If I Had a Hammer

The old Pete Seeger song about changing society is one of his best known songs. It is about breaking with the past for freedom and justice.



New Orleans needs a BFH to break with the past. The entrenched interests have long held the citizens hostage, stealing the future from them with false promises of opportunity and prosperity, illusions of participation while jealously guarding their own position. Anyone who speaks out, if there is any possibility of someone listening, is viciously attacked and attention diverted.


On the Other hand Maslow's Law of the instrument, says "If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail." Every campaign seems to be under the impression if we simply do more of what we've already done perhaps it will get better.

Ed Murry wants to establish an Office of Education in the Mayor's office, as a solution to the Balkanized Education system in the city. That interesting because the mayor has no direct involvement in Public Education.

A Group of Social Advocacy group wants to establish an Office of Formerly Incarcerated Affairs in Mayor's Office. I imagine that they should be given additional contracts to work the the formerly incarcerated.

Every single candidate wants to conduct a national search for a new Police Chief, since that seems to have worked out fairly well once upon a time.

We got more candidates talking about transparency that 3M has Scotch Tape.

We're going to have to pick one of these guys to be our Mayor. So far I'm not impressed, although Manny Chevrolet and a couple of the other "minor candidates" are amusing. Maybe they have a chance.

"The nail that stands out will be hammered down." is a Japanese proverb ardently adhered to by our "elites" aka "The Usual Suspects". No one seems willing to be radical to offer truly new insights. I have long wondered at the remarkable timidity of our "reformers". They seem almost completely unwilling to really call anyone out. Perhaps it rooted in our colonial history or our culture that values relationships. Perhaps we are so ingrown and so insular that no one can think of anything truly new.