The Libertarian View

"My own modus operandi, finely honed after spending almost half a decade in New Orleans, has been to wait until the very last minute, and then bolt out of there, tail between my legs, and then sit in bumper-to-bumper traffic. For Ivan, I crept to Baton Rouge, a trip of a little over an hour in ordinary circumstances, in nine hours. For Katrina, I left home early Sunday afternoon (8/28/05) inched up to Vicksburg in eight hours, which would usually take a little over two hours. Then, I went on up to Little Rock, my previous stamping ground (actually, it was Conway, a town of about 50,000, which lies about 30 miles northwest of the capital of Arkansas), and from there to Vancouver by plane.

"I am now safely ensconced in western Canada, writing up the notes I took en route. Happily, I escaped lightly, without too much inconvenience. But my heart goes out to those who were very much less fortunate.

"What has this to do with political economy, the usual subject of my writing interest? A lot, that's what." -- Walter Block, The Ludwig von Mises Institute

Libertarians are not Conservatives. Conservatives are enraged at Mr. Bush. Libertarians ask, What the hell else do you expect from these people? These people being da gummint, whatever party.

Anarchy in New Orleans

Anarchosyndicalism, to be precise. From alobar, who, thank God, appears to be all right.

"At the refugeee encampments along convention boulevard, I saw (and participated in) an entirely different form of survival. People banded together in small groups (5-15 people for the most part), gathered resources (water, food, clean napkins, information) to be shared within the group. We learned each others strong points and weak points, discovered how best to work together. All the while each group kept an eye on who their neighbors were, sharing with those neighbors who seemed like good people, and letting the others know that their bad behaviors would not be tollerated. Not sharing as in trade, but giving freely of that which one's group has in surplus. I made it a point to network with individuals as well as groups. The lady who lived near the only working pay phone in my neighborhood, for instance.

"Thus, mutual support networks were built up over hours within a millieu of fear and distrust -- only 4 blocks away from where there was violence, rape, thievery, and gang land turf wars. Not superior firepower, but superior memage."

Anarchy: people doing for themselves and for each other and not waiting on their masters.

I read that the government boats were to big to go in to rescue people. But were big enough to keep out the little boats of ordinary folks who wanted to save others.

(I hope that really didn't happen, that it's one of those damned stories that get made up and passed around. But it's the sort of thing that keeps happening.)

Almost enough to make ananarchist of you.