well, madsam, I certainly haven’t been in a situation even remotely paralleling what’s taking place in New Orleans… perhaps you or others have, but not me. I think many people are stealing because their lives, and the lives of their loved ones, DEPEND on it.
Are there random assholes stealing for the sake of stealing? Yep. Is it accurate to devote so much media attention to this phenomenon? I don’t know. As many have noted, there isn’t much coverage of the people in the communities who are trying to help neighbors, family members, and strangers. But I suppose they don’t exist because we don’t see them, right?
I have a radical idea as to why some people might be involved in the looting. I used to work, and live near the Kelly Projects in Fifth Ward, Houston. In many ways parts of these projects are no-law zones, because the police don’t have adequate coverage or community involvement. So there is a state of de facto law, where those who have more muscle and guns do as they please, and those that dare to challenge them. There’s an economy that works based entirely on bartering, because there is not a lot of money floating around. Perhaps some people are looting because they think they might be able to barter for goods they need, like water and food. As several folks have pointed out, a plasma screen isn’t going to be of much use as there is no electricity, most people don’t have homes left, etc. This doesn’t make looting acceptable or okay - but it is an alternate explanation for what is happening.
Imagine this being the normal state of affairs, and compound it with the pressures of this natural disaster. Guns are being stolen? Well, if you know people in your neighborhood were armed and dangerous before the hurricane and flood, what do you expect to happen once any semblance of order evaporates? You might consider getting a weapon to protect yourself and your family.
At some point we will have to consider the culpability of governmental officials for not enacting a better evacuation plan with contingencies for the poorest of the poor. A voluntary evacuation will be heeded by those who have cable TV and can track the progress of the storm, and have the resources (like a large car or money for a ticket out of town) to go elsewhere. From all I’ve heard, a breach of the levee was likely. Why wasn’t there a plan to evacuate those in the inner city projects, realizing that a flood, and looting, were both likely? It happened in Sri Lanka after the tsunami.
Of course, there are idiots who are stealing for the sake of stealing. But I instinctively distrust media coverage and anecdotal reports of lawlessness. If it’s that dangerous, why do CBS, NBC, CNN, etc. have reporters in the middle of downtown at 3 a.m. reporting on the lawlessness? I don’t recall reporters roaming the streets of Baghdad outside of the Green Zone… because it is truly dangerous and lawless. Don’t get me wrong; I don’t think it’s safe in NO, but “if it bleeds it leads.”