Despite the obviously gross negligence of governmental authorities that led to the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, not one governmental official or agency had been held accountable until this Nov. 18. On that day, a federal judge found the Army Corps of Engineers responsible for a lack of proper maintenance on the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet, or MR-GO.
 Court ruling is the first to lay any blame on a federal agency for the Katrina disaster, yet those whose lives were destroyed have yet to see justice. |
MR-GO is a shortcut canal that leads from Port New Orleans to the Gulf of Mexico. The judge agreed with the contention of the plaintiffs that the Corps had failed to show “due care” in its maintenance efforts and had, in fact, even engaged in some actions that contributed to the decay of the canal and the erosion of levees lining it, as well as the killing off of salt marshes that act as a natural buffer to hurricanes.
The court found that these actions were directly responsible for at least the flooding of the Lower Ninth Ward and St. Bernard parish—the two hardest hit areas of the city, both impoverished working-class communities that saw the most devastation and least rebuilding.
The culpability laid out by the court is narrow, and the government plans to appeal. What the ruling itself will eventually yield for those hurt by the government’s neglect is yet to be determined. It is, nevertheless, a victory that adds to the official record of neglect of human needs under capitalism.
Seeking cover in labyrinthine legal system
In 1995, Congress authorized the Army Corps to begin the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control project (SELA), which was supposed to protect the residents of New Orleans from flooding. As noted in Editor & Publisher magazine in 2005, government funding for the already inadequate efforts slowed to almost nothing following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, as the government funneled money into the war effort.
In 2004, FEMA detailed in a proposed contract the possible devastation that could be caused by a major hurricane, which almost uncannily predicted many of the catastrophic events that took place Aug. 28, 2005. FEMA intended to have a private contractor begin various projects to lessen the danger; the government, however, never appropriated any funds for the project.
Despite these and the myriad instances of government misconduct, the Justice Department is attempting to hide behind obscure laws to avoid having to pay even the minor sums awarded to six plaintiffs in this case.
The government does not want full-scale exposure to hundreds of billions of dollars of damages for their decision not to maintain levees. It wants no responsibility for its collusion with oil companies to eliminate marsh areas to make way for oil exploration, or in diverting funds from New Orleans flood protection to its wars of aggression.
Another way forward
The recent court ruling, even if limited, is another tool to expose wrongdoing by all government agencies and corporations that led to thousands of deaths and the total destruction of large swaths of the Gulf Coast region.
At the same time, the very fact the capitalist government and corporations can hide behind endless court proceedings to protect themselves speaks volumes about the very limited nature of “justice” under capitalism. The duration of legal proceedings alone means that, for many, even a ruling in their favor will hardly make up for everything they have lost.
There is continued negligence in rebuilding the Gulf Coast today. To the extent that rebuilding has taken place, it has been carefully designed to meet the needs of developers, not displaced working-class residents. As is always the case under capitalism, profits have trumped all other considerations.
Cuba is a country that is often hit hard during hurricane season. The material devastation is often substantial, made several times worse by the inhumane blockade imposed by the U.S. government, which deprives the country of the necessary resources to rebuild.
Nevertheless, thanks to a high level of centralized planning, Cuba has implemented large-scale early warning and evacuation plans that have translated into countless lives being saved, often with no loss of life at all. No one is left to fend for themselves. With the profit motive out of the way, socialist Cuba puts human lives at the forefront.
It is clear now as ever that the needs of working-class people in this country can only be gained and protected under a system in which they are the rulers; that system is socialism.
