Comments on: Disastrous Government http://www.airs.com/blog/archives/200 Ian Lance Taylor Tue, 6 Jan 2009 23:55:45 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=1.5.2 Comment on Disastrous Government by: Ian Lance Taylor http://www.airs.com/blog/archives/200#comment-14211 Tue, 03 Jun 2008 05:31:14 +0000 http://www.airs.com/blog/archives/200#comment-14211 fche: the scale of the disaster was such that everybody needed to help immediately. FEMA should have been prepared to do that, in conjunction with the state and city services. That is simply good management. fche: the scale of the disaster was such that everybody needed to help immediately. FEMA should have been prepared to do that, in conjunction with the state and city services. That is simply good management.

]]> Comment on Disastrous Government by: fche http://www.airs.com/blog/archives/200#comment-14205 Sun, 01 Jun 2008 13:32:59 +0000 http://www.airs.com/blog/archives/200#comment-14205 @ian: > Once the disaster occurred, it immediately and correctly escalated ... How do you figure that "correctly" part? Louisiana has its own emergency organization, and so does New Orleans. I'm sure it's not like a bad tv show - "I'm from the FBI, and I'm taking over jurisdiction in your case. Stand aside." @etbe: There are certainly places like that, but that's not the point. It seems like a common yet dreadful oversimplification to imagine a single "the government", when in fact there are many physically disconnected parts, often with conflicting interests, jurisdictions, ... @ian:

> Once the disaster occurred, it immediately and correctly escalated …

How do you figure that “correctly” part? Louisiana has its own emergency organization, and so does New Orleans. I’m sure it’s not like a bad tv show - “I’m from the FBI, and I’m taking over jurisdiction in your case. Stand aside.”

@etbe:

There are certainly places like that, but that’s not the point. It seems like a common yet dreadful oversimplification to imagine a single “the government”, when in fact there are many physically disconnected parts, often with conflicting interests, jurisdictions, …

]]> Comment on Disastrous Government by: etbe http://www.airs.com/blog/archives/200#comment-14202 Sun, 01 Jun 2008 01:03:34 +0000 http://www.airs.com/blog/archives/200#comment-14202 fche: Can you cite an example of a country with a single-level government? The recent problems in China were not only due to poor preparation. There have been reports of Chinese soldiers preventing people from seeing the bodies of their children in situations were it would not be difficult to allow them. From watching the news I also received the impression that the Chinese government were less receptive to foreign assistance than they might have been (but nothing to compare with the government of Myanmar). fche: Can you cite an example of a country with a single-level government?

The recent problems in China were not only due to poor preparation. There have been reports of Chinese soldiers preventing people from seeing the bodies of their children in situations were it would not be difficult to allow them.

From watching the news I also received the impression that the Chinese government were less receptive to foreign assistance than they might have been (but nothing to compare with the government of Myanmar).

]]> Comment on Disastrous Government by: Ian Lance Taylor http://www.airs.com/blog/archives/200#comment-14199 Sat, 31 May 2008 06:50:15 +0000 http://www.airs.com/blog/archives/200#comment-14199 It's true that the failed orderly evacuation was the responsibility of the city of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana. The poor construction of the levees, which failed to prevent the disaster, were constructed by the executive branch, in the form of the Army Corp of Engineers. This failure was not of course due to the Bush administration, but the administration failed to hold anybody accountable for it. Once the disaster occurred, it immediately and correctly escalated to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is part of the executive branch. They completely failed to handle it. It’s true that the failed orderly evacuation was the responsibility of the city of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana.

The poor construction of the levees, which failed to prevent the disaster, were constructed by the executive branch, in the form of the Army Corp of Engineers. This failure was not of course due to the Bush administration, but the administration failed to hold anybody accountable for it.

Once the disaster occurred, it immediately and correctly escalated to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is part of the executive branch. They completely failed to handle it.

]]> Comment on Disastrous Government by: fche http://www.airs.com/blog/archives/200#comment-14198 Sat, 31 May 2008 02:11:59 +0000 http://www.airs.com/blog/archives/200#comment-14198 "The government" isn't a "the" in the US. It's a multi-layered thing with many different areas of responsibility, power, and electoral affiliation of the various leaders and representatives. Why does the federal executive branch seem to you as the appropriate place for blame for Katrina's aftermath? “The government” isn’t a “the” in the US. It’s a multi-layered thing with many different areas of responsibility, power, and electoral affiliation of the various leaders and representatives. Why does the federal executive branch seem to you as the appropriate place for blame for Katrina’s aftermath?

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