Katrina Shows Us What America Is Made Of....the Good and the Bad

Question: Is it wrong to steal a loaf of bread to feed your starving family?

Answer: You're darn right it is.

I have for several weeks been meaning to write a post about selfishness and taking responsibility, and how I see those two things as one of the biggest problems facing modern society. I had all these little anecdotes about selfish behavior. My thesis statement would have been something along the lines of "every single problem in the world can be traced directly to selfishness."

Now, however, in light of the Katrina damage and horror, it is apparent that I need to adapt my original themes...but not much.

You know, whenever there's a natural disaster or terror attack in our country, the nation mourns together, right? Journalists and tv news people love to talk about "Americans banding together in the common cause of providing relief for the victims." We like to think of ourselves...our country...as a charitable one. A caring one. And we can band together with the best of them, right?

Sure, to a certain extent. The reaction to last years hurricanes in Florida (where many people still have tarps instead of a roof, by the way...one year later), the reaction to the attacks of 9/11, and now the reaction to Katrina all show how giving and concerned Americans can be. Benefits have been scheduled (Harry Connick Junior?!?! Right on!). Telethons are planned. Churches and charities across the nation are mobilizing to help those poor souls in the south.
And that's all good.

But there's another America that comes out and shows itself during times of crisis....the selfish, responsibility-free, riotous looting America. And there is more looting and rioting and blatant lawlessness going on in New Orleans than maybe has ever occurred before following an American tragedy.

Aid workers are being shot at, so much so that many supply drop-offs have been stopped. I have to ask....who shoots at a helicopter that's trying to drop off food and water for you? Who does that?

Many of the looters are quite savvy, bypassing tvs and stereos for more lucrative things like ATMs and such.

Women are being raped--there are multiple accounts of rape on the streets of New Orleans. Fights are breaking out. People have been killed in the Superdome...murdered.

Don't forget insurance fraud and price gouging...which are a form of looting.

This is the other, more ugly side of America. The selfish side. And you know something? It accompanies every appearance of the more gentle, charitable America. Last year in Florida I remember sereral arrests were made and multiple accounts of looting. I may be remembering wrong, but I believe someone broke into a fire station and stole computer equipment. Nice....not only are you stealing...but you're stealing from the people putting their lives on the line to rescue the likes of you.

So which is the true America? Obviously, the answer is....they both are. There are caring, loving, concerned individuals all over the country....who are donating money and time and efforts and prayers. And at the same time, there are the selfish evil looters. And the looters in New Orleans have their counterparts in the rest of the country too. There are those like Senator Hastert, the House Speaker, who decides this is the perfect time to talk about how rebuilding the city in the same spot doesn't make any sense. There are others who are saying things like, "They had it coming" or "that's what you get for building a city below sea level." And these critics may not be wrong as much as they could use a lesson in saying things at the appropriate time.

But my point is that there are plenty of Americans...sad as it is...that are unmoved (or mostly unmoved) by this tragedy. There are even some who--gasp--are trying to use this tragedy to further an agenda, such as the idiots who are trying to blame this hurricane on the President or the citizens of New Orleans themselves. I wondered yesterday what someone like Cindy Sheehan (the mom of the dead soldier who has been camping out at Bush's Texas ranch in an attempt to get a SECOND meeting with him) might say about this....and then I stopped wondering because she issued a quote....about how she'll be coming back to Bush's ranch next summer. Great. She's got perspective. (side note here, but the looting in New Orleans springs from the lack of law enforcement. The cops can't move freely through the city and the criminals know it...so they sieze the opportunity to steal, murder, and rape because...hey...no cops. Well, what do we suppose happens in Iraq if we listen to Cindy Sheehan and just pull out our troops right now....will not the same type of criminal behavior run just as rampant there without anyone to properly police it? Whether you're for or against the war in Iraq...we can't just pull out prematurely. I'm just saying.)

But what about the noble looters? Gotta love that phrase..."noble looters." These are the folks who maybe spent three days on their roof without food and water and then broke a window at a grocery store so they could feed their family. Are they as bad as the violent rapist looters? Well, no. I don't guess they are. Certainly if I sat on a roof for three days without food for my kids and wife...I might consider breaking the law to make sure they get fed. But there's something here we can't ignore: the fact that these families, however many of them there may be, wouldn't have had to loot to feed their families if they had listened to the MANDATORY EVACUATION notices from the authorities. So, in that respect, I still think we need to be careful about glorifying the theft of a loaf of bread by these people. Stealing is wrong. I know they're stretched to the limits. I know they endured something hellish and horrible. I know they need to eat and relief workers aren't there yet (partly because of the other looters who are shooting at them!!). But I cannot use their dire circumstances to absolve the theft of anything, particularly when they didn't have to stay on their roof....didn't have to stay in the city. Their hunger is at least in part related to their own decisions.

And that's where we come back to responsibility. If I as a father and husband decided to wager my life savings on a football game...and then lost...then I would be poor. But my kids would still be hungry. Eventually they'd need to eat. Am I allowed then to go to Kroger and steal something tasty? No. My financial situation was my own doing. Now, I'm not saying that people who ignored evacuation notices are degenerate gamblers. I'm really not. But they are gamblers, aren't they? They gambled that the levees would hold. They gambled that the storm wouldn't be that bad. And they lost.

Before I get flamed, let me state that there are surely people in New Orleans who wanted to evacuate but couldn't. I'm sure some couldn't leave because they were trying to get ahold of or find family members. I'm sure some don't have a car. And while I think it was dumb to ignore evacuation notices....I don't want to bash these poor folks. There are thousands who got stuck in horrible situations. Of them, many have decided that the way out is to steal food. I just happen to think that's going too far. While I think Katrina makes some excuses for "feeding my family through theft" it does not completely erase the wrongness involved in taking something which does not belong to you.

For the record, stealing is wrong. It is never right. Acts of nature do not alter the moral code.

And all this just really has me sad. Because, like you, I enjoy seeing the post-disaster stories of Americans pitching in, coming together on a task and rebuilding. But that picture is distorted now...greatly. Anyone who would use such a horrible, life-taking tragedy for personal gain through looting or rape or any other crime...is the worst kind of human being imaginable.

And those people are part of who America is. And that sucks. It sucks rotten eggs. I don't want that to be who we are...but it is. It's a part of us.

You may cry that the overwhelming majority of people are trying to help. That the looters are the minority.

And you'd be right. But for how much longer? Seems to me that the looting and criminal behavior in New Orleans is more rampant and widespread than what happened during last year's storms. And I don't remember there being this many stories of looting or theft in New York City after 9/11. I mean, look at the headlines people...New Orleans is under attack from its own citizens! Is it even possible that the selfish mentality that allows for looting is growing in our country? Could it be that we are so selfish that we can see someone else's tragedy as an excuse for our profit?

Yes. It could be. And it is. And it makes me furious and depressed and sad. A small, growing portion of our country is so selfish that they would rape a hurricane victim in a city with no law. That they would steal ATMs for cash even while the rest of the country gives donations of needed cash to the Red Cross. Doesn't that sicken you? It makes me want to vomit. What is our fast-food, constant media, sex-crazed society becoming? More and more selfish. And that's scarier to me than the prospect of any natural disaster.

Special shout out: The NFL is donating a million bucks to hurricane relief....which is the equivalent of me donating two pennies. Good work, NFL. Alex Smith, an unproven quarterback who will not even start for his team this year, gets 19 million in a signing bonus, but the best you can offer is one? Yeah, that seems proportional. You might as well have just sent in some good vibes and crossed fingers. The need here is outrageous...well into the billions...and your surplus is stunning (billions earned by the NFL.....they are staggeringly rich) and the best you can do is one million. Again, makes me sick. Clearly an attempt to get good PR as opposed to an attempt to actually help those in need. By the way, headlines today say Wal-Mart is donating $15 million. Now that's more like it.

I know, I know...it's easy for a poor guy to blast the billionaire for not being generous enough. But come on! I refuse to believe that I have to have been rich and given something away before I'm allowed to criticize the weak charity of the wealthy. They show signs of wanting to help, by making a donation, but their donation is an insult. They have a franchise in the city of most need. They have fans all over the south in need...fans who lined the NFL's pockets by the way.

And this is the scariest thing of all to me: the selfish mentality is imprinting itself even on those who are helping. I can't see the NFL's donation as anything but selfish. Look at us, we're donating, but only enough that we won't miss any of it. In fact, we plan to carry on with our season as planned so that we can reap millions off the Saints games, which will be played in other cities since New Orleans can't get enough money to rebuild in time. They are going to make exponentially more off the Saints franchise this year than they are willing to donate now! That's worthy of criticism, folks. It demands it. Foreign governments in Europe are donating 60 million barrels of oil to the US. And a company based in the US like the NFL can't even donate more than .001% of their yearly income. Shameful.

Sure, we are a country that, for the most part, pulls together during and after a tragedy. But how long will we stay that way? Hasn't now gotten to a point where we have to predict and expect some seedy members of our society to use a tragedy for personal gain? We are a nation of people who want something for nothing. That's why we gamble in casinos and on sporting events. That's why we play the lottery. That's why we sue McDonald's when their coffee burns us. We all dream and hope for the day when we get a windfall we didn't do a thing to earn. And when a hurricane comes to town, dismantling the policemen's ability to fight crime...that's why we see average citizens breaking doors and windows of electronics stores. (side note: these looters have the Fat Tony mentality, referring to a Simpsons episode. Bart gets an afterschool job bartending for the mob. They come to his house with a truckload of cigarettes they want to store in his house. He asks if they are stolen and Fat Tony replies, "Is it wrong to steal a loaf of bread to feed your starving family?" Bart says he doesn't suppose so. Fat Tony continues, "Well say your family don't like bread....they like cigarettes? And what if instead of giving them away you sold them at a price that is practically giving them away?" And while that's funny, this is the logic looters are using. My family doesn't need bread, but they could certainly use a new home theater system and flat-panel television. Or...."this merchandise might get damaged and no one will miss it, so I'll take it even though it isn't mine. Disgraceful.)

The American dream now includes nothing about hard work to get to where you want to go. The American dream now is reading more like, "who do I have to steal from around here to get ahead in life?"

I'm sorry this post was so rambly and all over the map. I just had several hurricane-related thoughts to share and didn't want to write four separate posts.

To sum up: Stealing is wrong....always. Americans are increasingly selfish, and thus given to preying on their fellow citizens in times of need. The NFL is cheap. And I am sad. We'd rather stand on the bodies of the needy to "get ours" than bend down and help the needy stand up.

I'm praying for all the victims of this tragedy. The effects of this event (financial, emotional, physical) will last for years. New Orleans may never recover as a city. The national economy is affected. Disease threatens humans as well as the surrounding ecosystem. It's one of the worst disasters ever to hit our nation. I can only hope (and pray) that charitable, noble citizens trying earnestly to help will continue to far outnumber those who wish to capitalize on this horror by taking advantage of its victims.