My conservative coworker thinks the looting is fine

[bleedingheart]

Basically she said, "The food will go bad, so why not eat it and these people have lost so much that how can anyone judge them when they take some shoes and clothes from a store?" "They have lost their entire way of life, where is the empathy."

I have to agree with my coworker.

When all is said and done, FEMA will provide grants and other agencies will provide them with food and clothes and perhaps shelter. BUT a lot of the time just like FEMA recipients here in PA, they will be offered low interest loans....yes loans.... so these people just lost everything and guess what...they will be bankrupt. Yes Bankrupt! They will still owe on homes, cars and credit cards until they can either file bankruptcy due to the disaster or they may end up having to still pay for their old debts...cuz the Banks are not so forgiving. THEN to top it all off, they may end up having to loan even more money to start again.

I think the media focus on the looting is horrid and as my coworker said, "Are they trying to convince people not to have sympathy for them?" and I have to once again agree with her.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

1. The media is doing this so when a bunch of black people end up dead

there won't be riots...

[bleedingheart]

4. we also commented on how racist the coverage appears

I guess it will be used later to judge how little aid they will receive.

[shoelace414]

2. Freedom is messy

[SteppingRazor]

3. I'm all for taking perishable items like food and water...

plus basic necessities like diapers. It's when I see some punk kid wandering through Wal-Mart with a huge pile of video games in his hands that I think something should be done.

[bleedingheart]

6. but to be honest I don't care about that either because

Wal-Mart has probably already written off their stores as complete losses for insurance purposes...amd most likely padded the figures to get more cash.

[SteppingRazor]

10. Yeah, but two wrongs don't make a right...

Besides which, it's only a very small leap from looting Wal-Mart to looting people's homes.

[bleedingheart]

13. I can't say what I would do if I were to lose everything but

I won't judge others.

Taking food isn't wrong.

Taking clothes isn't wrong if the only thing you have is what is on your back and you have no idea as to when you might have another pair of shoes or underwear or shirt.

Taking a TV, well sadly I bet a lot of people may owe a credit card company or department store for a TV that is now under water and I bet the credit card company may expect a payment for that...and they won't think that there is anything wrong with that...and some of these people may be doing this in order to plug it in eventually and have some clue as to what is happening around them.

[Mairead]

22. For most people that's a very BIG step, not a small one

Most people have an intuitive grasp on where the money is and isn't, and who will or won't be hurt by property being 'requisitioned'.

[TahitiNut]

17. You "think something should be done"?? Just what?

How many troops should be dedicated to "doing something" other than rescue operations, evacuation, distributing food and water, providing medica care, blocking the leaks in the levees, and other emergency operations?

Where are the priorities, here? :eyes:

[Pithlet]

19. Why

Satisfying the need for justice of those of us watching the disaster unfold on TV and on the internet should be priority one, of course. Society depends on those looters being punished. Otherwise, mass chaos will ensue. :sarcasm:

[ohio_liberal]

5. I got aid through FEMA myself

They gave me emergency repair money (about 4,000) with no obligation to pay it back. Then I got the SBA loan. I'm very grateful for it, or I'd be homeless.

[pointblank]

7. Yea I heard on the radio this AM..

That Ford is giving a 90 day grace period to victims and some other automakers are giving 60 days...if you 'qualify'.

Not sure what that means, and I guess its better than nothing.

Nice...your car is wrecked in the storm, the insurance co. gives you money to total it, but it proabably isn't enough to pay off the loan...and you get stuck still owing the difference on top of all the other shit you are dealing with....

God this sucks.

[SoCalDem]

12. I am always amazed when I see cars flooded..

Always makes me wonder what prevented the owners from driving them to higher ground...

some were reaolly nice cars too :(

[rocktivity]

8. Aboslutely right

If you're taking anything OTHER than food and necessary clothing or supplies, THEN you're looting! And Louisana senator Mary Landrieau agrees!

:headbang:
rocknation

[mattclearing]

9. "Are they trying to convince people not to have sympathy for them?"

That's exactly it. The media encourages lack of sympathy for others by slanted coverage. I think it's to maintain the status quo, personally.

If people are moved to action by events, there is potential for great change.

The media hinders that by undercutting the outpouring of sympathy with images of the lowest common denominator, surely the minority.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

11. This is what I'd do if offered a fucking LOAN as relief

Take the money, flee the country, start over with a clean slate, give the fuckers the finger.

[TahitiNut]

14. I agree. I consider it a "salvage operation". The water is RISING.

If nothing else, it feeds the "economy." With waters rising, everything that's grabbed up before it's submerged becomes a useful commodity instead of more landfill. To a large extent, it'd cost the retailers far, far more to preserve such items than they'd ever get for them.

The media focus on this is like fussing about people using the wrong fork during a famine. It's nucking futs.

[flvegan]

15. My VERY conservative co-worker and I agreed upon the same thing.

We came to the conclusion that looting a tv, especially when there's no electricity, etc, is criminal. Looting food, albeit criminal, is a nonissue. Some of those folks may well have been without food for days, now. Hunter/gatherer in some of these cases, I think.

[theHandpuppet]

16. Not only the need for food

But how would anyone like to be wearing the same filthy, stinky, germ-ridden clothes for weeks on end? Most if not all of their clothing, shoes and bedding has been ruined. No food or water, nor medicines nor baby items. All possessions gone and no money to replace what has been lost. No way to know how long it will be before they receive real help. It's called survival, folks.

[TahitiNut]

18. Can you imagine caring for an infant during this?

Diapers. Formula. Water. Health care. Yikes!!!

[NiteOwll]

20. I have no doubt

that if I were in that situation, with no food, water, clothes, diapers, etc. that I would take things from a store. But I would leave an IOU for what I took -- and try to make good on it later.

[BarbaRosa]

21. The looting of stores is one thing

but yesterday I saw a report about one family who, when allowed to return to their home not only found complete devastation from the storm, BUT what was left had been looted, everything of value the storm missed the damn looters got. That really sucks.

[Lecky]

23. I agree with most of you guys

I can understand the looting of food and clothing in this type of emergency situation, but I'm going to draw the line at stereo equipment.

The looting is all over the news, I was a bit disgusted this morning with the Today show. I was watching Matt Lauer interview the governor of Loiusiana, and she stated that their #1 priority at the moment was getting people to safe locations and that there wasn't a huge focus on the looting problem and Matt Lauer seemed repulsed by this. He was such a jackass, I think it came out really bad on his part.

I think most people agree that looting is wrong, but did Matt miss all the footage beforehand with the people sitting on their rooftops waiting to be saved by helicopters? Basically we have an entire city underwater with lots of people still missing and Matt is outraged that the looters are not under control yet. That's the least of their problems IMO. Not to mention, I'm sure the police are doing the best they can to get some sort of order.