Life's Persistent Questions

Words.

With the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, we Americans have come to hear, and perhaps will take a few minutes to learn the true meanings, of some familiar words.

Refugee:
n : an exile who flees for safety

I know some people take issue with labeling the unfortunated people escaping the tragedy in New Orleans as refugees, but I think it is probably appropriate. Does it surprise anyone, that regardless of what one's nationality is, refugees everywhere look so similar to each other?

Diaspora:
n. refer to any people or ethnic population forced or induced to leave their traditional ethnic homeland being dispersed throughout other parts of the world, and the ensuing developments in their dispersal and culture.

I have heard this word a lot on NPR, and it bothered me. Certainly, Diaspora, with a Capital D, is usually referred to the dispersement of Jews. Nonetheless, the non-capital form implies the end of something that was homogeneous and unique, but is that the case in New Orleans? Too often the city is labelled, fairly or not, as the heart of Blues and Jazz or worse, Mardi Gras. Too often, the News anchors proclaim the city's refugees "so poor and so black," with pictures to prove it. But surely, the city is more than its most famous musicians and one week in Feburary, and its suffering occupants cut across all demographic lines. Furthermore, I truly believe that the city of New Orleans will be rebuilt, backed by sound science and practical urban planning, and flourish, and perhaps one day to serve as the model for the some of the world's largest metropolitans that sit gingerly on coastlines where the clash between land and ocean happens so often. It would be fitting for a city that is known for its annual celebration that precedes "Ash Wednesday", a day that reminds the believers of their human mortality and foreshadows the miracle of ressurection some forty-or-so days later.

Price gouging:
n : pricing above the market when no alternative retailer is available.

Price gouging is essentially opportunistic profiteering, based on short-lived local emergency, by sellers who have monopolized markets. I hear about this a lot, even in places like Michigan or Georgia. What the hell? I thought the emergency is in the Gulf states. Everyone is scrambling to find scapegoats for the spike in gasoline prices, and the need to blame is so big, a category 4 hurricane is not enough. Drivers blame the gas stations, stations shifts it to oil companies, companies to states' gasoline taxes, and now the states are scrambling to suspend those taxes. But the prices for oil and gasoline have been rising for a long time now, and the spike in price the last two weeks is the direct result of a natural disaster. Natural, as in the same word in "natural resources," which petroleum is one. If this is not a wake up call for conservation and moving full-steam ahead into the next energy stage, I don't want to get out the bed tomorrow.

Helluva/heck:
adj. Slang Used as an intensive.

President Bush caught a lot of flak for saying FEMA director Mike Brown is "doing helluva/heck of a job." Sure that sounds like an undeserved praise for a job not done. But as I have pointed out before, the president is quite the wordsmith. "Helluva" is theoretically neutral, merely adding emphasis. Since he did not add another adjective to follow the adjective, so it could easily be "Brownie, you did a hell of a shitty job." Fitting considering the state of the water currently the city is stewed in.

posted by hedgehog @ 2:03 PM