Katrina, New Orleans and Fallen Man

Whatsoever therefore is consequent to a time of war, where every man is enemy to every man, the same consequent to the time wherein men live without other security than what their own strength and their own invention shall furnish them withal. In such condition there is no place for industry, because the fruit thereof is uncertain: and consequently no culture of the earth; no navigation, nor use of the commodities that may be imported by sea; no commodious building; no instruments of moving and removing such things as require much force; no knowledge of the face of the earth; no account of time; no arts; no letters; no society; and which is worst of all, continual fear, and danger of violent death; and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.

The Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes

We are often reminded of the fact that much of the world is ruled by fear and racked by famine, disease and sudden death. But despite the assertions made by professional grievance groups about the horrors of life in the United States, this third world status quo is simply not part of our domestic experience. It is something that happens “over there” and is done by “others.”

But let the guardrails of society be broken and anarchy reign, and we find that there are elements of American society that are no different than the “others” and that the veneer of civilization is thin indeed.

That is one of the lessons of Katrina and the devastation it has visited on the Gulf coast. Others have commented on the devastation and loss of life. My heart goes out to those affected and their families. And I am thankful that I live far from the destruction. But seeing what Americans will do when a modern society, its infrastructure and its social structure fails is instructive.

Without access to a grocery store or running water, modern man starves or dies of thirst.

He is surrounded by his own feces.

Without cars, truck and busses he is immobilized and huddles in masses; creating the modern version of refugee camps in sports stadiums and parking lots.

He forages where he can, breaking into grocery and clothing stores.

He steals what he cannot eat: DVD players, refrigerators, TV sets, jewelry, guns.

And finally, he reverts to robbery and murder, shooting and killing for sheer sport; just because he can, for the guardians of a civil society are removed.

In the midst of a natural catastrophe, to be confronted by the face of human evil is doubly disturbing because it goes against our civil religion: that we are naturally good and virtuous. It takes an event like Katrina to show is that when the bonds of society are broken the life of man can easily be “…poor, nasty, brutish and short.”