Out of the devastation of Katrina, Americans will have an opportunity to rebuild with foresight. This will test our creativity but it will also test our environmental and social priorities.

It may be possible to design and build an ecologically sound, energy efficient, and hurricane proof city, but how can we plan accommodations for the displaced, dispossessed, and deprived? By even attempting to do so, we acknowledge and tacitly endorse the notion that poverty is an essential component of our nation. By using taxes to build homes for the underclass – homes that will necessarily be low-cost, substandard, and undersized -- we may ease our conscience while easing their suffering but we will, nonetheless, establish for all to see that America needs some of its citizens to forever remain in poverty.

I am sure that many people reading this will insist that poverty is a sad fact of life and that most poor people somehow deserve their plight. This “blame the victim” mentality is not only ignorant, it is a convenient way to shift blame, assuage guilt, and justify greed. The truly sad fact of life is that we Americans believe we have a god-given right to acquire more food, water, clothing, shelter, and resources than we will ever need. Sure, it is nice that we can now give some of our extra stuff to help those who have nothing, but let’s not feel too righteous about our charity – the truth is, whatever we give is far less than we owe.