[BearwWthoutBorders] Victimology
Martha Elizabeth Ture
marthature at sbcglobal.net
Thu Sep 1 01:35:37 EDT 2005
It's the frog in the pot problem. If you heat the water slowly enough the
frog doesn't recognize when it is high time to jump out of the pot.
I live in earthquake country. The San Andreas fault is maybe 15 miles from
here. I have been through a few big ones already. The people of New Orleans
have been below sea level for a long while. . . From the Slate site: "The
city sits on the banks of the Mississippi, where sediment from the river had
created areas of elevated land called "natural levees." New Orleans'
earliest buildings sat on top of these levees, but as the population grew,
houses were built farther inland at lower elevations. To create usable land,
water had to be pumped out of the area, which in turn caused the ground to
sink even lower. It's possible for part of New Orleans to exist below sea
level because the levees that surround the city protect it (most of the
time) from floods. "http://slate.msn.com/id/2125229/?nav=tap3
Since Sunday Randy Newman's "Louisiana 1927" has played continually through
the back of my mind.
"Louisiana, Louisiana, they're trying to wash us away, they're trying to
wash us away."
http://www.randynewman.com/tocdiscography/disc_guilty/lyricsguilty1#louisian
a1927
Martha E. Ture
Research Director
www.buyblue.org
-----Original Message-----
From: bearwithoutborders-bounces at people-link5.inch.com
[mailto:bearwithoutborders-bounces at people-link5.inch.com]On Behalf Of Hunter
Gray
Sent: Wednesday, August 31, 2005 3:04 PM
To: Friends of Hunter Bear; NJSalter at msn.com; Redbadbear at yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [BearwWthoutBorders] Victimology
At least a big part of the problem is the arrogance of urban/industrial
society and culture which assume across class lines that Nature can be
"conquered" and "suppressed" and forever repressed. The concept of
adjusting to Nature is alien to the urban Euro-American perspective. When a
massive forest fire, decades ago, threatened Flagstaff, Arizona, people
turned out en masse -- across ethnic and social class lines -- and
successfully defended the town. They [we] were prepared, not surprised. A
few years later, elk hunters from Phoenix and Tucson failed to heed
continual weather warnings and at least 19 died in the snow-drenched yellow
pine forests. John [Beba] and I were in New Orleans together years ago and
both of us noted the unreality of the city's below-level relationship to the
Gulf. [I had been there earlier on various occasions and it had always
troubled me.]
In 1991, living in Grand Forks, North Dakota, I sensed that the Red River
of the North could easily do something wild and destructive. Although some
people ridiculed us, I moved my family far out to the west of town. As the
hideous blizzard-ridden winter of 1996-97 built up, we smelled Flood and
began to stockpile food. When ice storms struck down hundreds and hundreds
and hundreds of power poles, we stockpiled water. As high water began to
come down the Red, flood warnings were issued which many ignored. At one
point, talking with an Anglo friend in town -- himself usually very savvy --
I was surprised when he failed to recognize or respond to my discreet query
about his flood protection plans. When the Flood struck two days later and
the dikes broke, the whole setting was inundated with high water and
sweeping fires and more than 50,000 people [almost all of the city's
population] were forced out: to the hinterland and into the adjacent
Canadian provinces and Montana and South Dakota and the Twin Cities of
Minnesota. [Most did not have flood insurance.]
The massive Flood came within 300 yards of our home. Electricity and
plumbing were gone. We had gotten Coleman lanterns long before, burned some
wood, used water from a neighbor's Sump Pump for latrine and flushing
purposes, and eventually got more drinking water -- from the Buffalo Farm to
the west. Then the Army finally came. Our house served as one of the
command posts and we tried to help everyone that we could. The town itself
has never really recovered.
Here in Idaho, we are among the relatively few who have earthquake
insurance and an escape plan.
Beba is a compassionate soul and I may be -- but it is not being heartless
or oblivious to hideous tragedy to suggest that people learn to take care of
themselves and their families.
HUNTER GRAY [HUNTER BEAR/JOHN R SALTER JR] Mi'kmaq /St. Francis
Abenaki/St. Regis Mohawk
www.hunterbear.org
Protected by Na´shdo´i´ba´i´
and Ohkwari'
Check out Surprise Tribute:
http://www.hunterbear.org/special_tribute_page_for_hunter.htm
In our Gray Hole, the ghosts often dance in the junipers and sage, on the
game trails, in the tributary canyons with the thick red maples, and on
the
high windy ridges -- and they dance from within the very essence of our
own
inner being. They do this especially when the bright night moon shines
down
on the clean white snow that covers the valley and its surroundings. Then
it is as bright as day -- but in an always soft and mysterious and
remembering way. [Hunter Bear]
----- Original Message -----
From: Sam Friedman
To: NJSalter at msn.com ; bearwithoutborders at people-link5.inch.com ;
Redbadbear at yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, August 31, 2005 3:07 PM
Subject: Re: [BearwWthoutBorders] Victimology
Walk to where? WIth the uncertainty of where the storm would go and how
hard the winds would blow, there was a reasonable probability that you would
leave a relatively safe area and have a tree or building blown down on you
while you were on foot. And the authorities were saying to go to the
Superdome or equivalent places. Under those circumstances, would you want
to walk through even 40 mile an hour squalls with three young children?
And Big Bill also could hunt to get food. For many urban raised people,
this is not an option. And relying on the kindness of strangers to keep you
fed is an iffy proposition in the USA these days--perticularly for the poor
and black.
Actually, as the discussions on the SNCC list-serve make it clear, a lot
of poor people did find ways to leave--but a lot did not. I would not blame
those who did not without a thorough understanding of their circumstances.
But I agree with you that it would be nice if the grat majority did
fight back more!
best
sam
>>> NJSalter at msn.com 8/31/2005 4:59:46 PM >>>
At what point should victims--of oppression, weather, etc--be expected
to fight and not wait for help? The hurricane, for example. Even the
poorest can start walking when they hear the news--plenty of time in
advance--and keep on walking until they get somewhere safe. I don't want to
sound heartless but have we created a society in which we simply enable
victimology and don't teach the lessons of survival? Big Bill Haywood had a
sack of pistols and didn't whine for the guys in white hats to save his ass
when trouble was coming. He took care of himself and his.
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