The Blackout -- Lessons Not Learned

And I'm not talking about the deteriorating state of our power grid system.

Considering how the media treated a 24-hour blackout like the most traumatic thing to happen to the U.S. since 9/11, you would think that at least some mouthpiece for the media might have wondered aloud how the Iraqis, whose infrastructure we utterly destroyed, feel about having lived for MONTHS without electricity or clean water in 100-plus heat, not to mention a critical shortage of medical supplies and food (and our own troops are not supplied much better).

While many Amerikans -- at least, according to the media's stories of our "heroic survival" of a day's inconvenience -- pat themselves on the back for having faced such adversity so well (sarcasm alert), you have to wonder if there really was no spark of empathy for what the Iraqis have been enduring for months.

Yet those Iraqis who dare to voice any discontent are portrayed by our govt as ungrateful and impatient. Yeah, right! Can you imagine what the good old US of A would be like if we hadn't had power for four months, water, jobs, sufficient food or medical supplies? The world of Mad Max would look like a Sunday School picnic by comparison.

When it comes right down to it, we as Americans are so spoiled we've lost touch with any semblance of reality, particularly a global reality. Little wonder so many prefer to have wrestlers and celluloid action heroes to govern. After all, if we expect to live the fantasy as if its our God-given right its up to the rest of the world to supply the behind-the-scenes reality. We crave the cheap goods and whether that comes on the backs of child slave labor is simply an unpleasantness, but since these are not Christian white children in the sweatshops our collective conscience isn't too perturbed as we stuff our bags at The Gap. We want all the cheap gas and oil we can possibly waste on our Hummer fantasies and its no matter that whole countries and cultures must be destroyed to obtain this finite resource -- after all, those brown-skinned Muslim people would simply waste such bounty by not using up every ounce just as fast as it can be pumped out of the sand. As God's chosen, we have the proprietary rights to every nation's resources, including the precious resource of the people themselves. Don't they understand that?

No, what's going on behind the curtain is of no concern. The "Great Blackout" was, when all is said and done, a missed opportunity for us as a nation. If we proved anything it is that we are a people without the qualities of compassion and empathy for the billions who just happen to live outside the perimeter of our manifest fantasy.

And the phrase "manifest fantasy" is fantastic. Just perfect for summing up the sever mass mental illnesses which now pass for the Amerikkan culture.

Just heard A CNN reporter actually say that they will have to prepare much better for any future emergency. Although she had plenty of water, she found there was only one bottle of red wine left in the house.

And we have the gall to wonder why so many in this world consider us with contempt.

I had power at home (lost it at the office), but I had to turn the television off. I could not stand to hear one more word about "courageous New Yorkers" (no offense to any DU NYers intended - my beef is with the media). If living without electricity or modern convenience for a day or so is considered courageous, Iraqis should be sainted, at this point. It occurred to me that, number one, a whole lot more people in this country were affected than just those who live in New York City, and number two, how can we justify our complaining about a power outage that lasted - for the majority of us - less than 24 hours, when Iraqi civilians have been without electricity or clean water for months-on-end?

Americans are lazy, selfish and spoiled, and I'm quickly reaching the conclusion that there aren't many of us left who give a damn about anyone but ourselves.

I saw women getting manicures in the dark. People were barbecuing on the street. Bars were packed until wee hours of the morning.It didn't look like suffering, it was more like making do until the lights go on. Other cities were suffering a little more like Cleveland who don't have plumbing. It was hot but we could just keep drinking water and stay in the shade.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=185552

I tried to find a discussion on this topic and overlooked your thread somehow... but I agree entirely!

This wasn't just a 24 hour irritation, it's an ongoing problem. There are people in neighborhoods who still don't have power or water.

There are those who live in apartments in which water for drinking, washing and using the toilet isn't available due to the power being off.

Toronto's public transit system cannot run without electricity. The streetcars and subway are halted until a guaranteed supply level is reached.

Getting around is not a luxury, neither is water.

I agree with your final sentence but not by diminishing what some are going through at home.

... whatever real, short-term hardships people "at home" are experiencing are NOTHING compared to what the Iraqis have been enduring for MONTHS. Either you missed the point of my post or you just made my point, I'm not sure which. Perhaps both.

I got your point and again, I agree. You seem to have missed mine which is that this isn't a minor inconvenience where people can't make microwave popcorn for a day because the power is off. Not having water and no movement is not a minor inconvenience as you portrayed it and to diminish it to make a pessimistic statement from the luxury of your powered computer is just as offensive.

There will always be someone worse off that you can compare anyone to and personally, I'd like to know how you come to the conclusion that people who had gone through this hadn't already pondered and came to the same thoughts you did in your post?

power was restored this morning. Am I patting myself on the back? Not. Did I complain, hell yes, it's hot out. Did I tell my children to be grateful this was temporary unlike Iraq where the problems are ongoing? Heck yes. Even though it sounded a bit like my mother telling me at the dinner table that children were starving in Asia. The news may tell you one thing. What I prefer to remember and be awed about is this:

Neighbors who rarely said "boo" to each other got together, shared food, water and generators. We got to know our new neighbors really well and can now count them among our friends. I played cards by candlelight with my loved ones, and my kids won all my pennies. (gambling tsk,tsk) and a good time was had.

Do we have a right to complain? You bet your a$$. Like I said, it's fricking hot out. Of course we know it's not the same. So please don't patronize us.

Handpuppet made a point of targeting the media's puffery of this event. She wasn't being condescending, she wasn't saying you don't have a right to complain. She was, however, pointing out that it is ludicrous to call coping with this event anything beyond doing what has to be done.

YOU are not patting yourself on the back for this effort, but there are plenty of newscaster and politicians who are waxing poetic about the courage of the American people in lasting 24 hours without electricity. And I've heard innumerable "people on the street" marvel at how they've risen to the occasion, as if they've undergone some trial by fire and emerged stronger for the experience. Get real, folks.

She's also ragging -- quite rightly -- on all the newscasters and people who DON'T get the connection between what they've been through and what the people of Iraq and Afghanistan have been suffering for months. How can they miss the obvious irony of this experience? Beats me.

These idiots are the target of Handpuppet's exasperation, not you. I can only assume that the events of the last few days have made you irritable and quick to take offense where there was none. Heat will do that to you.

--Carmen

VERY original post.

I am so ashamed to be an American.