After a devastating explosion in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1917 killed more than 1,500 people and left thousands homeless, residents of Massachusetts sent hundreds of thousands of dollars of aid to the survivors, including large amounts of furniture, says the disaster historian and New York University professor Jacob Remes. But the distribution of that aid came with certain expectations: âThe attitude was very strongly that disaster relief should restore the status quo, so if you were poor before the disaster you should stay poor and if you were rich before the disaster, you should stay rich.â This translated directly into the quality of material aid provided: âPeople who were working class or poor got used furniture, and the people who were rich got new furniture. Very often what we are doing when we are building back from a disaster is trying the preserve the unequal status quo.â
That's what they did with compensation for victims of 9/11. The traiders etc. got a ton of taxpayer money, the cleaners not a lot.
After a devastating explosion in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1917 killed more than 1,500 people and left thousands homeless, residents of Massachusetts sent hundreds of thousands of dollars of aid to the survivors, including large amounts of furniture, says the disaster historian and New York University professor Jacob Remes. But the distribution of that aid came with certain expectations: âThe attitude was very strongly that disaster relief should restore the status quo, so if you were poor before the disaster you should stay poor and if you were rich before the disaster, you should stay rich.â This translated directly into the quality of material aid provided: âPeople who were working class or poor got used furniture, and the people who were rich got new furniture. Very often what we are doing when we are building back from a disaster is trying the preserve the unequal status quo.â
If you look at FEMA funding from 2017-2019 (periods that have wrapped), and allocate the spend by resident, you get the following:
State
FEMA $/Resident
.Louisiana
2,721
.Hawaii
1,551
.Florida
953
.Alaska
687
.Texas
639
.Arkansas
530
.Vermont
525
.Nebraska
454
.Iowa
447
.South Dakota
385
.Kentucky
362
.North Carolina
334
.Mississippi
293
.West Virginia
278
.California
230
.Oregon
223
.Alabama
222
.Oklahoma
209
.Kansas
206
.South Carolina
206
.New Mexico
184
.North Dakota
182
.Missouri
173
.Georgia
163
.Michigan
123
.Montana
122
.Maine
115
Something I havenât seen mentioned yet (sorry if I missed it) is that the amount of money going to Louisiana is huge - and compare its cost of housing/living with areas like CA and thereâs an even greater disparity in who takes what from the pool of dough. The COL of $92 in Louisiana matches with $134 in CA. https://worldpopulationreview.... So the cost in LA being smaller means that itâs taking even more in help from states that provide it, but fortunately you get more bang for the buck.
