	Generational Dynamics
	Forecasting America's Destiny ... and the World's

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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 14-Feb-06
Katrina report finds massive incompetence at all levels

Web Log - February, 2006

Katrina report finds massive incompetence at all levels

This report is really depressing because it shows how far and fast we're sinking.

"It was like the entire government was mired in mud and couldn't move," commented one television pundit today.

That's in reference to a leaked Congressional report on the government's response to Hurricane Katrina. The actual report will be released on Wednesday.

The reported criticized the Bush administration and the Dept. of Homeland Security, but also laid plenty of blame on Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco of Louisiana and Mayor C. Ray Nagin of New Orleans.

Since it's a Congressional report, you can bet it won't criticize any Congressmen, but in fact a Senator or Representative from Louisiana or Mississippi might also have taken a leadership position, but didn't.

Over 10,000 FEMA mobile homes sit unused in Hope, Arkansas <font size=-2>(Source: KTHV)</font>

Over 10,000 FEMA mobile homes sit unused in Hope, Arkansas (Source: KTHV)

One of most amazing sights today are the over 10,000 mobile homes, ordered by FEMA, sitting in a cow pasture at the airport near Hope, Arkansas. However, Federal regulations forbid the use of these mobile homes on a flood plain, which makes them useless in southern Louisiana. Why did FEMA order trailers it can't use?

What happened was this: All these government officials were standing around, waiting for someone else to do something. They took no initiative themselves, because they were waiting for someone else to take the initiative.

From the point of view of Generational Dynamics, here's what's happening: As a man gets older, he's supposed to acquire more and more wisdom, so that he can guide younger generations away from danger. But that means that the younger generations don't get the dangerous experiences that let them gather experience, so that they when they become older they remain stupid, not wise.

And that's what's happened. The generations of people that fought or grew up during World War II learned that things don't take care of themselves, that someone has to take the lead and do something, or else follow the lead of someone else who's doing something. Those generations guided the country away from danger all through the decades since WW II, until the late 1990s, when they all disappeared (retired or died), all at once.

Today, the country is led by the Baby Boomer generation, who have never accomplished anything but argue politics, and by Generation X, who have never accomplished anything except to hate the Boomers.

So, the bad news is that the country is increasingly incompetent, increasingly sliding into the mud of paralysis.

The good news is that our major enemies, like China, are going through exactly the same process, and are becoming as incompetent as we are.

This is what always happens when a nation enters a crisis war. Recall that when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941, they wiped out America's entire Pacific fleet. Our ENTIRE Pacific Fleet -- in a single day. How could that have happened? Because the same kinds of incompetent generations (they were known as the "Missionary Generation" and the "Lost Generation", instead of "Boomer" and "Generation X," respectively) were running things, and they were just too stupid to protect Pearl Harbor, even though many people in government were expecting an attack by Japan. But instead of protecting the harbor, they simply sat around arguing about politics and hating each other.

We won WW II against Japan because we were a much larger country. It took us a good six months to get off our asses and start fighting back, but because of our enormous size, we were able to use that time.

Things may not go so well with the coming war with China. China will have (or already has) nuclear missiles that can be launched from their submarines to strike almost any American city.

In fact, it was last year in July that General Zhu Chenghu, a top-level officer in China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) threatened America with nuclear war if America interfered with Taiwan. Speaking to a group of foreign journalists, General Zhu said,

"If the Americans are determined to interfere [then] we will be determined to respond. We . . . will prepare ourselves for the destruction of all of the cities east of Xian [a city in central China]. Of course the Americans will have to be prepared that hundreds . . . of cities will be destroyed by the Chinese."

This is the kind of war scenario that America is unprepared to handle, but the Katrina disaster is giving Americans a small taste of what to expect. And unfortunately, as more and more Boomers and Gen-Xers come to power, the country will be getting less and less prepared, less and less incompetent.

What all this means for you, dear Reader, is that you will be entirely on your own. It will be up to you to protect, feed and shelter yourself and your family. Do not expect any government aid, because you'll get none. Do not expect welfare checks, or Social Security checks, or pension checks, because you'll receive none. Do not expect neighbors or politicians to help you, because they won't. You'll only have what you've stashed away.

And be prepared for looters and maurading gangs, including gangs of former paramilitaries. If you're into guns, then be prepared to use one to defend yourself and your family.

That's where we're headed. But, as I said, there is good news. China is not only becoming as incompetent as we are, it's becoming increasingly unstable and is approaching a massive civil war as its bubble economy unravels. That won't stop them from getting off a few nuclear missiles to American cities, but at least they'll be preoccupied with their own troubles. That's the good news. (14-Feb-06) Permanent Link
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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 14-Feb-06 Katrina report finds massive incompetence at all levels

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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 14-Feb-06
Katrina report finds massive incompetence at all levels