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Originally Posted by Shin
And we've actually had that situation here a few years ago when the fuel depots were all blockaded. Sure it was annoying but life pretty much carried on. People just didn't drive, they got on trains or worked from home and there were certainly no fights at petrol stations or any of that nonsense.
I just really think you're over-estimating the ability of the majority of Americans to adapt to even the slightest change, let alone something as fundamental as a life without oil.
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Blockaded petrol stations may not be any big deal in England, but hold a football match and watch the injured count rise. I think you're over-estimating the ability of people in general to adapt to sudden change. Yes, the things that set them off vary between nations, but that doesn't change the universal truth that most people are easily panicked idiots in the right circumstances.
I realize it's fun to toss around the typical American stereotypes, but that doesn't make them valid predictors of how things would go in an actual emergency. People did complain a lot about the rising price of gas, but they also slowly adapted at the same time. They drove less, found the cheapest places to get it, and some were persuaded to sell the massive tanks they drove. It was the media making it seem like nothing was changing, with their "experts" claiming that you'd save money by continuing to drive your SUV since trade-in values were so low (god I wanted to punch that woman). There was a period of 2-3 days here when maybe one or two gas stations in the whole city had any fuel at the same time. No riots or fights broke out. The lines were surprisingly orderly and fast, people shared information and set up websites tracking where gas could be found, and businesses and schools were lenient about people being late or absent.
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Originally Posted by Shin
Look at New Orleans for example. A city built below sea level in a region prone to storms gets hit by a storm then floods and people start raping and murdering each other.
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To be fair, as far as I know New Orleans was a pretty awful place before the hurricane hit too. Despite their delicious gumbos and gaudy beads, you'd never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. Seriously though, you're confusing the government's response with the peoples' response. If you cram thousands of people together into one building, including those who were already rapists and murderers, with little relief in sight there are going to be rapes and murders. That's not a surprise.
What you should be focusing on are the many volunteer groups that aided in cleaning up New Orleans afterwards (groups of college kids alone probably did more work than the feds in that regard), and the communities across the country who offered shelter and jobs to relocated survivors. You're talking about the peoples' reactions to disasters, but you're focusing on the governments' reaction and the media's portrayals.
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