Anything But The Projects: An Open Letter to New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin

To: Clarence Ray Nagin Jr., Mayor of New Orleans
RE: Anything But the Projects

Your Honor,

 
As the recovery phase following the Katrina catastrophe ends and the rebuilding phase begins, you may feel that New Orleans’ worst mistakes and starkest challenges are behind you. Unfortunately they’re not. As per the famous Chinese curse, the interesting times are just beginning in New Orleans.

And you, sir, are in a very interesting position. You’re not only going to be the one history holds responsible for the outcome of the new New Orleans, but you also have the almost unheard of opportunity of starting mostly from scratch. Every power-worshiping planner in the history of history has coveted this opportunity. Some, such as Pol Pot and Stalin, killed millions for it. The rest have had to be content with fantasizing about it, but you—lucky you!—have had it thrust upon you. And what you do with it will endure as your legacy, for better or for worse.

Although I live five hundred miles away in Austin, Texas, I’m a native New Orleanian, and the folks that the nation saw suffering on television after the hurricane were my friends and family. And like you, I was not merely heartbroken, but soul-broken by Katrina’s devastation of my precious city. But we must find time to grieve another day, because the tipping point that will determine the future of New Orleans is fast upon us.

They will come. They’re coming now. Many are already in New Orleans. But the two-bit carpet baggers and hustlers, the grifters, the lawyers, they’re not the ones to worry about. The ones to worry about are the professional do-gooders, the bureaucrats, the Planners, and the holier-than-thou activists. Each have their own vision of what the new New Orleans should look like, and each is absolutely sure that their vision is the correct one. They will pretend to know everything, including things they can’t possibly know, and they will speak as if disagreeing with them is somehow stupid and immoral. They’ll kiss your ass at first, but if that doesn’t work, they’ll try to shame you, and if that still doesn’t work, they will attack you. Getting a shot at rebuilding a great city from scratch is just too much of an opportunity for them to let little things—like the Mayor, or the people of New Orleans—get in the way. But just remember: when the Planners’ master plan hits the fan, it’s not them who are going to be left holding the bag. It’s going to be you left holding the bag. You and the citizens of New Orleans.

Now, having properly advised you against those offering advice, allow me to offer you some more. Unlike the Planners, I don’t believe I know what’s best for New Orleans and her people. In fact, I’m pretty certain I don’t know, and I’m pretty certain that no one else does either; that knowledge is dispersed throughout the thoughts, dreams, and desires of all those who live and do business there. I do know, however, certain things that are NOT in the best interests of New Orleanians, just like anybody else who’s ever lived there. And not counting hurricanes, the absolute worst thing that could happen to the city would be the rebuilding of any of the government housing projects of New Orleans. If the Feds or anybody else wants to help low income folks by providing them with down payments for their own house, that’s fine. If they want to have the government underwrite their monthly payments, great. If government wants to do anything that will help the poor gain access to financing that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to obtain, by all means bring it on. Let them help by doing anything—anything except the projects.

Mister Mayor, you have seen with your own eyes what the projects have done to generation after generation of those who have lived in them: they entrap the very defenseless people they’re most intended to help and then expose them like live bait to the social predators who would feed upon them. And sir, you also know what the projects do to their surrounding communities: they provide an unpoliceable habitat for criminality of every sort, and thus become a permanent source of fear, theft, and violence which constantly preys upon the law-abiding, rich and poor, citizens and businesses alike.

And there isn’t a single reason under the sun to believe that there is any way to reform the projects or otherwise make them work better. Remember that when the bureaucrats threaten you. Remember that when the advocates stamp their feet in disgust and accuse you of not caring about poor people or worse. Remember that the only thing the do-gooders want is to make themselves feel special, and only you can keep them from doing so on the backs of the people of New Orleans. And always, always remember: it’s the poor themselves who are  victimized the most by housing projects.

Mayor Nagin, please condemn each and every housing project in New Orleans immediately. And don’t waste one second feeling bad about it. Think about how half of them don’t look any different now than they did before Katrina. Condemn them, confiscate them under the Supreme Court’s new and improved eminent domain, and sell them off to the highest bidder. Then you can dissolve the Housing Authority and use the money for better things, like hiring more police at higher pay. Use it for something that fights despair instead of creating it.

Yours,
Peter Jackson
Admin, LiberalCapitalist.com