplaced.

I mean, like, whatever, dude.

Google yourself up some “New Orleans Scanner” and you won’t believe the joy being had in NO from the cops vs thugs. That is the source of this clusterfuck.

Do we actually live in that world where debunking bullshit goes without saying?