Anti-dumpster diving mentality and Haiti

[k4kyv]

We have all heard stories about people being hassled for picking stuff out of a dumpster, or even for pulling a 75A-4 off the kerb on trash pickup day.  If someone decides to throw something out for a trip to the landfill, why should they care if someone else rescues it and salvages it for their own use?

I heard a story to-day that police in Haiti were firing on "looters" who were caught digging tunnels through the remains of destroyed grocery stores in hopes of finding edible food mixed in with the rubble.

If people or animals are cut off from supplies of nutrition, they will become desperately hungry and thirsty and seek food and water anywhere they can find it, even it means resorting to violence and fighting to get it.  Those destroyed food stores will eventually be bulldozed, if the rubble pile is not simply left untouched for months or years to decay in the elements.  If the owners had insurance, the whole thing will undoubtedly be written off as a total loss. The probability is close to zero that the store owners will dig through and salvage the food and put it back for sale.

So why go after starving people in a desperate situation, who are trying to salvage edible food that will otherwise be left to spoil and decay?

[K1JJ]

Don,

What you say is true and logical.

However, I'll bet the "authorities" are trying to nip the looting in the bud for fear it could escalate into total chaos and rioting that will kill even more people in the end... and could spin totally out of control. After all, there may be millions of civilians involved and only tens of thousands of soldiers to handle it.

Hopefully with continued focus on supplies and aid, Haiti will pull outa the Katrina category and slowly become civilized again.

T

[KC4VWU]

That would be a problem if there was anything left to actually "loot". Total chaos resulting from rioting or the such, bringing on pillaging and looting of working storefronts to gain from the sale of such stolen items is a little different from what's going on there. It's really no different from the down and out here in this country, hunting through trash cans for somthing to eat. I'd rather come face to face with a Lion who's belly was contently full than a starving one. Humans are no different. If that is the authorities view on the matter, there will be a lot of unnecessary bloodshed in that country.

Phil

[WA3VJB]

There is a continuum between scavenging and theft.

I was listening to WCBS-AM one morning and heard this story that illustrates.

One venue where Haitian police fired shots was initially guarded by the owner of the store who did not want his materials salvaged by others.  He gave police the weapons they were using. Before police arrived, some of the items had been stolen and were being peddled nearby for cash or bartered for other items.

That seems different than picking through a site intended to be for discarded items, like a dump or a location where debris had been dropped.

[KC4VWU]

O.K. Paul, I'll agree with that. But that is looting; stealing for monitary gain. There will always be that dishonest element in any situation. Food would be a totally different thing. You have to admit, if you were faced with the same situation and your family was starving, you'd probably do the same thing. It's just a very bad situation for those people and we should be very thankful it didn't happen here because someday, it very well could. 
 
Phil

[WA1GFZ]

After living in LA for about a week I thought a big earth quake would turn the whole area into a war zone. I started planning my exit then and there. It was another two years before I felt I could leave, having completed the job. I was reminded last summer when I was out there we had a small one. Imagine 10 times the people without water and food.