Why worry about looting when there are lives to be saved?

[bribri16]

I just don't get it. It is freaking me out!!!

[WCGreen]

1. Well, this is a nation built on property rights and protecting

the value of property.......

You were expecting altruism

[bpilgrim]

2. cause there is PROPERTY at RISK and that supersedes everything

for the elite here


peace

[intheflow]

3. I'm always amazed at how shocked people are by looting after

a natural disaster. Hello? Devestation everywhere, people worrying for their families' safety, quite possible they've lost all their food and homes and belongings... Of course there's going to be looting!

[madmax]

9. I agree

in the photo of the 'looters' the bags contain what appears to be food and one person is caring a half gallon of Clorox. It's not a bottle of booze! She may be thinking she'll need to disinfect things after this mess - just to get thru the next few days.

I'd weigh what was taken before I jump all over people.

[SoCalDem]

10. Looting is NOT new.. It's the reaction of dispossessed people

to a situation where THEY are in control.. They see stores just sitting there with broken doors & windows, and no one to stop them from just walking in and taking stuff. It's sad to see what they even take.. These are the same stores that they normally shop in and are probably followed and watched every minute they are in there.. This is a "so THERE!"... Most of the stuff they are taking is ruined anyway.. There's no use for most of it unless it's canned foods..anything fresh or frozen or boxed is spoiled.



I saw a guy yesterday hugging a gigantic package of toilet paper..only the top half of the package was above water..A 24 pack of wet toilet paper:(...

He took it because he could....

[SteppingRazor]

4. The news is mostly talking about people in danger...

as for the people actually in places where looting is occuring. It's one thing for you to sit there and type your opinion. It's another thing to leave your possessions exposed to the elements and go help stranded people, knowing that when you get back, all your stuff could be gone.

[mondo joe]

5. Will worrying about lives to be saved save them?

Can we worry about more than one thing at a time?

And please remember looting doesn't just happen to the wealthy. There are evacuees learning their homes have been looted.

[Gormy Cuss]

6. The notion is one of restoring/retaining order

People need to feel secure as soon as possible after a major chaotic event and going after looters is an easy way to show that the government is in control, no matter how out of order the world seems.

I agree that on the surface it seems warped to be looking for people to arrest rather than looking for people to save.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

15. Not only that.......

....people are supposed to be off the streets while rescue and cleanup crews work. You'll have looters getting trapped and then people will be on here crying they should be saved too.

[MADem]

7. Why not worry about both?

Looting is not nice. What do you tell the person whose family-owned and run business gets trashed...oh, well? Too bad? We all end up paying for it, and it can devastate neighborhoods for a long time.

I do think if people have genuine NEEDS following a disaster, they must be attended to, and quickly. I can understand the looting of a grocery store when hunger exists and no help is forthcoming, but I can not sympathize with the looting of things like electronics and leisure consumer goods outlets. That's just disrespectful, and all it does is pass the cost on to others.

[mondo joe]

8. Exactly. Whether looting or Katrina the victims are the same. n/t

[rbjensen]

11. I've been following ..

the looting threads with interest. One element that I think that is at work here is that as liberals (yeah, I used the L word) we naturally champion the underdog. And that is as it should be. Somebody needs to be on their side. But I think we get disappointed or at least defensive when they behave this way because we envision the "I told you so" contingent on the right saying, "see THOSE PEOPLE are just savages anyway. But the thing is. a lot of poor people act in desperation, of course...the obvious...but another thing. A lot of poor people have no boundaries, no social conscious, etc. JUST LIKE A WHOLE LOTTA RICH FOLKS. Just a different arena. When you champion the underdog, you gotta take em warts and all.

[loyalsister]

20. stereotyping doesn't help

"A lot of poor people have no boundaries, no social conscious, etc. JUST LIKE A WHOLE LOTTA RICH FOLKS."
This is a statement that is qualitative rather than situational.
Looting as opposed to individual crime is a result of this particular situation. People are currently living under circumstances entirely out of their life experience and their reactions may be out of character.
It is likely to be inspired by the trauma of barely missing death, and the fact that they are living in chaos. They may be looking for what they need to survive, and trying to comfort themselves whatever way possible (material objects?)
I know that one way I try to comfort myself when things go wrong is I buy myself something. That opportunity isn't present because the places aren't even open. These people want to be grounded in reality and comforted any way possible.
I've never been there so I don't judge. I am sure that they are reaching for existance as they have known it in the past, though.

[rbjensen]

23. I think what I was trying to say

and obviously inartfully... is that there are stinkers in all walks of life. Does looting make you a stinker? In the eyes of the law, which is black and white, I guess. To me? Well I hope I am a bit more relativistic, but then nobody is looking to me as a judge, thank God. One thing I totally agree with you about is that trauma and shock can make all of us do and say things we that are ordinarily out of character for us. I work on an ambulance and see that every day.

If I appeared to be stereotyping it was aimed towards the entire human race, and not one social group. I didn't include the middle ground in there, though... my statement only covered the rich and poor, but of course the middle class covers the same continuum of human behavior.

[mondo joe]

22. I grew up in one of the poorest neighborhoods in a poor city.

My grandmother's house was broken into so many times that if there was a wedding or other big family celebration, someone had to stay home to prevent another theft.

My grandmother was by no means wealthy. She was poor. She was marginally better off than some other neighbors, but only because she worked her whole life and scrimped and saved. But she was still poor, and being stolen from made her poorer.

There's nothing noble about looting, and in the end it's the same people who are victimized by it, whether because their few goods are gone or because their local merchant raises prices to cover insurance costs.

[calico1]

12. I totally agree. n/t

[SoCalDem]

13. a waterlogged TV is of little use to anyone..

and there's no electricity anyway.. and won't be for a long time..

[johnnie]

14. I don't know what everyone is watching or reading

I don't have cable, but I watched my local news. They hardly mentioned the looting. They all seemed concerned with the lives that are in danger and the devastation of the gulf.
As for reading stories on the net, I have seen little concerning the looting and most of it is about the aftermath of this terrible catastrophe.
The only place I am hearing a continual barrage of looting conversation is on DU. What are you all watching to see only looting stories?

[MADem]

17. I've only seen a few stories

And I am watching the local TV coverage via the net. Most of the coverage is centering on the destruction and aftereffects, along with the efforts of the rescue and cleanup crews, but there have been a few stories and pictures of people breaking into shops and hauling stuff out. It hardly is the focus of the coverage, though, at least when I have been watching.

[etherealtruth]

21. CNN has focused on the human tragedy

They have tied the human tragedy into the destruction of property ... but, I haven't heard anything on CNN about the looting ...

I know CNN can be pretty bad but (IMO) they have done an excellent job focusing on the human cost and impact of this tragedy.

Though their coverage isn't perfect they DO NOT deserve to be lumped in with the rest ... they have provided compassionate coverage.

[jzodda]

16. I think its less a question of worry

The media worries little about anything except ratings. They like it because its usually an interesting story ans provides interesting pictures. If it was not then why would they spend so much time interviewing looters during the LA riots?

[wli]

18. the rethugs wanted to get a bit more ethnic cleansing in n/t

[jpak]

19. No banks open, no ATM's, no stores open, no escape possible

no help from ChimpCo, and flood waters rising one inch per hour.

IF I was without food, water or hope of rescue, and wanted to live to see the end of the week, I would be securing what I could get to survive.