Jim:
On the topic of SHTF scenarios like [the Post-Rodney King Verdict riots in] Los Angeles and Hurricane Katrina, YouTube has many videos detailing this that your readers might find are worth revisiting. It’s one thing to talk about it, another to actually see it all again:
Los Angeles Riots, Looting, and a Gunfight in Koreatown
LA Riots – Korean Store Owners Prepare for Showdown
Hurricane Katrina New Orleans, 08/28/2005 Massive Evacuation
Hurricane Katrina Looters, A Few of Them Were Police Officers
After Hurricane Katrina, Desperation at the Convention Center
Regards, – The Survivalist
James,
I remain very skeptical regarding the police, as representatives of the state, in “SHTF” situations. New Orleans is the most obvious example. But consider: the state disarms you, and then confiscates a portion of your wages to create a bureaucracy to protect you. When that’s not enough the state “creates” crimes – whether it’s the “war on drugs” or something as simple as banning cell phones in cars – in order to sustain it’s bureaucracy. Like any other agency of the state, this becomes a self-perpetuating dynamic.
Secondly, agents of the state, in a true crisis situation, will have limited information. Otherwise law abiding citizens are easily painted as potential threats through the chain of command. History provides plentiful examples of what happens when those agents of the state -otherwise good people- meet up with the civilian populace during times of crisis. Clearly history is not on the side of law enforcement making sound, independent decisions in these cases. Further, as New Orleans demonstrates, law enforcement personnel can easily be deployed from their own back yard to other areas of the country where they do not have roots, family or ties to the community. There are also cultural differences (in the example of New Orleans: How Chicago police may feel about citizen-owned firearms) that amplify and exacerbate the problem.
Volumes have been written about this subject. But I would encourage anyone looking to the state for protection of their individual rights during a crisis situation to study history – and I am not speaking about ancient history or extreme examples such as Stalin or Mao. Simply study American history. – Steven