Melancholy Post on the True Lesson of Katrina

The article on the destruction of Plaquemines parish in today's Post brought back to mind the lesson of Katrina that I've been thinking about.

Link.

The true lesson of Katrina is not political or bureaucratic or even scientific. It's historical. The devastation wrought by Katrina reminds us that everything that humankind builds and creates is doomed to destruction. This is a lesson that Americans, in particular, are loath to learn. Think of the buildings simply destroyed by Katrina, the artwork in the museums, the medical experiments at Tulane and elsewhere, the rare documents and irreplaceable records--all wiped out in one fell swoop. That fate awaits almost everything that exists today; eventually, it will befall everything when the dying sun expands to consume the earth in about five billion years. Not even the sturdiest ruins of human civilization will survive that inferno.

As most of you know, I work in downtown D.C., a "new" city barely 200 years old. In the last few weeks it's been hard not to think about the place in 500, 1000, 10,000 years. What will be left in thousands of years? What will be there, in the place of buildings that I know and love? Will D.C. be like Rome or London, with layer upon layer of history, or will it be ruins only? What will remain of the artwork, the records, the people that lived here? Not much.

Katrina demonstrated this lesson in a sudden destructive onslaught. Most of the time, the destruction is slower. But it is always ongoing. And the end is always, in a sense, in sight.

Now get back to work.