Musing on New Orleans

So, I listen to NPR and there have been a couple of interesting ideas/stories concerning New Orleans and their recent natural disaster.

The first was simply to let free market forces decide what the former inhabitants of the city do. The editor proposed to simply divide the earmarked money for rebuilding New Orleans into shares and distribute them to the displaced people and let them decide what to do with it: stay and rebuild or rebuild elsewhere. I mean, why not? If they can find a better life somewhere else, but will need a bit of start up money, to buy a house or place a deposit on an apartment and buy furniture, clothes, etc, then the government could do them a great favor by giving them the means to do so. Of course, they might blow it all on lottery tickets...

The second proposal was to rebuild New Orleans as a "green" city, employing all of the current methods of generating renewable energy and investing into hurricane-resistant, energy efficient dwellings. It was a rather ambitious idea, but had the flare of seizing the future and seeing an opportunity to create beauty out of the rubble, to rise up again, stronger and better than before.

I can't wait to see what actually happens! Perhaps all the money will go towards building a new colossus of George in the bay to guide ships to New Orleans. Perhaps there will be giant telescopes in the eyes of the statue so as to keep an eye on Hugo Chaves. Perhaps patriotic music will issue forth from giant speakers in the colossus' mouth! Ah, the future will be truly exciting.