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Who was that on here a long while back that was arguing me about human nature? Might even have been on the old forums.

I remember whoever it was saying how people would "share" etc etc if crap hit the fan here in the US (or anywhere in the world, for that matter)...and I was saying basically that you better buy a gun because people are very self-serving.

God, I wish I could remember...really, just so I could say I told you so. I'm an ass like that.

Proof is, of course, all the stuff going down in New Orleans:

Mike Perlstein and Brian Thevenot
Staff writers

Law enforcement efforts to contain the emergency left by Katrina slipped into chaos in parts of New Orleans Tuesday with some police officers and firefighters joining looters in picking stores clean.

At the Wal-Mart on Tchoupitoulas Street, an initial effort to hand out provisions to stranded citizens quickly disintegrated into mass looting. Authorities at the scene said bedlam erupted after the giveaway was announced over the radio.

While many people carried out food and essential supplies, others cleared out jewelry racks and carted out computers, TVs and appliances on handtrucks.

Some officers joined in taking whatever they could, including one New Orleans cop who loaded a shopping cart with a compact computer and a 27-inch flat screen television.

Officers claimed there was nothing they could do to contain the anarchy, saying their radio communications have broken down and they had no direction from commanders.

“We don’t have enough cops to stop it,” an officer said. “A mass riot would break out if you tried.”

Inside the store, the scene alternated between celebration and frightening bedlam. A shirtless man straddled a broken jewelry case, yelling, “Free samples, free samples over here.”

Another man rolled a mechanized pallet, stacked six feet high with cases of vodka and whiskey. Perched atop the stack was a bewildered toddler.

Throughout the store and parking lot, looters pushed carts and loaded trucks and vans alongside officers. One man said police directed him to Wal-Mart from Robert’s Grocery, where a similar scene was taking place. A crowd in the electronics section said one officer broke the glass DVD case so people wouldn’t cut themselves.

“The police got all the best stuff. They’re crookeder than us,” one man said.

Most officers, though, simply stood by powerless against the tide of law breakers.

One veteran officer said, “It’s like this everywhere in the city. This tiny number of cops can’t do anything about this. It’s wide open.”

At least one officer tried futilely to control a looter through shame.

“When they say take what you need, that doesn’t mean an f-ing TV,” the officer shouted to a looter. “This is a hurricane, not a free-for-all.”

Sandra Smith of Baton Rouge walked through the parking lot with a 12-pack of Bud Light under each arm. “I came down here to get my daughters,” she said, “but I can’t find them.”

The scene turned so chaotic at times that entrances were blocked by the press of people and shopping carts and traffic jams sprouted on surrounding streets.

Some groups organized themselves into assembly lines to more efficiently cart off goods.

Toni Williams, 25, packed her trunk with essential supplies, such as food and water, but said mass looting disgusted and frightened her.

“I didn’t feel safe. Some people are going overboard,” she said.

Inside the store, one woman was stocking up on make-up. She said she took comfort in watching police load up their own carts.

“It must be legal,” she said. “The police are here taking stuff, too.”

Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:2463, old post ID:42411

Pretty terrible all this is going on. People have lost their property, business owners have lost their stores, etc... then you got jerks taking advantage of the situation to steal all the stuff, and I can fully understand that cops can't do anything since there's only so much you can do... but joining them?!?

It's like our goverment here in Canada they've raised all the gas prices, there's no reason why the prices should be raised here, we have enough oil refinaries here to supply all of Canada so technically it should be two seperate oil economies... but if the US has to raise it, might as well do it to and make more cash...

But I'm certainly not worried about us paying higher when people who lost their homes have to worry about starting their life from scratch. Not even sure how it works in terms of banks and stuff, do people loose all their banked money as well? I'm sure looters are also getting into banks and stuff too, unless the vults survived the huricane and debris and is still secure.

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Hobbes' notion of the 'state of nature' is correct.

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The Gheyness wrote:

I remember whoever it was saying how people would "share" etc etc if crap hit the fan here in the US (or anywhere in the world, for that matter)...and I was saying basically that you better buy a gun because people are very self-serving.

You're damn right.

Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:2463, old post ID:42441

The Gheyness wrote: Who was that on here a long while back that was arguing me about human nature?  Might even have been on the old forums.

I remember whoever it was saying how people would "share" etc etc if crap hit the fan here in the US (or anywhere in the world, for that matter)...and I was saying basically that you better buy a gun because people are very self-serving.

God, I wish I could remember...really, just so I could say I told you so.  I'm an ass like that.

I found the thread.
http://www.anythingforums.com/forums/index...opic=1394&st=25

War is inevitable. In a lot of cases, there's simply no other way to solve the problem other than "my guns are bigger than your guns."

It's the law of nature.

Re: the guns thing, don't be so literal, Shenbaw.

You guys are living in a fantasy land, not on Earth.

There's a very simple reality to life, people: resources are limited and scarce.

This fact makes war inevitable due to the fact the we as a species propagate like rabbits. And if you honestly think that the guy next door to you (figuratively speaking) is going to share his land and his food and his limited resources with you under dire straits, then you are sadly mistaken.

The only time that your idealized views of the world will hold true is when we have unlimited land and unlimited resources.

Which will never, ever occur.

Naturally, one wants to take care of their family and their people before worrying about taking care of others. So, during a surplus of resources (and as I said, resources can be anything from land to oil to food or money, etc) sure...war is potentially preventable.

However, all of the people cannot have a surplus all of the time.

Therefore, war is simply inevitable. Someone always wants what someone else has, and nobody is willing to give anything up without a fight.

Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:2463, old post ID:42450

God, I love you Bookworm. (or Bookmark, as I affectionately call him)

Okay, I'd like to officially say "I told you so" to Shenbaw, FloodG8, and MrSelf, but all of them seem to never come around anymore, so it's kinda pointless. :/

Another one of my quotes from back then:

Again replying to your statement [made by MrSelf]: "If my neigbor came to me and mentioned getting together to conserve resourses, I would think it was a good idea, as would anyone intelligent and not completely self-centered. You are sadly mistaken if you think everyone would react like yourself. Your logic exist only is you assume people will always be self-centered and interested and nothing else, a bit much of the law of nature for me."

Then tell me why whenever there is any kind of natural disaster or storm warning whatsoever, people rush out to buy the "necessities"? Stock up on them?

I have yet to see a man at the grocery store during a winter storm warning put back a carton of milk and some toilet paper since he already has two and the guy in the line behind him has none (and the store has run out)...

And why do stores always run out?

Why are there never enough flu shots during the winter? You see people actually fighting for them. Maryland/DC area had to institute a "lotto" for them.

We're not even talking about a truly dire situation here, as we've never really had one in the US.

But if the ever hits the fan, know this: people don't care about you, they care about themselves and their family first and foremost.

I'm like a prophet or something!!

Reading back on that thread, no offense...but I can't believe how naive Shenbaw and MrSelf were.

Another shining example of human nature was that almost-free Apple laptop giveaway a few weeks ago. http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/08/16/computer.frenzy.ap/


I mean, look at how people act for things like that...how people are acting in New Orleans...and you're telling me that if things were REALLY seriously bad off that people wouldn't go apeshit?

Look at gas and oil now, which IS by the way a scarce resource, although some people seem to think it's not...meaning we will HAVE to go to war to get it, as we already have now and will continue to have to do in the future...our economy is absolutely dependant on it...and we're starting to see some of the effects of it's scarcity. The Alaskan oil depositories have been damn near sucked dry by us over these decades and oil around the world is getting to be harder to find and harder to procure.

I personally feel that it's only a matter of time (couple of years at the most) before you see scenes like the one at that apple laptop giveaway at gas stations around the country. I mean, think what would probably happen right now if some gas station in Atlanta offered gas at a ridiculously low price, like $1.25 a gallon?

People would be fighting in the streets and ramming each others cars for it. And I'm not exaggerating.

Whatever, the only thing I'm gonna trust in this world (especially a disaster situation) is a Glock 20 and a shotgun, both of which I'll have.

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More: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/randall-robi...ans_b_6643.html

Here's the mayor of New Orleans: http://www.cnn.com/video/player/player.htm....intv.affl&wm=9

NOTICE HOW MANY TIMES HE SAYS "RESOURCES" AND THE LACK THEREOF.



Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:2463, old post ID:42484

Yes we all revolve around resources it seems and when we don't have enough, or don't have them fast enough we panic and go crazy. By we I mean as humans, but some can handle it better then others. Look at underdeveloped countries who live with scares resources for example, so when the tsunami hit, they delt with it much much better then how people are dealing with the disaster in New Orleans. Right now there's violence, racism, controvorsy, etc...

Like someone said on another forum, it's not the hurricane that's the danger, it's the society after.

And oil seems to be big factor in our day and age, and that is something that has to change. We need a global alternative source of energy, we can't go on depending on oil since it is in fact a resource that will eventually run out. It takes millions of years for dead stuff to turn into oil.

Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:2463, old post ID:42491