On 6/3/2011 9:54 PM, Mark A. Hershberger wrote:
>> "Local color" is for 3rd World countries that you ooh and ahh over on
>> vacation then head home thanking God you didn't get diarrhea from the
>> water.
>
> Strongly disagree.
>
> NYC has plenty of local color.
>
> The area I live in (Lancaster County, PA) has tons of local color and no
> one here would think of themselves the way New Orleanians often do, as
> third world equals.
>
Not knowing anything Lancaster County, I'd wager that it doesn't have a
majority of its infrastructure in a perpetual state of near collapse, an
education system that is so messed up and politicized as to ruin an
excellent university for the sake of a making another one look better or
has an economy with such limited diversification as to all but guarantee
the skilled talent has leave for better opportunities.
Even Garland Robinette, the infamous and unabashed champion of New
Orleans, has compared this place to a third world locale.
No, we aren't dying from malaria or cholera... There are no death
squads roaming the streets (although, you could argue that with some of
the gangs in the metro area). There is the "freedom" that everyone in
America goes on about... It isn't even close to as bad as places like
Somalia or Haiti.
But I don't think that's what they are talking about when they compare
the area to the third world.
I know that at least one other person on this list has had the all too
common conversation with me about leaving the area because of the
opportunities elsewhere. He's done what he can to find or make
opportunities in the area, but let's face it, NOLA has never been a
tech's city. I have pretty much reached the peak of what I could
expect to do in my career (outside of management, yuck) if I stay in New
Orleans and have come to the realization that the next step is to leave.
Really, the area could be a great, albeit hot and humid, place to live,
but it seems like the deck is perpetually stacked against it getting
there. After Katrina I didn't ever want to leave the city. I can't
say when, exactly, I changed my position, but clearly I was given enough
reason to change that desire in less than five years.
So no, you are right, it isn't the local color that makes folks compare
New Orleans to the third world. It goes way beyond that. The local
color just seems like salt in the gaping wound because some of the local
color here doesn't help the image of the area.
J
___________________
Nolug mailing list
nolug@nolug.org
Received on 06/04/11
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.2.0 : 06/04/11 EDT