A report on the BBC Website today says that Brad Pitt is trying to get people to rebuild a load of houses in New Orleans after the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina.
A noble venture, some might say. And to a certain extent they'd be right.
But the entire area is a flood plain. It flooded because most of the area is flat and close to or below sea level. Therefor, I can guarantee you that it will flood again. And when it does, it will level the place once more, causing just as much chaos.
The fact that the city was lost is tragic. It had a lot of history and it was generally accepted as a damn cool place to be, especially if you were interested in Blues or at least Blues-based music. Or you liked gambling in the 20s. But rebuilding it is just going to mean you'll get a carbon copy of these events at some point in the future. It could take years, it could take decades, but it will happen again.
You do not build a city on an area you know suffers regular natural disasters.
Were the ancient Romans smarter than modern day Americans? It sounds likely.
Pompeii was built under a volcano. The volcano erupted and the town (and others nearby) were totally destroyed. Did they rebuild? No. Because it's UNDER A DAMN VOLCANO! They built further away, they learned from the mistake.
Not in America. It would appear they would rather risk further massive loss of life than admit it was a bad idea and move on. The people are already uprooted, they might as well relocate somewhere safe. I sure as hell wouldn't go back to somewhere that had seen a disaster of that scale tear everyone's lives apart.
Nature always wins. It's time to accept that and move on.
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