Do something serious about Urban Poverty;
is this really David Brooks? we're surprised, but touched, David.

Of course, I'm afraid to read the rest of the of the article, because I'm afraid I won't like Brooks' prescriptions for curing the poor of poverty. but its a start.

"Katrina was a natural disaster that interrupted a social disaster. It separated tens of thousands of poor people from the run-down, isolated neighborhoods in which they were trapped. It disrupted the patterns that have led one generation to follow another into poverty."

September 9, 2005
I was glad to see that David Brooks is thinking of seriously responding to urban poverty. [“Katrina’s Silver Lining”] David, you invoke cultural zones, and declare “nothing as before.” Weren’t you even watching as people emerged from the sorry habitations with the relatives in wheelchairs, and the disabled and just old? These are people with strong family values, people with generations of residency in a neighborhood that functioned like an extended family. Yes it was hard for men [and women] to get stable jobs. Why was that? Does it have anything to do with the legacy of racism? How about the constantly falling pay scales? The minimum wage that has not gone up in, what, a decade? Administration after administration has declared that they don’t believe in public housing, and then cut the subsidies. Welfare reform has reduced the meager subsidies even further.
And who is it that would take care of these elderly, these disabled that these people have supported within their own communities. Yes, lets do something serious about urban poverty, but lets get real. These people must be consulted in any rebuilding effort, not ignored as if they are incompetent to run their own lives

Katrina's Silver Lining - New York Times: "And sure enough, Hurricane Katrina has given us an amazing chance to do something serious about urban poverty"