At one point, early on, some public figures even asked whether it 'made sense' to rebuild New Orleans. Would you let your own mother die because it didn't make financial sense to spend the money to treat her, or because you were too busy to spend the time to heal her sick spirit?
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the moral obligation to care for others, prioritizing human dignity over financial considerations.
Tom Piazza's quote highlights the ethical dilemma faced when considering the rebuilding of New Orleans after its devastation. By comparing the city to a mother in need of care, he suggests that the decision to invest in restoration should be based on compassion and humanity rather than merely financial sense, urging people to prioritize emotional and spiritual healing over practicality.
In practice
During a speech about urban renewal, one could quote this to highlight the importance of caring for communities.
For the current of our spiritual life creeds, rituals and channels that may thwart or help, according to their fixity or openness. When a symbol or spiritual idea becomes rigidly elaborate in its construction, it supplants the idea which it should support.
If I convert it's because it's better that a believer dies than that an atheist does.
There are people who think that honesty is always the best policy. This is a superstition. There are times when the appearance of it is worth six of it.
Man is diminished if he lives without knowledge of his past; without hope of a future he becomes a beast.
We are doomed to cling to a life even while we find it unendurable.
To live fixated on the future is to engage in psychological denial. It is a form of psychic violence that prepares us to accept the violence needed to ensure the maintenance of imperialist, future-oriented society.
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