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Looters in the Material World.Aug 31 '05 (Updated Sep 05 '05) Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line Why did the New Orleans looters resort to stealing to get material possessions in the floods?
Is it really THAT shocking that the impoverished, underprivileged, or just plain depraved,---- would resort to looting and stealing, during the New Orleans Tornado crisis? Not when you look at the materialism of society in general. That's what society teaches. Consider, that we are living in a very consumerist society. It's about stuff. Things. Booty. Merchandise. Incidentals. The latest purchase. The most expensive shoes. Sneakers that cost $300.00-----it's true! Stop the World: Oprah nees a handbag. Not just any handbag---a $1500.00 Hermes hanbag, and if the store won't open afterhours for her......the deprivation and injustice of it all! It's a very grabbing, grabby grabby grabby culture. I keep thinking of that mid-80s song by Depeche Mode with these lyrics: "The grabbing hands grab all they can, everything counts in large amounts....". In the age of consumerism, acquiring and attaining become a very powerful force. So powerful, in fact, that neither fire, nor flood, can stop it. The New Orleans Looters represent the ultimate in livin' large. When my Grandmother was dying, we had some immoral relatives that cleaned her out. Removed stones from her jewelry etc.... Oh yes, I know all about the worst of human nature. And when life becomes all about things, how much stuff you can accumulate at the end, whether you'll have use for it or not. All the stolen booty the looters pilfered will be washed away, but it doesn't matter, because the value is in the acquisition, and getting something for nothing. Two for one. Everyone loves a bargain, during good times, or tragedy. When you think your life, or someone elses, is over, when the flood waters are rising, and there's no way out, it becomes all about possessions, and how much you can get. When faced with their own mortality, impoverished people that feel long-deprived , use what they think are their last moments to express their pent-up materialism, even amidst own mortality, in the face of extreme peril. Materialism/Consumerism rules, even at the end! The old saying.....ya can't take it with you... Apparently the New Orleans Looters think they can! At the last moments of your life, there is supposed to be a kind of releasing, you give up everything to God. Unless, you are like the ancient Egyptians where you accumulate more and more treasures for your tombs (literally)....to take with you in the afterlife. ----That's the mentality of the looters. The treasures have changed from the days of ancient Egypt. Nowadays it's 32-inch Plasma TV's, Sneakers, and Rolex watches. We live in a shop-a-holic culture. Hip-hop culture is all about livin' large........right up till the very end. Shop therapy. Sure, the looters are engaging in an unlawful form of that. When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping, unlawful or not. When Joan Rivers was mourning her now-deceased husband Edgar's death, she simply went shopping as a way to grieve. That's what we do in a materialist society. Or, that's what they, the New Orleans Looters, do. Consumers. Consumption. Being consumed by something. The Looters are in the throes of that. A very powerful force. The need to have that last Rolex, before dying, whether it belongs to you or not. Not saying it's right, but that's their mentality. The irony of this is that Walmart, a retailer (of course), is providing the primary relief. And why not? A little retail therapy will heal our consumerist culture in no time.  |
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