Why do you think looters believe what they steal is owed to them?

1. 81

   ZipperConstantineposted 11 years ago

   Why do you think looters believe what they steal is owed to them?
   
   Recent looters in New York, after Hurricane Sandy's destruction, were interviewed and asked why they looted?  They replied, "I got back what was owed to me."

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2. 93

   ercramer36posted 11 years ago

   First and foremost it is because of sin.  We are all sinful creatures.  Second, it is because our culture has become all about "me".  Too many people think that they are owed something.  As a culture, we spend too much time worrying about what the Jones have.  This is a country that offers all kinds of opportunties to get ahead, we need to be willing to do the hard work that it takes to get there.

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3. 71

   chuckd7138posted 11 years ago

   Other than the one being quoted, I don't think that they believe they are owed anything. I think it's more along the line that the "opportunity" factor is high while the "risk of being caught" factor is low.

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4. 84

   Deborah-Dianeposted 11 years ago

   It always shocks me that people feel free to take the possessions of people who have already lost so much in a disaster.  I recently wrote a blog post in my blog "Lies-and-Liars.blogspot.com" about how people need to take their most prized possessions with them when they evacuate, in part because of looters.  It is a shame that anyone should even have to think about that.

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5. 67

   conradofontanillaposted 11 years ago

   If looters are victims of social injustice, they may believe that their loot is owed to them. For example, a tenant in a hacienda where coconuts are growing. A hacienda is a vast track of land awarded by the king of Spain to his subalterns for their loyalty. Spain colonized the Philippines for over three centuries. There are other haciendas where rice is being grown. When the Philippines gained Independence the rice haciendas were subjected to land reform where tenants would own the land they cultivated eventually. The coconut haciendas are exempted from the land reform law owing to the power of hacienderos who are also in congress. Therefore, the tenants in the coconut haciendas are victims of social injustice. They may believe that whatever they partake from coconuts is owed to them by hacienderos in particular and by society in general.
   In the case of the Sandy hurricane looters: they are victims of climate change that has been brought on largely by polluters like the motor industry. In fact, climate change (floods, landslides, diseases, hurricanes) has victimized people all over the world.

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6. 85

   NateB11posted 11 years ago

   Because the so-called owners of our jobs, the resources and the money have no special right to it, though legally and socially they do, and slaves never appreciate the status quo of the owning class. Being subjugated and deprived, when pushed to the limit, a person will take what they've been deprived of and rebel against slavery (see what Frederick Douglass did). If there are divisions, an owning class and an owned class, such conflicts are inevitable.

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   1. 59

      swb78posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Wow, how eloquently stated...Karl Marx would give you an A+ for that rant.

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   2. 85

      NateB11posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      That's a veiled insult, and it is revealing of you. A label is always easier than true understanding. Invoking the communist label is old tactic.  I'm still chuckling. Of course, it doesn't do anything to what I said.

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   3. 59

      swb78posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Nate, It was not "veiled" in the least. It was meant as an insult. Not to you directly, but to all who threaten the way of life our nation has known for over two hundred years. I take the threat of Marxism and Communism seriously.

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7. 0

   Old Empresarioposted 11 years ago

   I don't think they believed that. I think they just wanted to take things for themselves and pulled that line out when they were caught. By the way, how many people actually looted? And of those who looted, how many actually said those words? How many people are in New York?--8 million? Don't believe everything you see or hear on TV.

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8. 85

   Doc Snowposted 11 years ago

   "They?"  Or one particular person?  It's tempting to believe that all "X" are the same.  But looters are not just looters, they are human beings, and it seems likely to me that you'd find diversity in their justifications for doing illegal and immoral things such as looting--just as you would if you asked analogous questions of more respectable classes of humans.

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9. 61

   xstaticposted 11 years ago

   I don't think they believe that...I think they just want to steal.

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10. 87

    Georgie Loweryposted 11 years ago

    Well, I don't think its because of the liberals, entitlement, or the communists or even anything in particular. People steal. It's what people who steal do. When they're caught, they'll lie, even if they're busted red handed. Criminals are criminals. And the dumb ones that steal, get caught and go on tevee (or where ever) to talk about it need to be weeded out of the gene pool pronto.

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11. 87

    tsmogposted 11 years ago

    I will attempt to answer your question. In my view it is the TV. A better TV means I have greater wealth, yet not necessarily riches. I am not sure, yet the excursions ventured it is not items of necessity looted, they are items of status. If a pair of pants turned up missing, taken by someone whose pants are soaked through, I kind'a don't think it will be reported. I guess that raises a new question, being how do we define looting?

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12. 90

    Sherry Hewinsposted 11 years ago

    During a disaster when people take stuff like TVs and luxury items, they do it because they want it and it is easy to take it. I don't think it has anything to do with modern times or poverty or politics. People have to justify their actions somehow.
    
    Sometimes people take things they need, because they cannot get them anywhere else, like after Katrina people taking groceries and water, just trying to survive. That, in my opinion does not qualify as looting.

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    1. 71

       chuckd7138posted 11 years agoin reply to this

       I was agreeing completely with your answer until the final sentence. I know it's your opinion, and I can understand how you come it. However, I disagree. When one takes advantage of the chaos going on and steals from another, that is looting.

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13. 59

    NotPCposted 11 years ago

    They feel entitled because the system keeps them down, so they fight the system. Which is basically their way of rationalizing their criminal behavior. They feel like Aladdin in a way...

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14. 0

    Garifaliaposted 11 years ago

    Unfortunately, these are people who have been placed in the background of the society they live in. By society, I mean the country's government and the city authorities. Due to lack of proper education, medical care and consequently opportunities to have a respectful lifestyle like the majority.
    By saying this, I do not condone their behaviour but because they did not have up to now proper examples to follow (family, school and government) they feel that they've been cheated.
    When the government of a country continuously shows a cold shoulder to its children (citizens), those children will not only have ill feelings like the example you just gave, but lose their sense of self worth and become psychologically unstable (e.g. shootings). I'm saying this quite simply but that's how it all works out.

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15. 57

    tussinposted 11 years ago

    Some people may indeed feel that way, though of course they are absolutely wrong.

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16. 60

    Goody5posted 11 years ago

    I'm not sure what these people are thinking. Just because they steel something, certainly doesn't entitle them to ownership.

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