Dichotomy

Following the coverage of the ongoing cluster fuck that is Katrina’s aftermath, I am struck once again by a seemingly irreconcilable difference in my worldview.

I don’t think my opinion of the general public will come as any surprise to the readers of YPS. In my carefully considered opinion, most people are idiots. The average person barely has enough sense and smarts to come in out of the rain. (Yes, I realize this makes me an arrogant, elitist bastard. I accepted that a long time ago.) Or, in this particular case, to leave before the rain arrives.

At the same time, I tend to think that most people will generally muddle through life okay. In a crisis situation, things will turn out okay because people will recognize what needs to be done and do it (if you let them). The Katrina coverage is proving this point of view as well. Someday, when I have a little more time, I need to figure out a way to balance these two ideas in a fashion that is logically consistent.