A man throws up while walking this afternoon in the French Quarter. He didn't miss a step, just let it out and he was on his way. What resilience.
Hotel and restaurant workers (Caribbean, Latin American, African American) sit or stand outside on the streets, taking a cigarette break, waiting for the bus, stealing a nap.
A big Starbuck's convention is in town now. Thousands of people roaming the streets with their badges and swag - enviably cool black canvas tote bags with silver metal water bottles for all.
A man at the Faulkner House Book Store talks to the owner about buying an early edition of Go Down, Moses for more than the price of a modest home.
I'm reading a book now called Sickness and Wealth: The Corporate Assault on Global Health. The book explains that the worst health problems exist in countries where wealth disparities are greatest. The globalization of corporatism (i.e. greed) and the social and economic policies that condone it opens the door for more and more "free" markets for people to get richer. (As my husband says, how about a maximum wage?) And the poor provide the back-breaking, mind-numbing labor in the context of the same social and economic policies that actively reduce important supports (e.g. health care and social services).
This disparity seems so apparent in New Orleans. I guess that's why I've always felt so radicalized/awakend here; and thus uncomfortable and disturbed. Not much is different after Katrina. We thought it could be; a few new good policies and initiatives, a few not so good. But, the subtext is completely the same.
No comments:
Post a Comment