by Zoe Pollock
Five years after Katrina, Mark Coatney points to the photography of Vincent Laforet, taken a year after the fact, and explains why it's as important as ever to remember:
Hundreds of years ago, when I first started working at Time, I was taught that anniversary stories are some of the lowest forms of journalism around, and that Time would never stoop to them (clearly, that publication is in a much different place now).
But for Katrina, I think it’s important to suspend this rule, because it really was a critical moment. If there is any real, fundamental danger to America (as opposed to all of Fox’s made-up stuff, that is), this is it: That the country will fail because its government does not provide even minimally competent services to its citizens.
(Photo: Vincent Laforet)