"Throw me somethin'....Stupid!"

A few nights ago my brother-in-law, who lives in New Orleans, and I were talking about Mardi Gras and the festivities that were to be taking place. We talked about the ball he and my sis-in-law were going to and about all the celebrities who were going to be there when he mentioned to me that there were people who were actually trying to boycott the New Orleans Mardi Gras and have it cancelled. "Say, what?" I asked. Why would anyone want to do that? Surely it was just rumor. Well, after a little research on my part I found out he was right as rain.

It turns out that a portion of the misplaced African-American New Orleans residents are upset that Mardi Gras is still being held, claiming that it will take away from the rebuilding efforts of the city. They believe that all money and effort should be put into rebuilding the city, and holding this celebration is somehow going to take away from that.

It seems to me that what these protestors think is that Mardi Gras is put on by the city government. I live in Louisiana, and I can tell you that that's not at all where the bulk of the money for Mardi Gras celebrations come from. Private citizens and companies pay for the festivities, not the government. Do you really think any part of the Louisiana government has the cash to put on the huge parties that go on this time every year? Not a chance. You think that Nagen pays the big celebs that come down every year to be crowned king/queen of various Mardi Gras balls? He, nor the city, is that wealthy. No, it's private citizens who foot the bill. Now don't get me wrong, most of those people only do it to get face time with celebs and flaunt their wealth, so it's not like they're really doing it "for the people", but it's still not government money being spent.

The crux of the issue is that without Mardi Gras, New Orleans wouldn't have had nearly the press and notoriety it had before Katrina. A very large chunk of the city's income came from Mardi Gras and tourism. What these people don't seem to realize is that continuing to hold these festivities brings more money into the city, offering more jobs than what they currently have, and that money ends up staying in the city to help with the reconstruction efforts. How in the world could having people from not just the U.S., but all over the world coming in and spending their money in the city be a bad thing? They want to rebuild, but if you don't have the money, how are you going to do it? Wouldn't bringing in all this seemingly overnight cash possibly be just the boost N.O. needs to get back on it's feet? It would seem that to some people the answer to all this is a resounding "NO".

How long will we have to put up with the stupidity of people who believe that the only way to pick up the pieces after something happens is to have the government throw free money at them and not try to pick themselves up through their own efforts. It's just like the people who didn't evacuate before the hurricane hit. They all wanted to blame the government when they weren't rescued ten minutes after the levees broke, even though they were told to evacuate before Katrina ever hit ground. Not to mention, it's not like Louisiana has never been hit with a hurricane before. If you live here, you know that when a storm like that comes you need to get the heck out. But, alas, victims would rather be victims and blame others instead of taking care of themselves. It's funny how after southwest Louisiana was hit by hurricane Rita, and entire towns were wiped off the map, nobody from that region cried foul with the government. And I guarantee they're not crying to call off Mardi Gras, either.

To the protestors and boycotters, stop getting stuck on stupid. It doesn't help anything.