Shook

"What angers me the most is disasters tend to bring out the best in everybody, and that's what we expected to see," Ms. Blanco said at a news conference. "Instead, it brought out the worst."

Dawn Summers said to me yesterday 'this whole thing has really shaken my faith in big government', referring to the inability of government to fully take care of the hurricane victims. 'Good,' I said. I had been trying to shake her faith in big government for years. But the truth is that I never believed in big government because I felt that ulimately people will help each other when there is need. The story of Katrina has really shaken that for me. The stories are just horrific. People shooting at arriving help, hospitals being robbed, rape, murder, theft, evil.

Conservativism is frequently associated with pessimism, but the truth is that a belief that people are ultimately good, and are better when government gets out of their way, is very optimistic and positive. Don't get me wrong, I know that there are evil people in the world, but on the whole I tend to believe that people are good and will be even better when they need to be. How did this happen to New Orleans, then?

I would be less surprised about the bad things that happened there if I hadn't lived through 9/11 and the 2003 blackout in NYC. On 9/11, I remember thinking that crime was probably going to hit record highs since all the police officers were stationed at bridges and tunnels and at the mass grave downtown. But, no. No looting. An actual dip in crime such as theft. The blackout was much the same. It was as if people had seen all the footage from 9/11 with people helping people and wanted to be heroes too. Everyone was so friendly and helpful. It was so nice to see that side of the city. Probably the worst case of opportunism we encountered were people buying gas in New Jersey and selling it on the streets of NY for a higher price. But, really, that's not so bad since there was no gas at all in the city and I'd rather pay more money for gas than not have gas at all.

Mark Steyn sounds much the same sad note as I do, only of course with better writing and a humor I can't seem to muster when thinking about this.

My mistake was to think that the citizenry of the Big Easy would rise to the great rallying cry of Todd Beamer: "Are you ready, guys? Let's roll!" Instead, the spirit of the week was summed up by a gentleman called Mike Franklin, taking time out of his hectic schedule of looting to speak to the Associated Press: "People who are oppressed all their lives, man, it's an opportunity to get back at society."

Unlike 9/11, when the cult of victimhood was temporarily suspended in honour of the many real, actual victims under the rubble, in New Orleans everyone claimed the mantle of victim, from the incompetent mayor to the "oppressed" guys wading through the water with new DVD players under each arm.

Michele Catalano has been making me feel better by highlighting good stories coming out of Louisiana so if you've been feeling as pessimistic as me about human nature, make sure you're reading her.

Update: And, of course, some stories will inevitably be untrue. Apparently, and surprising to no one but the wackos at Huffington Post, no one resorted to cannibalism as previously 'reported'. There also may have not been any rapes since apparently no victims have come forward.