Looting vs. staying alive

[wxcrazytwo]

The people that are stealing food, water, etc., should be allowed to take them without failure. However, the ones that are stealing guns, weapons, etc., should be shot or tar and feathered. Comments welcome..

[simplyme]

There's no way to pay for anything anyway.... no cashiers...

but I agree.

[crazycajuncane]

Screw the laws.

If I were in New Orleans... it would be life or death. I would take water, food to keep my family alive.

The government waited 2 days before really getting their ass into gear and now people need stuff. The government didn't get in there sooner and now the citizens of New Orleans are in control.

Here is a way to look at looting. You walk outta somewhere with a big screen TV and you need to be shot. It's just not right. What are you going to do with a big screen TV?

I do understand survival mode has set in. Most of these people have NO* communication with the outside world. The food will go bad anyway, so why can't people take it? They are going to get free food eventually once they get to shelters.

The way I see it.... survival of the fittest.

[krysof]

it's like a jungle out there, complete wilderness, Looters who steal weapongs, tvs, exc should be shot on the spot, no mercy. That should teach them a lesson.

[KatDaddy]

Surival is one thing but looting is another. Taking food, diapers, formula must be done. I would do anything to take care of my 13 month old daughter but 7 pair of shoes, electronics, and weapons is just plain wrong.

[jasons2k]

Surival is one thing but looting is another. Taking food, diapers, formula must be done. I would do anything to take care of my 13 month old daughter but 7 pair of shoes, electronics, and weapons is just plain wrong.

That's how I feel, well said.

[birdwomn]

unfortunately, it seems to me (looking in from the outside, so I don't really know what these people are or are not thinking) that is may have started with survival and then turned into a free for all....even looters trying to outdo one another. It is an ugly side of humanity.

I do know that friends from the Homestead area after Andrew now carry guns to this day and they never did before. It was the expereince that madse them feel the need to use this as a "security".

[blueeyes_austin]

unfortunately, it seems to me (looking in from the outside, so I don't really know what these people are or are not thinking) that is may have started with survival and then turned into a free for all....even looters trying to outdo one another. It is an ugly side of humanity.

I do know that friends from the Homestead area after Andrew now carry guns to this day and they never did before. It was the expereince that madse them feel the need to use this as a "security".

Yep. We try, from our perspective, to define "proper" looting and "improper" looting. Food, that's ok to take. Shoes...well, maybe one pair, but not 10. Plasma TV...no way.

The fact of the matter, however, is that all of this behavior leads to the same place: anarchy and chaos. If goods are to be seized and distributed, it should be the state and its agents, not The Mob.

[canejacket]

why is stealing a tv after a hurricane so much different than on a regular day? both times someone is taking advantage of a situation. I'm sure there are some who support the death penalty for robbery, but come on. Why do we need to add more to the body count?

[krysof]

Some of the looters are deadly, killing innocent people, stealing weapons, they should get what they deserve.

[blueeyes_austin]

why is stealing a tv after a hurricane so much different than on a regular day? both times someone is taking advantage of a situation. I'm sure there are some who support the death penalty for robbery, but come on. Why do we need to add more to the body count?

The point is not the proeperty. The point is the descent into anarchy. THAT is why looting is so much worse than simple robbery and burglery.

[gilbert88]

Some of the looters are deadly, killing innocent people, stealing weapons, they should get what they deserve.

And who are you to decide who deserves to live or die?

[gilbert88]

Some of the looters are deadly, killing innocent people, stealing weapons, they should get what they deserve.

And who are you to decide who deserves to live or die?

Never mind, I misread your previous post... why isn't editing enabled?

[themusk]

Yep. We try, from our perspective, to define "proper" looting and "improper" looting. Food, that's ok to take. Shoes...well, maybe one pair, but not 10. Plasma TV...no way.

The fact of the matter, however, is that all of this behavior leads to the same place: anarchy and chaos. If goods are to be seized and distributed, it should be the state and its agents, not The Mob.

Actually, "we" are not doing it. The long tradition of English Common Law makes the distinction. It is not looting (ie, is not a crime) for a citizen to comandeer anything needed to preserve life in an emergency. Courts are very comfortable with the distinction between "preserves life" and "enriches oneself". And I note the English legal system, and the societies which have adopted it, has been holding up pretty well over the centuries without degenerating into anarchy.

LA has a different legal tradition, but I suspect the fundamental legal principle that, in a crisis, the right to life trumps the right to property exists somewhere within its legal system, too.

That the term "looting" is being incorrectly applied to anyone comandeering property in order to preserve the lives of themselves and their family is extremely irritating to me. Using language incorrectly is blurring the very real difference, staining legitimate behavior with the brush of illigitimacy and dressing illigitimate behavior in the cloth of legitimacy. Real looting is a crime, and is a violation of the right to property. It is evident that some gangs are engaged in looting, and worse, and do need to be dealt with. In fact the gangs of looters are quite probably preventing a lot of ordinary citizens from, legally and properly, taking property in order to preserve life.

[KG4HPN]

*posted this to a previous thread, apologies to those who may have already seen it*
think there's a distinction that needs to be made here that hasn't been yet. People here have been talking about two completely different phenomena as though they are the same: looting and scavenging.

Scavenging v. tr.

1. To search through for salvageable material: scavenged the garbage cans for food scraps.

Scagenging for food, water, and other essentials is absolutely understandable at this point in New Orleans. The people left in the city are in an absolute struggle for survival. It doesn't matter if it was through a lack of planning or because of poverty or a bad decision in the face of mandatory evacuations, the reality is many (most? all?) people trapped in New Orleans at this time have NO potable water and nothing safe to eat. Consider this when you feel unsympathetic: if you were planning to ride out a storm (whether that was a sound decision or not) would you stash your hurricane supplies in YOUR ATTIC?


Looting: v. plundering during riots or in wartime

Is despicable, and I agree with many of the posters who have stated that these people should be dealt with in the strongest way possible.

-Jet