The Disaster Myth Narrative: No One Panics, No One Loots, No One Goes Hungry

Just read this and found it an interesting read. The stories and images we get of a post disaster event are often of anarchy and chaos. It appears to some extent that this may not be the case.

I was recently doing some research about the aftermath of some natural disasters that took place here in America. I was shocked to find that the articles I was looking for – ones that I had read in the past – were pretty hard to find, but articles refuting the sought-for pieces were rampant. Not just one event, but every single crisis aftermath that I looked up, had articles that were written after the fact stating in no uncertain terms that the hunger, chaos, and unrest never happened

The article then goes on to talk about Hurricane Katrina. I recollect here in the UK hearing about hordes of people going around killing people and the likes. Well by all accounts this never happened. People where helpful and peaceful.

Apparently studies prove that the fear of anarchy, lawlessness, and chaos is nothing but the “disaster myth”. Reams of examples exist of the goodness and warmth of society as a whole after disaster strikes. All the stories you read at the time were just that – stories, according to the mainstream media

www.theorganicprepper.ca...

Now that put a bit of a different light on things. It looks like social order is not so delicate and fast in breaking down. To all you wannabe Rambos here on ATS think about the value people and community you have around you. There is no separation and people are stronger when they work together and help each other.

These post disaster events are very different to how the MSM portrays this. Makes you wonder if it is done on purpose so that we want to be governed..

We are all just humans trying to survive, That whole myth is just like anything else in the Media.

Violence and Crime have been at all times lows in america, yet everything in the news is doom and gloom division and chaos.

Even during the worst of times, the best of humanity shines through.

reply to post by purplemer


The dreaded MSM (or LSM for Palin fans) tries to be the first with the story and they usually get it wrong in the beginning. Why? Over zealous reporting. They hear one report and make it into an epidemic.

I remember when several states in the northeast went without power for a few days. Most would expect looting and rioting...but that wasn't the case. I was living in Cleveland, OH at the time and folks, believe it or not, just dealt with the situation. It was actually rather pleasant (except for the cold showers), with the power out there were no video games or TVs to keep us indoors. We hung out with our neighbors and spent a lot of time outside.

During an October storm in Buffalo, NY, the power went out for almost two weeks in some areas. No one rioted or looted. In fact neighbors with generators helped those without. I let my neighbor share my generator as I only, really, needed enough power for one room, a fridge and sump pump. He powered one room, a fridge and his sump pump. We somehow survived without killing each other by, and this will surprise many on this board, by cooperating with one another.

Now, I don't own a pair of rose colored glasses and I do know that there are folks out there that will take advantage of these situations, but I propose they are NOT the majority. Humans, in my opinion, are creatures who thrive on cooperation.

During Katrina, there were those who took pot shots at the police and Coast Guard...but there weren't many. The anger at the Superdome, in my opinion, was justified. Heck, I'd be angry too if I was sent there and I think most would too!

Yeah, our movies aren't to accurrate in depicting America.

The stories about Katrina were real. I don't know what kind of spin this is trying to provide, but it is a bad job.

I've heard stories directly from people involved of the looting and fear following the aftermath of Katrina. I have heard of shootouts and the gun confiscation between people and the National Guard. I have watched videos of people forced into housing for "their safety" and not allowed to leave, all the while having barely enough food and healthcare to go around these facilities.

Last but not least, I live in a small town in the northeast that flooded two years ago and went without power for 3-4 days. In the time there were numerous accounts of looting, but there were just as many accounts of good Samaritans helping out and banding together to help neighbors.

The facts are pretty simple. These fears do exist, but at the same time the people who would stand against such issues also exist and counteract such things. Don't let some news story tell you that looting and rioting against law enforcement is not an issue, because it can and will be, especially the longer people go without food and drink.

I have seen it. People only maintain their humanity so long as they live comfortably. Take everything away, and you never know what monsters come out at night.

The stories about Katrina were real. I don't know what kind of spin this is trying to provide, but it is a bad job. I've heard stories directly from people involved of the looting and fear following the aftermath of Katrina. I have heard of shootouts and the gun confiscation between people and the National Guard. I have watched videos of people forced into housing for "their safety" and not allowed to leave, all the while having barely enough food and healthcare to go around these facilities.

See for yourself...



Video footage from LA riots, Cleveland Ohio riots, New Orleans Looting and gun confiscation post Hurricane Katrina, and Greece






We could be here all day....

purplemer

These post disaster events are very different to how the MSM portrays this. Makes you wonder if it is done on purpose so that we want to be governed..

Of course it is. Fear is the most powerful manipulative tool in the human experience. They spin everything to support the illusion that we need to be controlled, lest "anarchy ensue" (falsely equating anarchy with chaos and violence, as they always do).

"We'll all kill each other without something to force us to be good!" Because, as one of the oldest lies ever told says, "human nature" is fundamentally flawed (evil). Pure bunk.

reply to post by NthOther


I want to say there is a difference between peoples that want to be responsible for themselves and others - and those peoples that want to take from others -

There is no difference of what color you are, or how much money you have or don't have -

Some people are criminals, and some aren't.

reply to post by Happy1


Everyone is a criminal now.

Love the thread! I have been saying this for years, yet people want to dictate what they "think" is going to happen. Not because we live in a crime free society, but because they are bombarded with YT videos, nonstop marques on news channels about all the "bad" that is happening.

During most major disasters there is no increased number of crimes committed, which means the criminals that were already there, are, well still there. During Katrina most of what was taken was food, water, necessities. Not because people are greedy, but people that lived in those low income areas knew first hand that the gov, and FEMA were not going to provide for them.

I love when people tell stories about Hurricane Sandy and Katrina, about tv's, radios, clothing, etc,. being stolen. THERE WAS A FLOOD OF MASS PROPORTIONS!!! Unless criminals have found some way to repair electronics that were submerged in water, oh, and have no place to live like everyone else, then maybe we can take some lessons from them.

There was a huge thread here right after Hurricane sandy about looting, and it was later found out that a racist group was tweeting these obviously false events while living comfortably in another state. I was in NYC for the blackout in 2003 and I made it clear in a post of what happened while I was in one of the worst areas of Brooklyn for 3 days without electricity, and asked if ANYONE could find 3 crimes committed in the entire city.

This is a place with one of the worst reputations for crime, and with a population of MILLIONS of people. This type of doom and gloom, will cause more chaos if anything does happen, and hopefully this will weed out those that dont have enough common sense to know that no matter where you are, or where you live, we will ALL need someone else at some point.

All I can hope for is that those "cowboys" out there that share the same mentality, will have one great big shoot out, so that everyone else can have a chance.

Peace, NRE.

reply to post by NoRegretsEver


So, I'm wondering - does the MSM put this crap out to hope for a "race war" or some kind of "shooting apocalypse" against "looters" ?

Maybe they want this so that people will happily go to FEMA camps in an emergency?

I live in the midwest - everyone will be well behaved -

See the Iowa floods last year - or last few years (time flies by) - complete destruction - yet, no gov't funded debit cards?

Happy1
reply to post by NoRegretsEver

 

So, I'm wondering - does the MSM put this crap out to hope for a "race war" or some kind of "shooting apocalypse" against "looters" ?

Maybe they want this so that people will happily go to FEMA camps in an emergency?

I live in the midwest - everyone will be well behaved -

See the Iowa floods last year - or last few years (time flies by) - complete destruction - yet, no gov't funded debit cards?

Absolutely!

Let me put it this way, if and when something catastrophic happens there will be violence. Want to know between who? Well it may seem obvious but its not. There will be a adherent fear from those that live outside of society. I mean those that have never really known what it is like to live in a big city, or have been on a welfare line, or a shelter.

It will be those that have worked hard all of their lives, those that pay their taxes, and understand that the constitution is to be used for freedom, and that the country they live in is the best in the world. They will fear others that look different, those that take the MSM as gospel. Those that believe that inner cities, homelessness and poverty are a choice.

They will fear losing "their" way of life. Those in my opinion will be the first to shoot, and the last to realize that they are just like everyone else, and will have to live with these choices in the long run. Those will be the men and women that will turn other parents and children away when and if they need help. That will look people in the eye and think that its the right thing, that if that other person would have made the same decisions as them, well then they would be better off.

But here is the kicker. All of that is a magic act. Its an illusion.

We are all the same. Except we are on different levels in life. You want to know how we are conditioned? Just think about how we cannot watch an ASPCA commercial with abused dogs, and cats, without changing the channel or cringing, yet we can sit for hours watching men, woman and children dying all over the world while eating taco bell, and drinking a budweiser.

Mad Max was a movie, where is Mel Gibson now? Escape from NY was just a movie. How is Kurt Russell doing? This is nothing more than a reason for us to look to one another with raging fear and not those that have really been the cause. The corporations, the banks, the government, we are taught to NEVER look to the people, because the United States of America has got your back.

You know who are the first to know its BS? The poor, the homeless, the welfare recipients, the elderly that cannot afford medication, the kids that go home hungry at night, large corporations that pay wages that cannot feed a family or 3, but the employee has a family of 6. All of the answers are there and hopefully before its to late we can see it.

Peace, NRE.

I'm not understanding why people are still believing this article when there is literal proof of these riot situations happening?

The MSM may sensationalize things, yes. Fear leads to control and better viewership. However, these things are very real and to let your guard down would be pretty irrational if you ask me.

Remember, in events like Katrina there are wide spread evacuation zones. Not every single home is submerged in feet of water and these people don't get back to their homes immediately to protect them. Crime in these situations increases because there is new opportunity. How many people have I heard in the past say they would commit crimes "if they knew they wouldn't be caught"?

Well guess what? In these situations there is a much higher chance that you won't be caught and thus career criminals go on sprees, while new opportunists take advantage.

Katrina and other riots were small scale situations in relation to what COULD happen. Imagine if the entire countries grid went down and fear and opportunity presented itself absent of adequate law enforcement? Give it a few days but I guarantee that chaos and anarchy WILL ensue in isolated areas. Don't fool yourself into believing otherwise.

NoRegretsEver

It will be those that have worked hard all of their lives, those that pay their taxes, and understand that the constitution is to be used for freedom, and that the country they live in is the best in the world. They will fear others that look different, those that take the MSM as gospel. Those that believe that inner cities, homelessness and poverty are a choice.

They will fear losing "their" way of life. Those in my opinion will be the first to shoot, and the last to realize that they are just like everyone else, and will have to live with these choices in the long run. Those will be the men and women that will turn other parents and children away when and if they need help. That will look people in the eye and think that its the right thing, that if that other person would have made the same decisions as them, well then they would be better off.

You know who are the first to know its BS? The poor, the homeless, the welfare recipients, the elderly that cannot afford medication, the kids that go home hungry at night, large corporations that pay wages that cannot feed a family or 3, but the employee has a family of 6. All of the answers are there and hopefully before its to late we can see it.

Peace, NRE.

Exactly. The people most likely to resort to violence as a response to the breakdown of social order are those who have the greatest emotional investment in that order. Those currently decrying anarchists as violent mobs will be the first to join said mobs.

If you're anything like me, you have little-to-no emotional investment in the current system. In other words, when you see a mushroom cloud on the horizon, you're more likely to grin than scream. You're more to likely to recognize the event as a catalyst for positive social change rather than fret to death because you don't know how to cash in your 401(k) without a bank that's still standing.

Those tied to the system will turn on each other, and the rest of us will say "good riddance" and go on about building our future unconstrained by the past.

reply to post by NthOther


Love this last line.

Those tied to the system will turn on each other, and the rest of us will say "good riddance" and go on about building our future unconstrained by the past.

This is absolutely correct. I was never scared of FEMA camps as I already knew that there would be people in droves, waiting to get in, begging for things that come naturally to humans, and that is survival. Our natural instincts have been twisted. We fear nature, strangers, and most of all we fear each other.

Peace, NRE.

reply to post by purplemer


It must depend on location, population and the catastrophy. The higher populated areas would be hit harder from criminal activity. Rural areas won't be so bad, those people really do take care of each other. As I recall, the flooding in Minot SD, there wasn't any criminal activity. I don't think there will be in the Colorado floodings either, at least in the rural areas.

reply to post by StoutBroux


I agree and I am sure it would differ from area to area. I live well out in the sticks.. I will never have problems like that here.Everyone knows each other. I just wanted to share because peeps things social order breaks down fast and I do not think it happens that way. People are people the world over and we prosper with other humans not as individuals..

Want to say we should take care of each other best we can.