As goes Lousiana so goes Los Angeles.

I think we may have seen a preview of post-earthquake Los Angeles after "the Big One." When it occurs it should come as no surprise the turmoil we will experience. It should come as no surprise to the most sentient citizen that we always reap what we sow as our "Homeland Security" response was per my expectations.

Epiphanies work on so many levels! None of the past or current recent events are surprising to me; only the scope. After the presidential election coup of 2000 I have come to expect all sorts of brazen absurdities from our government. It is only part of the patterns set forth from as far back as the Nixon administration.

Kids--there's much more to come. And it is our own fault. As a country we harbor a plethora of flaws even as we glorify them. Our so-called "greatness" as a country was spent after Vietnam. The world knows we have become fat, lazy, apathetic, and stupid on our mostly stolen largesse.

The world oil supply has moved steadily toward crisis level even as we make love to our Escalades and Humvees. For years Europe has paid steep prices for petrol (gasoline) and still do. It is the U.S. that has artificially kept down prices in order to stave off resistance at the voting booths. And the U.S. has coasted on this selfish "me" mentality for about as long as we can go.

For the past 25 years our cover foreign policies have reined out of control through the onslaught of the insurgent might of our military-industrial complex. Yes, ladies and gents, I'm referring to multinational corporations General Electric, ARCO and the rest, as well as their ancillary government components (Bush, et al).

Why aren't they seen as the world criminals they are? Because they are us. The people who run these megacorps are motivated by one thing and one thing only: greed. Say it with me... G-R-E-E-D! Yes, it's profit at any cost. Their jobs are contingent upon being responsive to the competitive markets and, especially, shareholders. That type of pressure always lead nefarious minds astray.



When power and control over others is attached as a derivative of the profit motive perhaps one can see where human nature leads us to resort to the path of least resistance. L.A.P.D.'s Chief Bratton's endorsement of the "broken windows" theory of law enforcement may apply well to our body politic in this regard.

When we look at how and where our primary motivations lead us in regards to the ill effects of innocents, it is acting as a cancer in our midst; eating away from within. It is the theme of filmmaker George Romero's recent "Land of the Dead."

But, of course, the subtleties of metaphor seems to have escaped us as a society. And that is a reflection of our urban educational system. I'm sure the realization of just how much poverty there is in a single area and how much the equitable distribution of wealth in this country is so disproportionate along racial lines.

However, in New Orleans there is a different racial line at play: The color line; not race but color. The difference between lightskinned blacks (creoles) and darkskinned blacks (geechees) is historically significant. However, at a ratio of 75/25 in population I was taken aback by the visual disparity shown on network television recently. When I visited New Orleans several years ago I found it very dirty and unfriendly in general.

The vibe was decidedly mixed among the blacks I encountered. In Los Angeles a similar vibe has emerged along with the rise of black political conservatism nationally. In this "land of opportunity," rank opportunists are running amok, in my estimation. Add to that a general perversion and breakdown of cultural norms and you have a recipe for societal disaster.

During a crisis an inner cohesion will be lacking in Los Angeles. And with a nihilistic gang culture that is well-armed and prevalent-- should conditions suddenly become extremely untenable, such as after the "Big One,"-- our collective asses will be on the line (black, brown, yellow, and white).

New Orleans HAD to be abandoned but in L.A. that may not be the case as such. We are a retail mecca. Commercial enterprise is mostly all we are about, especially Downtown. Remember the 1990's uprise and how the police response was to wait and see how many niggers die before they decided to act? That was/is the Standard Operating Procedure of emergency response in low economic enclaves. Believe it when you hear, "You get what you pay for."



Whenever equal opportunity is denied to a majority of a country's underclass through miseducation, institutionalized racism, and deliberate underdevelopment (as has been the case in the Third World for untold generations) the results cannot be faulted or laid at the feet of the oppressed just because it seems easy to do so.

Los Angeles' Skid Row is a case in point: I won't rehash the whole "Containment area" argument; it is an open secret among the longtime residents and local politicos, such as Jan Perry. Think of it as an open wound on our collective body.

Pain is pain no matter who it hurts. However, is it really pain if you don't feel it? Well, that begs the question of "other." When it is another [an other] who is in pain does it really concern us? Should it? Perhaps to the normal intellect these questions are redundant, but lately it appears the very most basic questions of life seem not to be understood.

I mean, questions like: knowing the difference between basic right and wrong; between correct and incorrect; between good and bad. I'm serious. It's like that sometimes with the people I encounter on a daily basis.

If the primary impetus of your life plan/direction is based on a faulty premise, one clearly in error, and if that error gains influence through repetition and imitation it creates a type of relative mass hypnosis on a par with our current religious fervor.

Such is hip hop culture. Once a forum for positive/truthful messages of uplift and encouragement and rebellion has been maligned and distorted by delivery agents of the lumpen proletariat's amoral/economic values (which, incidentally are the amoral/economic values of our beloved America). C'mon, where do you think the lumpen learned those lessons? From the robber barons of history to the Mafia to larcenous CEOs to our own Congress and confirmed by the fictitious visions of Hollywood, it's no wonder everyone thinks of doing unto others before they do unto you.

It is the pursuit of wealth by any means. THAT has become our moral code. This is one of the many false premises we harbor that determines our actions and therefore the patterns of our lives. Those who are guided by other primary motivations, such as the true concept of love, are given short shrift and cast aside; even to the point of being outrightly ostracized.

An error of premise leads to an error of perception which leads to errors of action. The U.S. has a long, rapacious history of racism and other egregious flaws in the name of Capitalism. That is one of the basic flaws with which we struggle daily.

As a nation highly influenced by modern evangelical Christianity we engage in all 7 deadly sins even as we rail against "others" doing so. Therefore hypocrisy is rife within the body politic. Hypocrisy is often defined as saying one thing and doing another. I don't believe that's wholly accurate but it makes a point. We share a history built upon lies by liars. And we gullibly go with the flow (the path of least resistance that I mentioned in Part One of the treatise). This is an immature and often tragic flaw of our society.

The artificial division between rich and poor is worldwide. Caste systems always have a religious affiliation to their brainwash even as governments enforce their character. So the "great unwashed" is a consequence of greed through tightly controlled distribution of resources.

The problem really comes into focus when wealth is attached to power and therefore, control over "others." When control is in the hands of those out of control we get typically a type of internal chaos that grows deeper and deeper. On L.A.'s Skid Row we allow and tolerate outrageous poverty within surroundings of enormous, mind-boggling wealth and privilege.

There are untold dollars being squandered by the inefficiency, lack of oversight, and sheer greed of administrators of funding for the homeless, for example. Take an opportunity to stand around some evening (as I have) to watch the parade of very expensive, upscale vehicles that emerge from the underground, gated parking of the Union Rescue Mission on San Pedro Street. You will see a number of Lexus's, BMWs, Mercedes, etc. speed toward the nearest freeway to various nether regions of the county. The contradictions are blatant, yet accepted without question.

Then come the recriminations of self-appeasement: "What's wrong with those people? Why don't they pull themselves up by their bootstraps. They're all a bunch of lazy bums! I can't stand 'em. Dirty, filthy animals--the lot of them! Issues of race and class will ever be with us unless or until we evolve as humans and reach a higher sense of self. But, for now, we function like a bunch of spoiled children, both intellectually, emotionally, and morally.



In a recent New Orleans city-conducted survey about 25 percent of their citizens admitted, no matter what, they would not leave their homes in the face of an impending hurricane. This type of complacency is a function of apathy to warnings, greed for their property, and love for things instead of love for self and others.

I, personally, never realized New Orleans was a soupbowl basin. My visits were few and brief. I never studied its geography in detail. So I am further astounded by the stupidity of living with sort of Damocles' Sword above one's collective head.

Yet, am I one to talk? I live in the core of downtown L.A., which sits astride one of the prime earthquake faults in SoCal: the L.A./Inglewood Fault. It's fairly certain when the "Big One" finally hits us the entire downtown area will fall like a house of cards. All the "lofties" living in their highrises may suffer the most.

If the NYC Twin Trade Towers are any indication, what you think is safe could become your burning coffin. Much of the rehabilitation to these old buildings to make them adaptive reusable is simply cosmetic. Some buildings were built solid in the beginning, and with proper refitting may ride out a massive earthquake that doesn't swallow it whole and remain fairly intact.

However, that's pretty iffy, if you ask me. Today's contractors and developers often cut costs in various ways that leave their projects vulnerable to failure. Yet, knowing that, here we live, mostly due to the fact that downtown business interests and politicos are hyping the value of being here.

Well, I'm here to tell you what my dad always impressed upon me: If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. And beyond the plan you must follow-up with action. That's right. But not any action -- correct action.

There was a time when our government hired only the best and the brightest among us. Now, cronyism rules the day. Idealogues bring along their followers. "It's not what you know but who you know" that puts you on the inside track nowadays. If you live in L.A. you know this to be true more often than not.

We make entertainers legislators and Governors and even Presidents! We, as a society, have developed an anti-intellectual slant toward our representatives. We want people who are like us: the lowest common denominator. So is it any wonder whom we elect to office?

I think the evidence is clear.

Any questions?

When the higher mind is not engaged, our animal instincts run amok. That is the importance of proper education. We should be taught facts and how to distinguish them and correctly draw our own. But that is the failure of our system.

Our educational system operates along the lines of supply and demand. It was developed to supply workers for industry. Students became the grist for the mill of Capitalism. But the Industrial Age is over and we have an overabundance of supply with little demand. Now add the scourge of overpopulation that is the way the poor attempt to achieve hegemony in the world economically. The masses reproduce as an odd counterpoint to lack of personal resources.



In rural or so-called third world areas large families function as a labor pool for the survival and, hopefully, prosperity of the family. In more, so-called, progressive, industrialized areas more children mean more public relief of sustenance funding. This is a deliberate failure political public policy and is most shameful to the point of being sinful.

Here's how I see it: When I sometimes step over or around a homeless person lying in his/her waste I feel disgusted by the sight and stench. For this is a symbol of what we, as a people, by the people, for (?) the people have wrought through our own apathetic selfishness. Yes, I want to stop to help, but, what can I really do, I think to myself. Also, I'm deathly afraid of disease (it's a phobia). So I move on, frustrated and angry at my own helplessness and self-concern.

It is said if the vast majority of visible homeless were white/caucasian this would not remain such a problem. Absolutely true. The evidence is evidently evidential. :)

There are relatively few whites in the homeless camp who remain longterm homeless because they have a racial support system that takes care of their own. This is largely because numerically there are more Caucasians (so far) in the U.S. and they primarily own the means of production (wealth), so, ipso facto and voila!

We perceive a skewed vision of a hidden reality and factor it into our false premises to create notions that feed our bigotries, hatreds, fears, etc. So the idea that "they brought upon themselves" may be less true than one thinks. IF one thinks.

Therefore the present of New Orleans is the future of Los Angeles given similar extreme circumstances. Have no doubt, the aftermath will be worse, especially if it seriously disrupts our communications and transportation systems.

This disaster is predicted to occur within the next possibly 20 years. We know it's going to happen but we don't know exactly when, so should we worry about it?

Well...um--yeah. But our way is, "Our cross that bridge when I get to it" not realizing the "bridge" may have fallen down like the London one we sang about as children. Then whatcha gonna do, Bunky?

I find such thinking insipid and endlessly worrisome. What is even more ironic is that the wealthy will not get away so easily as they did in New Orleans. So a simple realignment of perception toward a more diverse outlook can do wonders in the ripple effect on our (and the world's) society.

It begins by simply knowing the difference between right and wrong. In truth, we have allowed our gluttony to make irresponsible to ourselves. Look at the literal fattening of our population even as the rest of the world must ration their portions.

So here's the deal with Skid Row, just as it is with the entire of Los Angeles: Invest the money necessary to things work; listen to the real experts who have studied and have solutions to the problems. The mentally/emotionally disturbed must be cared for, not simply housed away out of sight (and out of mind?).

Insanity is a massive psychic pain no one will acknowledge. Even when "normal" people are unduely put upon we become depressed, sometimes to the point of giving up. People respond to the the conditions of their environment. Did you know that the concept of full employment has been touted by conservatives and reactionaries as a Communist ideal and not something good for our society? Sheesh! The crap we are told (and believe).

In a democratic society it's not enough to simply elect a representative. We must then guide and oversee his/her decisions on our behalf. But we have given over our power to a republican form of representation. That is to say, our politicians make independent decisions without our direct oversight.

Remember, when you place a person in a position of power the majority must use their own weight as a counterbalance or corruption will set in, as is the case today. We elect fools and hucksters to office because we want the world shaped in our own stupid image.

Funny thing though... as a Utopian at heart , I firmly believe a wonderful is technologically and socially feasible and possible. But not until/unless we wise up pretty fast. The Gulf Coast tragedy is going to send an intense shockwave throughout our already fragile and artificially propped up economy. However, if you are a staunch capitalist investor with a diversified portfolio, this is only a windfall as the gap between rich and poor widens ever more.

My guess is the rebuilding of New Orleans may be along the lines of our own Playa del Vista on the westside. It will be a boon to the economy of the southern states that most likely create a stream of poor and enterprising of various sorts from around the U.S. back south.



Now let me speak of something else to come: Backlash. Right now the hurricane victims are receiving a grace period of goodwill out of sheer necessity. But our more practiced worse nature will surely assert itself as resentment, distaste, suspicion, based on our fears and selfishness become the norm once again.

Am I being cynical or realistic? The assimilation of a highly traumatized underclass is exactly the situation we are confronting in Skid Row. Everyone wants to skirt around the issues but no one wants to confront them head-on (unless there is a profit motive attached, natch).

A lot of poor, angry black youth are beginning to filter throughout our country. Keep in mind that youth who have nothing have nothing to lose. They have a bone to pick with us for what they may see as an attack upon their very souls, lives, and existence. Afraid? Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Also, I would imagine the news of our criminally inept non-response to the dire needs of our own citizens by a warmongering government would bring succor, comfort, joy, and confidence to our self-made enemies around the world.

Oh, hey--did we forget about them? Tsk. I'm sure they haven't forgotten us as we continue our rampage through their lives. They are very real. So, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to our Vietnam Part Deux. We are losing the battles and will soon lose the war, you betcha.

I mean, how do you defeat an enemy that is not afraid to die and consider it an honor? By needlessly and heedlessly invading and destroying Iraq we have knocked over the dominoes that will bring down our own house of cards. It's so sad to be the bully in someone else's backyard.

In closing, I'd like to refer you to a book by Arianna Huffington entitled, "How To Overthrow the Government." It is a must-read for the emerging cognoscenti. Also, if you havent' seen the movie "Crash" perhaps you might want to rent it. It won't be a waste of money, I assure you. There's a storm coming. Are we prepared to weather it, because we will not be able to flee the thunder from above and below.

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