Is it looting if the people are just getting a little food?

[nytemare]

I am not talking about beer, oxycontin, and raiding the ATM machines.

But, really, maybe SOME of the people need some food.

If that is all they take, I can understand it.

[NYC]

1. No.

It's not as though they could shop for food and water/beverages.

[jody]

2. Yes. n/t

[Rabrrrrrr]

3. I don't think so - well, technically it is, sure - but ethically/morally

I don't think it should be called looting. All that food would go to waste anyway, and insurance has it all covered (and even if insurance doesn't have it covered, it's gonna go to shit anyway).

I think it's good stewardship to rescue as much food as possible. Hell, even liquor they might as well loot. If I just lost my city, I want a lot of stiff drinks, and I think I'd deserve them,as they do.

However, ATMs, appliances, other non-edible goods, IS what I would call looting, and they should be punished for doing so. Especially stealing money.

[nytemare]

8. Some of the stories I am hearing are pretty bad...

One show I was watching said they were at a store that was being looted, and the people were raiding the ATM's and pharmacy, asking if the camera crew wanted to join in.

That isn't right.

But the poor folks flooded out of their homes who just want a can of spam, they shouldn't get prosecuted.

[crispini]

4. No.

[ladjf]

5. The food couldn't be stored, sold are move to somewhere else.

The stores should give the food to who ever needs it. The gov. could restock the store later.

[WindRavenX]

6. absolutely not

Food= necessitity

[ladjf]

7. The food from flooded stores can not be stored, sold or moved

to another location. The gov. should order the stores to give it away and then re-imburse the stores after the crisis.

[Gormy Cuss]

9. What a wonderful idea

It saves the people seeking essentials from any moral dilemma and gives them a little modicum of hope that things aren't quite so dire.

The stores could simply take a special tax loss for the donation under gov. orders.

[Rabrrrrrr]

10. I saw on the news that some stores were doing just that

Or, at least, the cops were moving food from stores into poorer areas. Whether they permission from the store owners I don't know, but it was a good idea anyway.

:-)

(and as we read elsewhere, cops are also helping out in the looting of non-food items)

[Xipe Totec]

11. Moral Relativism.

Do what you have to do to survive...


...so you can live long enough to beat the crap out of the pompous armchair moralist asses trying to judge you.

That's my humble opinion.

[Gormy Cuss]

16. Okay, how about stealing from your neighbor? Is that OK?

Media loves to show people breaking windows in business districts but rarely talk about the looting of homes, a very real reason many lower income people chose to stay after the evacuation order. I have seen just one report of a family who left their trailer to ride out the storm in a shelter and when they came home the storm had caused crushing damage to the kitchen end of the house, but the real indignity was that someone had looted the rest belongings of any value (the TV, the computer, etc.)
They had no insurance, so unless FEMA coughs up the dough to replace everything, they're out of luck. Meanwhile, the woman was crying that some low life chose to make things go from bad to worse by looting.

On edit: I realize the OP was addressing just essentials, but fears of looting caused some people to stay and risk their own lives. That annoys me, as does the focus on commercial looting.

[Xipe Totec]

17. The point is, neither you nor I are in a position to judge

Only those who are in that circle of hell of what used to be New Orleans are in a position to judge and decide what they need to do to survive.

God be with them; all we can do is hope for the best.

[Gormy Cuss]

22. I know that it is hard to imagine what it's like stuck in NOLA

I don't disagree with the notion that we can't tell from outside what it's like and why people are stealing. I don't even think that when the waters reside and order is restored that most looters should be viewed as criminals, because if they were decent people on Saturday they'll be decent people again when they are back in some semblance of their normal lives. I generally have faith that people are good.

I do judge that someone who steals from an old trailer knows they are preying on the weak. I do judge that adding to the mayhem is not helpful. I do judge that a society that doesn't protect the lower income populations as well as it does the moneyed class is responsible for the plight of many people who are now stuck in NOLA. These are mostly people who 'refused' to leave out of fear, or lack of resources, or other valid reasons that are dismissed by people who have never lacked for anything.
I'm very judgmental.

I do appreciate that you are not, and I mean that sincerely.

[Pithlet]

20. Well put

:thumbsup:

[Mick Knox]

12. depends on reason imo

[bridgit]

13. food = no, shopping carts filled with...

tvs & teddy bears = yes imo

[nytemare]

14. Just so everybody knows

I am not saying that it is justifiable to take beer, tv's, ATM money, oxycontin, etc and to vandalize stores.

I am referring to cases where people take a little food because they need it, the store isn't open so they have no way to pay for it.

I think I was pretty specific, but maybe not.


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4516010

[Balbus]

15. Will they pay it back later?

Then of course not. :)

[ofrfxsk]

18. Not when people are taking food, water, med's, diapers and

whatever else they need to survive. I would too.

Those that are taking tv's and stereos, I just think wtf? You have no power and most likely no real home left to get it to through flood waters. It makes no sense.

[miss_kitty]

19. Looting is not all that widespread. Most of the people are NOT looting,

whether it's only food being taken or if some policeman decides to score a top of the line computer and a 27" flat screen TV and takes it away in a shopping cart belonging to the store being robbed. There is a complex psychology and sociology behind mob behaviour and looting. We can probably blame our fascination and concern with looting on MSM.

"... Looting is perhaps the behavior most expected by the public and officials. Police departments usually talk about the fear and incidence of looting, the media report stories of its occurrence, and governors call out the National Guard to "protect against" it. Potential victims or survivors often report that they will not leave their homes because they fear looting. They paint signs which read: "DON'T LOOT OR WE'LL SHOOT!" While looting does sometimes occur, concern over it far exceeds the rate at which it actually takes place. Unfortunately, excessive time and resources are often expended on looting which could be better employed in mitigating against and responding to higher priorities..."

"...WHY WE BELIEVE THE DISASTER MYTHOLOGY
Mass Media as a Source of Information on Disasters
...Soft versus Hard News. A hard news story is one which relates the basic factual information to the reader, e.g., disaster agent (flood, hurricane, tornado, chemical spill), duration of event (storm blew through the area for four hours), how long it took to restore essential services (the electricity was out for eight hours).
A soft news story describes alleged behavioral aspects of the event, e.g., a search for a lost cat, search and rescue encounters, convergence activities. These news stories often focus on the tales the survivors have to tell about their ordeal. For example, the police chief of one town told reporters that looting threatened to become a problem but the National Guard was called out in time to forestall it (Fischer, 1998). When asked how many looters had been apprehended, the chief said, "none, but many were spotted by witnesses."

The greater the emphasis on soft, versus hard news, the greater the likelihood that myths will appear in the story (Fischer, 1998). As soon as the reporter ventures into the personal experiences of those who were there, the news story becomes more a news story. When the reporter makes the mistake of accepting statements as factually correct, he unwittingly passes on myths which reinforce the view that behavioral response to disaster is characterized by the breakdown of the norms of good citizenship."


http://www.colorado.edu/IBS/hazards/qr/qr117.html

Someone trying to score some food is fulfilling a basic human need IMHO.

[name not needed]

21. Not really

Stealing TVs, DVD players and such, yeah, that's looting and it's unexcuseable.