One Step Above

Another day.

More bad news.

How is it that an American city can fall so quickly into chaos? And don't be fooled, there does not appear to be any one in charge. How can this be? I've always thought the only deterrent to absolute anarchy is the mere threat of punishment. Take away this threat and people would revert to extreme animalism. New Orleans seems to prove me correct. How depressing.

Some would say that without the threat of punishment we revert back to survival of the fittest. I think it's more like survival of those without a conscience. People are shooting at rescue helicopters, raping storm victims, and starting fires. Why? Because they can get away with it.

Many more people will be killed before this is all over, and New Orleans may never be the same again. In fact, humanity should look at the chaos in New Orleans and question whether civilized behavior has evolved, been intelligently designed into us, or is just a facade under the possibility of being locked up in a jail. The more I see, the more I lean toward the latter.

So I ask, is New Orleans representative of all of humanity? Are we all only a step above uncivilized behavior, and once that step is removed our true behavior rises to the surface?