In the wake of Hurricane Katrina there is much blaming, finger pointing and calls for investigation. The object of such lament is to uncover the reasons behind the late, inadequate and insufficient aid and rescue resources sent in response to the devastation caused by the violent storm that hit the Gulf Coast, especially New Orleans, Louisiana and Mississippi.

The main target of such rancor are the political players and institutions responsible for the safety and care of US citizens, their lives, health, property, communities and general welfare. The rage is understandable in the face of the thousands of deaths, injury, lost family members, people and family displacement, disease, danger, the anarchy and criminal activity on the part some of the population., and utter material loss. Estimations run as high as a two hundred billion will be needed for recovery and repair.

Reports from reliable resources abound, that state such extensive damage could have been prevented. They aver that knowledge of the weakness and vulnerability of the levies in New Orleans, for example, has been available for years. The city lay below sea level and only the levies protected her from the waters of Lake Ponchartrain and the sea. Warnings of such danger had been advanced many times by experts to the political powers extant.

As to Katrina, herself, it was amply known by all that the force 4 and 5 hurricane would slam into the Gulf Coast, days before she hit. The severe damage was anticipated. Yet it took days before adequate relief and security forces even began to show up. Where was the awareness, where was the responsibility, who and what was to blame for such costly and deadly neglect and incompetence?

These are questions for others to ask. This article concerns itself with the underlying human factors that lead to circumstances that are more disastrous than they need to be.

What is it in human behavior that permits difficult situations to grow in intensity and cost?

It is tempting to lay the blame on current leaders and politicians, to hold them responsible, and if deemed necessary to exact penalties and punishment. This seems the easy and expeditious way to handle the matter, to try to correct the flaws and mistakes, then to go on living our lives until the next disaster strikes us, until the next round of hand wringing and unnecessary loss.

This typical, and historic, kind of response does not solve anything, it only adds to the perpetual cycle of tragedy, frustration and cost...

We need to look at the pattern of human behavior in order to effect real prevention in the future.

The problem is endemic. It underlies why many, many humans, if not all, who face known threat to their health, economics and general circumstance with denial, repression, avoidance and pretense, and in the case of politics and business, exploitation.. Why do we evade and postpone logical prevention and remedy when we have knowledge of, and are informed of, health danger, financial threat, problematic behavior in ourselves and our loved ones, poverty and other dangerous circumstances in our communities, incompetent, irresponsible and corrupt behavior by our leaders in our institutions of business, government, education et al?

The fundamental answer is fear. In the historic, oppressive system of society, in which we are part, we are programmed and conditioned to be fearful. We are afraid to face the truth, afraid of the feelings that rise when facing the truth. We are programmed by conditioning to hold in and deny our feelings. We are afraid of the possible disapproval, real or imagined, and the criticism, the blame, afraid to be labeled in negative ways, even afraid of the ostracization if "the truth came out."

How rampant, for example, is the fear of being abandoned, even criticized, if the

"Cancer" or other affliction became known to others, even to family?

We are afraid of the discomfort and cost in dealing with the problem. Even when we really do know that the problem will be so much more painful and costly by avoiding it.

Instead we stick our heads in the sand, pretend that the problem is not as bad as we might fear, hope against hope the danger will go away or be taken care of by others. We numb ourselves to the truth of the danger and continue to whistle our fear away as we cross through the graveyard.

This habit pattern of fear and avoidance is compounded exponentially in the behavior of leaders in our institutions, especially in business and government. Here, the cost of irresponsibility, exploitation and corruption to the populace, on the part of leadership, can be immense and tragic. Witness the aftermath of Katrina.

Vulture like, the exploiters, e.g., Halliburton (which have already had no bid contracts in the hurricane areas) and its collusive partners in the halls of power are quick to swoop in and gobble up the goodies created by the disaster. Mr. Bush even suspended the Davis-Bacon act to allow contractors to pay workers less than established wages, ensuring greater profits for the companies.

Examples of avoiding problems are plenty in history. Recently, for instance, the danger in using tobacco was known by the industry years before exposure. In the Vioxx case, as well as many other pharmaceuticals, the company suppressed the known danger until it was too late. Many products in the market place have been handled similarly, especially where it comes to product safety. It was too "costly, too threatening to profits, and embarrassing" to admit the truth in a timely way. The case of evading child molestation among religious leaders, not to mention its prevalence in other areas of child custodianship, is now well known.

Of course, the cost in human lives, and perhaps profits, become much greater by such avoidance. . I say "perhaps profits" because the cozy collusion between big business and government almost always softens the financial blows that would otherwise ensue.

The case regarding government is similar

President Clinton engaged in a personal, foreseeable calamity inherent in his sexual pattern. No-one forced him to deal with it. He almost lost his job because of it. The price he and the nation paid was terrible

As a nation we are currently faced with the increasing gulf between the rich and working classes, growing poverty, the slippage of the middle class, even while the rich continue to enhance their wealth. We are faced with the impending crisis in energy, the obvious gouging by the oil companies with the tacit approval of the Bush administration. We are fully aware of the growing anger, anarchy and killing on our streets, and the uncontrolled availability of weapons. When it comes to family abuse (psychological as well as physical, which lies at the heart of acted out rage, delinquency and life time distress), domestic violence, drugs and crime we, as a society, are practically silent

In particular, the Bush administration and its policies have much to answer for... His destruction of a surplus balance in our treasury due to his approval seeking collusion with the rich and corporate powers, and the corresponding creation of a serious and dangerous national debt, looms as a calamitous threat against the well being of the nation and our economy.

Mr. Bush's policy of repressing and corrupting scientific findings as regards global warming, national health, environmental conditions, quite well known by the public, will lead to disasters greater than we can imagine.

Mr. Bush's (probably illegal) war in Iraq is a far cry from the blind and rosy pretense in the projections he and his clique made for the outcome of the invasion of Iraq. The far right propaganda machine had done a good job of subduing much of public awareness and indignation, that is, until recently as the inevitable results of his oppressive and obsessive agenda comes to light.

With respect to Katrina, fearful avoidance of the truth of Mr. Bush's policies has led to serious drainage of the public treasury and resources. Up to 44% of FEMA's budget had been cut. Tens of thousands of National Guard personnel, and tons of needed equipment and material, the presence and timely use of which would surely have saved lives, secured the area and effected more efficient relief, was and is mired in Iraq.

Mr. Bush says (to paraphrase) "we can do both, take care of Iraq and the problem here at home." Again, the wagging tongue of the propaganda robot. Yes, Mr. Bush, at what cost to the increased burden, to the increased danger, of the near future, on the backs of our citizens?

A stark sign of the fear of the truth and recrimination is Mr. Bush's remarks (here paraphrased) "we have a job to do now". the matter of fault and what went wrong can be dealt with later." What does he mean by 'later'"? The job that needs to be done now will last probably for years.

It is transparent to anyone who dares to think, that he hopes the issue will go away in time. He instinctively depends on the ancient habit of fear and evasion will allow him and his administration to wiggle off the hook. And why not, so much of his manipulation and generally reprehensible behavior has been swept under the rug by a sufficient number of leaders and voters.

All right, so much for raking over the coals. What can people, what can the population do about the conditioned fear and pattern of procrastination and evasion? The first thing that comes to my mind, is to encourage every reader to click over to my articles on "Empowerment" and "Life, Love, Health and Happiness" found in the healing Forum of this site.

This information clearly shows what we can do to solve the distress of fear and evasion. We can raise our awareness to these patterns. We can purge ourselves of the conditioning effects that laid in fear, which laid in the feelings of powerlessness and hopelessness.

We can teach one another to listen well to one another in order to detoxify ourselves of the invalidations that state (in our minds and on the tongues of so many people) that we, individually, don't matter, or what we have to say doesn't count, or the well worn odious, and historically manipulated belief that "this is the way it is (and what can we do about it, anyway"). Fortunately, enough people through the ages disregarded this belief to bring about change, as slow as it may appear to be.

We, each one of us, can claim, persistently, "I do matter, how dare you make me feel I don't." To hell with that misery making lie. Claim "I do matter" in our minds, in our voices, in our posture, in our self image. Encourage loved ones, friends, store clerks, passers-by (and watch the smiles of validation and support you get back). Unite with one another, gather strength in numbers to speak up, to show up, to walk the walk. Support those people and organizations who lead the way in their demand for truth and justice, not for the favored group, but for all.

What can you do? Claim your power and validity. Unite with the power of others, face the truth of the matter, whether it's a matter of personal health or welfare, or that of regional and national consequence, Claim "If not now, when?" "I am me, I do matter, who better than me?" Go ahead, face the bogie man, give him the ole Bronx cheer, shake, sweat and laugh off the fear, and move, brother and sister, move!