thanksgiving

November 24, 2005 at 9:30 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Well, it’s starting. Whenever there’s a news report of a stabbing, shooting, robbery or murder, invariably the newscasters lead off with “another violent crime committed in our city tonight by New Orleans evacuees…” Yesterday in trauma clinic a teenage boy came in to have some stitches removed. He had gotten in the middle of a knife fight between some “New Orleans people,” according to his mom. She said he was trying to break it up. Of course, she had no way of knowing I was from New Orleans, and I didn’t say anything to enlighten her. Although perhaps it would have served to balance out the negative image.

Not that it wasn’t entirely foreseeable, given that New Orleans was rightfully infamous for its crime, and that most of the people responsible for it were evacuated to Houston, and can’t afford to return. But Texas is not a state where you want to continue that sort of lifestyle. Here, if you don’t get shot by the person against whom you were committing the crime, the state itself will do the honors.

And as you might expect, New Orleans itself is now pretty safe.

Last summer, in the short vacation between taking Step 1 and starting clerkships, I read a book called Freakonomics. I forget who wrote it, but he was obviously a very smart guy. He drew an interesting connection between the legalization of abortion in the 70’s and the decline in crime rates in the 90’s. His theory, which he supported very convincingly with data, was that the decline in crime had nothing to do with improved policing, and everything to do with the fact that the children most likely to become criminals were not being born in the first place.

But New Orleans is a very Catholic city, and I wonder if the Catholic Church’s opposition to abortion, and its sway over a large portion of the city’s population, contributed in any way to the intractable crime problem that existed prior to Katrina. Certainly it wasn’t the only factor, because New Orleans’ lack of an industrial or economic base is probably a bigger reason. But if the reason women have abortions is because they know they lack the economic capacity to raise a child, and if New Orleans was so lacking in that capacity, a permissive view on abortion might have achieved a better balance between economic demand for workers, and able-bodied, adequately educated adults. It’s an interesting thought.

Earlier today, there was a moment or two of self-pity, in which I wondered what exactly I have to be thankful for. But it was only a moment, and then I remembered how much there really is:
1) Everyone I knew in New Orleans is safe and well. Some are here, some are there, some have lost things, and some have lost pets. None that I know have lost loved ones, and that’s something to be thankful for.
2) Even though my school was flooded, we had a place to go, and talented administrators to make it happen in short order.
3) It’s been a privilege to do rotations with both UT Houston and Baylor students. They are, on average, very sharp. But one thing it’s taught me is that Tulane med’s well-respected national reputation, despite crappy USN&WR rankings, is not an empty reflection of old glory, as I had previously thought. We’ve actually gotten a pretty high-quality education, and we have a great atmosphere among the students and between the students and faculty.