Not only were government efforts following Hurricane Katrina poorly coordinated and highly inefficient on all levels, a lot of money was wasted too.
Honestly, I've had a hard time working myself into a high dudgeon over government efforts before and after Katrina. Things unfolded pretty much as I expected they would: The military performed well, and everything else was a mess. Coordination between levels of government was poor at best. Resouces were underutilized when they were utilized at all. The resources that were used were poorly allocated. A lot of money was thrown around, much of it to no real use. Instead of being pressed into action, volunteers received diversity training (whatever the heck that is) from FEMA. On the whole, it was a typical government operation.
Many (most? I hope not.) Americans, as a result of the New Deal and the Great Society, view the government as an entity to whom we can turn in time of need, who will help us solve our problems and get us out of trouble. I'm not sure why this is the case, as neither the New Deal or the Great Society have been particularly effective, but that's the way it is. They forget (or never learned) the lesson Mark Steyn tool from the passengers of Flight 93 on September 11: "To expect the government to save you is to be a bystander in your own fate."
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