Tragedy: What is it?

I have chosen two definitions:

1. A drama or literary work in which the main character is brought to ruin or suffers extreme sorrow, especially as a consequence of a tragic flaw, moral weakness, or inability to cope with unfavorable circumstances.

2. A disastrous event, especially one involving distressing loss or injury to life

As I watched the events of New Orleans and the Superdome unfold I found myself hooked, on so many different levels and at the center of my experience was an overwhelming question:

Why?

Imagine being confined to a such facility with no functioning services, and having to deal with the "unscripted reality" of people living in caos.

What would you have done?

I am torn as I, unusual to my nature, hone in on the news commentary and the many political debates by the tendency of most to focus in on "result," the "outcome" of such an event, even in everyday life.

Also, the truth of what really happened.

Was the huricane a surprise?

No, it wasn't a surprise. These events are tracked and matched against models of probability to eventually provide a reasonable prediction.

If it wasn't a surprise, why such a poor response or was it?

"The 2000 census put New Orleans's population at 484,674 and the population of Greater New Orleans at 1,337,726. The city's name is often abbreviated NOLA."

The focus of the media: The Superdome, and the more than 20,000 refugees.

In my next post I will look at:

The victim?

For now let me close with this thought, clearly the events of hurricane Katrina have been the source of many tragedies. Some man made and others simply mother nature doing what she does.

Take time to appreciate the picture I posted, it says everything about what is good in life.

Over the next, who knows how many days, the rhetoric will begin. I see two pieces of rhetoric unfolding:

1. Who did what, who was responsible for what, and who didn't do what they were suppose to do?

2. The age old issue of race. Did the color of ones skin determine their fate?

This rhetoric is old, and endless, and to date I have yet to recognize a point and time when it really served to change the world.

Does rhetoric really change anything?

How can you make a difference?
Does it even matter to you?






Care enough, reach out, and you will make a difference!