A friend and I occasionally play a game where we send each other excerpts of news articles or commentary to see how quickly the other can figure out the topic and context. We take out references that would give it away, but provide enough information to make it possible to guess. It's pretty nerdy, obviously, but I read so much news that I usually know the answer after one or two emails, and it's a quick, entertaining diversion.
You have a generation of young people here who are the products of an education system that didn't educate, a judicial system of no consequences, and a culture of political corruption that has driven businesses away. What you have left is [...] an AK-47. They suffer from a fundamental misunderstanding of the social contract, of how to deal with people and how to resolve conflicts without using a gun.That's easy, I thought. Iraq. A generation of young people oppressed by sanctions and war, struggling to survive in anarchy through corruption and violence. Perhaps written about Kurdistan or the south, both of which were denied basic opportunities by Saddam's regime. Nope, my friend wrote back, adding another few lines.
[It] has long been plagued by drugs and violence, but many who returned hoped for a new start . . . for about six months [afterwards], crime had declined dramatically. [After that], however, with the rebuilding process still sluggish in many ways, a sharp upturn in violent crime has shaken confidence . . . a resurgent drug trade -- in some ways more diverse, chaotic and violent than what existed before [...] -- is largely responsible.Ahh, drugs and violence, the twin terrors of a failed state. AK-47s plus drugs plus catastrophic event equals Afghanistan, right? The increased violence, slow recovery, resurgent drug trade; I thought I had it pegged. Wrong again, my friend wrote. Darfur? Chechnya? No. I was ready to get esoteric. Oaxaca? Dhaka?
He wrote back two awful, heartbreaking words: New Orleans.
I simply don't know how we've let this happen to one of our cities. While my focus (on this blog and professionally) is largely foreign affairs, the ongoing tragedy in New Orleans seems to me as important as anything else we face today as a country, both for the city itself and for what it says about our priorities, our attention, and our commitments to our fellow Americans. I just wish it said something good.
