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Why New Orleans Matters Essay

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Billions of years ago, an asteroid destroyed nearly the entirety of life on Earth, wiping out various species of dinosaurs, fish, and other animals. However, life managed to survive the apocalyptic setting and evolution bested natural disaster in the same struggle fought today. Every natural disaster tests human and environmental abilities to recuperate from damage and turn desolation into a thriving ecosystem, which requires a pointed effort on the part of humans. Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans in 2005, and recreated an environment that forced the instinct to flourish to battle with unpredictability once more, as the question of rebuilding the city became prominent. Though many oppose efforts to rehabilitate the regions devoted by the …show more content…

As a result, it is in the United States’ best interest to recover the city as quickly as possible, making sure to keep the rare cultural blend alive and vibrant. Tom Piazza, in his editorial “Why New Orleans Matters,” writes in his editorial that the city “possess[es] an astonishing vitality that has spoken to people around the world and shaped much of the best of what we think of still as American culture.” Iconic music styles such as Jazz and rock and roll define American culture on the international stage, and the abandonment of its birthplace would contradict the nation’s policy of preserving the locations most significant in American history. New Orleans has carved an impact as great as that of the coastal cities in California and New York City itself, so one cannot advocate for the abandonment of the first while praising the reconstruction of the two latter locations. For example, huge numbers of cities in California are concentrated along the San Andreas Fault and earthquakes shake residents throughout the year, so rather than abandoning the Pacific coast, engineers invented methods to deal with the natural shortcomings to facilitate minimal destruction. The same must be done in New Orleans, as the investment will preserve not only a location made lucrative through constant tourism, but a people that hold within them a great deal of American national

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