Food Water and Medicine vs the word "Looting"

[DanCa]

I was wondering do you consider it wrong to steal for food water and medicine? If you were in the same situation as the people in New Orleans? I am biased here I need medication to control my parkinson's other wise I am stiff as a board. But I was wondering do you still consider it looting?

[MercutioATC]

1. Given no other possibility, I don't.

Personally, I'd leave an IOU for what I took.

I don't think anybody has problems with taking the necessities, it's the jewelry and electronics that aren't defensible (and now boatjacking and raiding hospitals for drugs).

[madeline_con]

2. Are you armed wearing a mink coat?

[Erika]

3. I would not consider it looting

I would consider it survival and a lack of public safety services.

[applegrove]

4. And air mattresses & gas (from an abandoned car). The list goes

on. Maybe even a bus if you can convince the driver quickly & easily & you have kids and have been sitting on the highway for hours. You have to feed your kids and take care of them.

[ugarte]

5. Follow your conscience

What would Jesus do?

[Cleita]

6. The big problem is the word stealing.

If you can't buy something then you have to take it to survive, so why are all the armchair jury passing the instant judgement of stealing without any known facts to base their judgement on.

[Kerrytravelers]

7. I consider taking care of necessities much different than looting.

To me, the word looting is loaded with images of breaking windows and stealing televisions. Going into flooded stores and salvaging what food, fresh water, medicines, bandages and baby necessities they have left for survival is far different.

Personally, when things got back to any sembelance of normal, I'd pay what I could to the store owners for the items I took. I like to believe there are many honest people who are planning on doing the same.

Poor does not equal criminal.

[puddycat]

8. chances are, you wouldn't find what you were looking for anyway

the professional criminals would have already stolen everthing. The first thing the underbelly of New Orleans did was break into stores holding (1) drugs (2) guns (3) expensive tvs, dvds, computers. So I suppose then, if you were convinced that looting was your only option to find your medicine, that looting private residences was your remaining option, unless you wanted to attack and loot hospitals en mass with gang members, like happned yesterday.

So the question is, at what point would you decide you would choose another option, like exerting all your energy at getting help, even if you had to start walking, like many law-abiding poor citizens did today to get the hell out of New Orleans.

Or, if and when you broke into someone's home to steal their parkison's medicine, supposing you were lucky enough to find a place with that particular drug, would you think about what would happen if that person came back for his medication? Would you rationalize it by thinking the person would never come back? At what point would your human-ness be lost? At what point would survival make you an animal, and not a dignified human being?

I'm not attacking. I'm just asking, for the purpose of making us all think. The thin veneer of civilization we all walk upon is like a pane of glass, easily broken and impossible to mend.

[DanCa]

10. I didn't consider that an attack my friend:)

Thank you for replying. I was thinking of this way suppose you had a screamming kid with a fever and were looking for some relief. And you come across -say an unopened bottle of children's tylenol. Would you steal for that kid?
For me I honestly don't think I could steal someones medicine for myself. If my kid was ill or in pain than I'd consider it. Thanks again puddycat this is a good thread.

[SeattleGirl]

9. Absolutely not

These people are in extreme survival mode, and they need food and water, plus some basic necessities like diapers for their babies. What else are these people going to do, given that Our Dear Leader
(:puke: ) has been a day (or 3) and many dollars short!

However, I do draw the line on big screen TV's, and other non-essentials. I know that people sometimes go nutso in extreme situations, and I dare say that from what I've seen on TV, most of the "looters" are not stealing TV's and stuff, but the basic survival supplies.

P.S. Hi DanCa!!!! :hi:

[DanCa]

11. Basic goods

:hi: seattle girl
That's why i limited it to food medicine and water. I probably should have said basic non designer clothing as well. I like the poster who said the best thing to do was to leave an IOU.