--- Wojtek Sokolowski <sokol at jhu.edu> wrote:
> jthorn65 at sbcglobal.net wrote:
>
> While this is a start this also means she still
> believes it is alright to
> shoot someone for stealing a vacuum or
> TeeVee. . .
>
> Joanna
>
> I think you are both missing the point. It is not
> about property i.e.
> "stuff" at all. It is about the invasion of the
> private space that stealing
> entails. That frightens people a lot. . .
> To combat that fear they draw thick boundaries
> around themselves ("The
> Wall" thing) and build their private security zones
> in their homes and
> their cars. The invasion of that security zone by a
> thief is the enemy
> penetrating the last line of defense to them - it is
> scary and provokes
> defensive reactions.
> Wojtek
I don't know about that. The looting in question includes stores as well as homes and folks certainly don't conceive of a Walmart store as private in the same way they do their homes and cars. And even if this woman were indicative of the norm -- which I don't think she is -- I doubt if she supports shoot to kill policies for theft that takes place in non-mob, non-crisis situations.
I think the basis for the draconian views that tend to emerge in what is, I think, a minority, in regard to crisis looting are pretty simple: fear of chaos when law breaks down and moral repugnance at petty opportunism arising in the midst of so much turmoil and pain.
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