COMMENTARY: When Rebuilding New Orleans, We Need Visionaries, Not Politicians

c. 2005 Religion News Service DENVER _ At a “Frontier Dinner” _ buffalo hump roast, “prairie vegetables” and sourdough bread _ guests were invited to reflect on the “frontiers” they deem most important. They cited several _ such as emerging globalism, Christianity beyond fundamentalism _ but the one that occupied almost the entire evening was […]

c. 2005 Religion News Service

DENVER _ At a “Frontier Dinner” _ buffalo hump roast, “prairie vegetables” and sourdough bread _ guests were invited to reflect on the “frontiers” they deem most important.

They cited several _ such as emerging globalism, Christianity beyond fundamentalism _ but the one that occupied almost the entire evening was New Orleans. What to do about rebuilding the city? Who should do it? Who pays for it? What does New Orleans suggest about American society, especially its cities?


As you might expect at a table of talkative people with diverse perspectives, thoughts ranged far afield. Some common threads emerged, however. I think they are worth noting.

No one was buying President Bush’s limited-liability mea culpa. Managing public perceptions might have run its course as a leadership strategy.

No one was buying allegedly bold public-works initiatives to restore areas battered by Hurricane Katrina. Without a plan to pay for it, other than more long-term debt, the master stroke came across as bluster.

No one thought government _ at any level, of any partisan persuasion _ had the will, competence, incorruptibility and vision to rebuild the city. Guests foresaw only pork for political friends, graft for officials, endless planning sessions, forests of reports, terabytes of PowerPoint slides, and, to the extent that any actual rebuilding occurred, benefits intended primarily for the well-to-do. This equal-opportunity skepticism revealed a deep lack of confidence in American government.

No one thought New Orleans was unique. No American city would show well on television, they said, once cameras began to document the vast and systemic poverty on which cities depend. Quoting various measures of pervasive disparity and greed, guests wondered if we have crossed a line into unsustainable social conditions.

One measure, they said, will be the willingness of evacuees from the Gulf region’s underclass to return. Evacuees who have come to Denver have no desire to return, they said. An observer in Houston who is working daily with evacuees reports: “Most of the ones I talk to have no interest in going back.” Too much flooding, too little opportunity in a class-ridden society.

Even if the will and funding could be found to rebuild New Orleans, guests said, is that a worthy enterprise? What is the point of spending tax dollars on rebuilding in a flood zone? Spend public funds to rebuild the port, perhaps, but beyond that, Why? I didn’t hear lack of sympathy for displaced residents. I heard a call for a strategic vision larger than momentary guilt or nostalgia.


If it did make sense to rebuild a city or to start anew outside the flood zone, what kind of city does America need going forward? Is it time to abandon the American urban model _ publicly funded sprawl, where everything from work to school to grocery shopping requires driving, sometimes extraordinary distances _ and to embrace instead concepts such as high-density, mixed-use neighborhoods, local shops, walking, public transportation and attentive citizens?

I heard some anger. I heard some embarrassment at what the “American Dream” has become. Mostly, I heard an eagerness to engage, to join in the discussion of America’s urban future, and to consider fresh ideas. I heard a staunch refusal to cede such discussions to the political class.

According to the mood in this “frontier dinner,” the future resides in the micro-decisions of citizens and in those local institutions, from churches to employers, that care about sustainable community.

The key to crossing that frontier will be to escape the macro-directives of government officials widely perceived as self-serving, vision-challenged and hopelessly indebted to the wealthy.

KRE/JL END EHRICH

(Tom Ehrich is a writer, consultant and leader of workshops. His book, “Just Wondering, Jesus: 100 Questions People Want to Ask,” was published by Morehouse Publishing. An Episcopal priest, he lives in Durham, N.C. His Web site is http://www.onajourney.org.)

Editors: To find a photo of this columnist, go to the RNS Web site at https://religionnews.com. On the lower right, click on “photos,” then search by last name.


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