Calling me or anyone else a racist (Forum letters, Sept. 14) because we learn more from Katrina's aftermath than that we elected the wrong president is ignorant and narrow-minded. Katrina has not only ripped the fa ade off of 40 years of the War on Poverty, it has exposed this war's more virulent proponents as simply name-calling amateur advocates.
For this writer, Katrina pointed out an obvious lesson for Utahns: continue to stress self-reliance and preparedness. There is nothing racist about that. In fact, helping the poor in New Orleans to become self-reliant and prepared over four generations rather than addicting them to federal welfare programs would have saved many lives in Katrina's path.
We have our parallels in the Intermountain West. Think back on the tragedy that was the Teton Dam. On June 5, 1976, the Teton Dam broke and unleashed 97 billion gallons of water on the tiny Idaho communities of Wilford, Sugar City, Rexburg and Hibbard. That's the equivalent of throwing an ant in the Provo River during spring runoff. The devastation was incredible, a billion dollars of lost value and several lives taken.
Surely the federal government was responsible for building a lousy dam. But nobody was blaming President Gerald Ford. Instead, tens of thousands of Mormons and their neighbors showed up with shovels, heavy equipment, food and supplies to care for its victims and rebuild what they could. There was no blame game. And the lesson then was as now: Self-reliance and preparedness matter in times of emergency and disaster.
In defense of the Sutherland Institute, me and everyone associated with it regarding our compassion - we care and we are doing something about it. The primary difference between our approach to helping people out of poverty and the approach of our critics is that we seek lasting solutions for these impoverished neighbors, not just temporary fixes.
Last year we proposed the creation of an authentic charity care system to give universal health care to Utah's indigent and needy uninsured. With its foresight and wisdom, the Utah Legislature unanimously passed a resolution to look into this idea.
We have vetted the plan across the political spectrum. We have begged for input from those who traditionally disagree with us on political matters. And what has been their reply? Silence, dead silence.
The "social justice" community, the progressive liberals still caught in the 1960s and still fighting Vietnam, seem not to want any part of a lasting solution to the health-care needs of poor people in Utah. The best they can muster is theatrics up at the Capitol, screaming for more tax dollars and more government solutions.
Words such as tolerance, diversity, bigotry and racism coming from such narrow-minded ideologues are meaningless. With friends like that, the poor and displaced people of New Orleans do not need enemies.
Lastly, in defense of drawing red state/blue state comparisons in the aftermath, just look at how a small group of red state people rode out the storm - the Mormon victims of Katrina, people who still believe in and practice self-reliance, preparedness and assuming personal responsibility for their lives.
Not only were their most precious commodities, the full-time missionaries in the area, safely evacuated before the storm hit, but not one member of their community has been reported dead or injured. And even with the destruction of their homes and their places of worship, they still manage to be givers, not takers, in the aftermath.
Orchestrated letter-writing campaigns filled with hateful personal accusations cannot be the only response to honest public dialogue. We must rise above this acrimony. It is quite possible that someone can appreciate the values of self-reliance and preparedness, and express strong concern for the debilitating results of government dependency, while fully supporting those in need with compassion, charity and love.
In fact, anything less is neither compassionate, charitable nor loving.
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Paul Mero is president of the Sutherland Institute, at Utah-based conservative think tank.
