Re: Katrina and the Evacuation of the Poor and Infirm: Market Failure?

[AdmrlLocke]

In a message dated 9/7/05 1:06:23 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:

[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> Well I would guess that a median-income American of the 1950s would have been
> less inclined toward rape, pillage, and homicide than what we've seen in
> recent days. I'm sure it's still a relatively small percentage, but I'd bet good
> money (if we had such a thing) that it's a much higher percentage today.   Did
> we have any similar natural disasters in the 1950s that come to mind?   I
> think this sort of wanton lawlessness   didn't start until the summers during the
> Vietnam War in the late 60s.

1) It seems that some of the stories of rape and homicide are
   overblown, if not completely false:

     http://www.guardian.co.uk/katrina/story/0,16441,1563532,00.html

2) I'm not sure that inclination toward rape and murder is as closely
   correlated with income as you might think.  Ever heard of Ted
   Kennedy?

You're making unwarranted assumptions about my point. I did not argue that people committed rapes, robberty and looting out of poverty. On the contrary, I was arguing that I think people have become more inclined toward lawlessness than they were half a century ago, despite the looters probably having income at least comparable if not higher than that possessed by more law abiding  Americans half a century ago.  I'm not sure that that's true, but I suspect that it might be.