Meanwhile, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin (search) ordered virtually the entire police force to abandon search-and-rescue efforts and stop thieves who were becoming increasingly hostile.
What is wrong with people? My visit to New Orleans was not a pleasant one, but I expect a bit more from civilized human beings.
Did this happen at all during the Tsunami at Christmas? I don't recall hearing anything like this.
hz2p wrote:Sometimes, I get the feeling that the median age here is 19.
So I am a bit naive to expect people not to shoot at rescue helicopters in what is considered a civilized nation?
Thinking that people in the US, Canada or other civilized countries won't revert to behaviour like this under the circumstances they are under is a little naive. Should we expect it? No, we should hold everyone to higher stnadards than this. Unfortunately, people are still animals and rational thought often goes out the window. Look a the number of riots after rock concerts, sporting events and anything else where there is a large group of people whose emotions are running high.
Civilization is a thin veneer on top of animal nature...and it is always 3 days away from riots in the streets. Take away food and water for one day, and we all tighten our belts and hope it gets better tomorrow; day 2, we get antsy, and day 3 - smashing windows in grocery stores, and general mayhem.
On another note, shooting at aeroplanes has been a time-honoured pastime in several northern communities...
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I'm with you. Even MY cynicism doesn't extend far enough to "expect" it "understandable" that people would do something like that...that much cynicism is dangerous, it leads people to stop being outraged when such despicable acts are performed, and in turn gives a tacit acceptance to such behaviour. "Like, whatever, right?!"
Naivete? Hardly. You have the appropriate human response.
hz2p, if you really are so blase about the human condition that you give the proverbial shrug of the shoulders to sh$t like this, you have my sympathies.
Hope the police clamp down quick on those idiots and can get back to trying to help the people who need it...
I figured someone would see my side, thanks. I would not be surprised to see looting and minor violence break out when you get that many desparate people in one place, but this goes beyond human frustration.
Having been through 6 Hurricanes (CAT 3 tops), I guess I just haven't seen it all yet.
I'm naive perhaps, but I bet the guy flying his helicopter picking people up wasn't thinking about ground fire when he pushed the ignition this morning.
You could almost exchange "New Orleans" with "Iraq" in that article and it wouldn't be so surprising.
It may be politically incorrect to say so, but in human terms the southeast US is a big toilet bowl. It’s an issue of neglect and long time oppression.
Louisiana, and especially New Orleans is ridden with criminal opportunists that wouldn't think twice about exploiting human misery in the same way they have been exploited and mistreated for decades.
This is a classic example of a decadent and corrupt society collapsing on itself. These people have absolutely no respect for their country or government since they have experienced little respect from the establishment themselves. It’s really a race war in my opinion.
It will be a huge uphill battle to stabilize the area and repair the damage. But will the US learn anything from the experience or sink further down the toilet bowl?
And no…I don’t think Canada is necessarily above this sort of thing. It can happen here but with much less probability and overall magnitude. Maybe we can learn from this too.
Judging by the comments posted in the newspaper, it seems like many people are still without help. The national guard has been deployed but where are they? I wonder if the richer and/or whiter citizens are suffering as much as the blacker and/or poorer people.
CID wrote:I wonder if the richer and/or whiter citizens are suffering as much as the blacker and/or poorer people.
Except for loosing everything they owned, I don't think many of the middle and upper classes are suffering as much. They were the ones that had the means to get out before the hurricane hit, and generally made it out okay. The ones left were those who couldn't afford to go anywhere.
I have read reports though of some who left trying to go back and collect a few personal things. Some turned back do to the violence and looting that is going on. Others had nothing to go back to.
I am with you. I don't think this is the normal behaviour of the human race. I am disgusted with what has been happening. When the Tsunami hit creating a lot more damage with no notice at all, you didn't see the human race acting like this.
These people were given notice of what was coming. They were begged to evacuate by the local mayors on television. A luxury that no body had in the days before the tsunami.
I don't wish anything like this on anyone but they are acting like savages in what is supposed to be civilized world.
And a little FYI. In the days before the last major hurricane hit Cuba, the ruthless dictator, Fidel Castro, had buses sent out to the poorer coastal regions of Cuba to round up people unable to evacuate by their own means.
The media never report that little tidbit which may have given some ispiration to American disaster planners
