What are the effect of chaos on human morality? Why do chaotic events change the way we act?

On day three, I had finished my list of categories with involvement. I had Government, Social Economic Class, Scientific Involvement, Music, Religion, Race, and high temperatures. I put these down because I felt like they all played a big roll on the way that the people handled things.

On this post, I want to focus on the idea of chaos changing our sense of judgment. On day two and three of watching the Hurricane Katrina movie, a few things were shown to us. Looting was something that was extremely disturbing to me and that was a huge issue in New Orleans. In a calm environment, or rather said, in normal circumstances, most people do not go around looting and clearing up stores. It’s morally incorrect to many of us to do such things. We also hear about babies being raped in the Superdome, which is an exaggeration but highlights a main and true issue. Children were being raped, not necessarily in the Superdome but elsewhere. I found this to be disgusting not just because it involves rape but because its done to kids who for one probably have a bad life as it is and then for someone to go up to them and ruin it even more it just gross. Something else that is brought up in this movie is killing. People are killing each other for either their own protection or for their needs which is understandable in a way but its still out of character for most people.

It’s hard to take in these events because we live in a society were rules of what is okay to do and what is not okay to do are very clear. It is also hard to think that we the ‘smartest and most advanced’ species, can become so inhuman when placed in a space full of chaos and where we are forced to try and survive and protect those we care about. I guess it can be somehow related to what some mothers say, “I’m like a momma bear, if anyone touches my cub, I don’t know what I’m capable of doing.” Momma bear is each one of us and our cub is all those whom we care about and all those things that we feel are necessary for us. Someone touching our cub is like a stranger coming into our space and in times of chaos, they might not be in our space because they mean harm but we take it that way because we come to expect the worst in people. Why is it that when things are going wrong we tend to expect thinks to continue to go wrong and we forget that even in the worst of time, there are good things?

         I think we come to this type of thinking because all bad events are traumatic in some kind of way. They leave a mark on us that never fully disappear. Chaos is created by a series of negative events or one big event that lead to many smaller problems. So basically, once there is chaos in one place, it is very likely that it will spread. The growing sense of chaos can throw one off track and our priorities will change depending on the devastating event. Our philosophy will probably change from thinking long term and saying we want a better future to thinking short term and wanting to get through the day. I think we become more selfish and act on impulse when we are pushed to and passed our limit, which tends to be when chaos breaks out.

How does the environment and a society's difference in economic level, influence a tragedy?

           In the movie it was said that the city of New Orleans was a city that varied in its kind of people. There were the very wealthy people and the extremely poor people. Race wasn't something that was directly related to the way society was split up but some stereotypes could be said. For example, it could be said that the poor communities were made up mostly of African Americans and some Latinos. But the truth was that while the statement could have some truth to it, it was not all true. In the way I see it, social economic society had nothing to do with race specifically and race had nothing to do with who were those most affected by the effects cased by Hurricane Katrina.  But, I do agree in the belief that those left behind to stay in Katrina were mostly people who lacked the economic resources to have some sort of transportation to get out of New Orleans.

What made it worse for those who either had no way of getting out and those who decided to stay (which were not very many), was the locations of their homes. It’s known that the city of New Orleans itself is about an average of 8 feet below sea level. Some parts of the city are less than eight feet below sea level, while other parts are up to ten feet below sea level. What does the location have to do with the people that live inside of it? Well, from what I have been able to gather, location has very much to do with its people.  The poorest communities are those that are located in places where there is a lack of necessary resources and/or where there are more possibilities of it being affected the most, or that are more susceptible to environmental tragedies.

Why is it that this happens? I don’t really know why it happens. Maybe it’s because, as I mentioned in another blog post, these people tend to not have much say in things because their voice is ether ignored, or it just isn’t loud enough to be heard by those considered to be ‘on top.’ Also, it could be because those ‘on top’, which tend to be those with more of a financial advantage make the decision to prioritize themselves first.

The 9^th ward in New Orleans was the most affected not because it was were the levis breached/broke but because it was the lowest place, making all the water that flowed into the city, fill in the 9^th ward and then move onto other neighborhoods. So to prove my point, who were those that lived in the 9^th ward? They were people of low income. I’m not sure if I really know how the environment and a society's difference in economic level, influences a tragedy but by putting together the bits of things that I do know, I can generate a pretty good idea for myself. 

Why does society tend to give those with the most need, the least attention and care?

In class today we began to watch a documentary on Hurricane Katrina and it's impact on people's lives and the factors that lead to the grand damage of the city of New Orleans. I thought it was really interesting to hear the testimony of those who were present during the hit of Katrina. I learned a few things I hadn't known before such as the fact that Hurricane Katrina didn't actually HIT the city of New Orleans, meaning the center of the storm, where it was actually category five missed the city and moved towards the east. As I heard this, I asked myself how much more devastating the storm would have been to the city of New Orleans, which in my opinion was not prepared to face a natural disaster as was the one that actually hit it.

So that brings me to the question that I want to explore in this post. Why is it that not just necessarily in society, but in general, those groups that are the least well off are the ones that must endure and suffer the toughest parts while those with the most opportunities are the first ones to get resources and help and are prioritized? This is what is though by many to have happened in New Orleans during the storm of Hurricane Katrina. There are many that believe that the levy was purposely brought down so that the more expensive side of New Orleans could avoid being hit hard. So basically, they think that they chose the wealthier people over the poor because it was in their interest to protect their properties and since, I’m taking this from my opinions, no one really listens to the less fortunate because they lack a strong voice, the government could get away with it. I don’t think that it was actually done in this case of Katrina, but I do understand where these people are coming from because they have gone through many similar situations where they are chosen to be the ones to suffer in the place of others. For example, the 1965 Betsy Hurricane, the levy was blown up then to avoid wealthier parts from getting damaged. So because these people have in the past been picked on, it’s understandable that they assume they were picked at again.

I don’t really have an answer to why it is that these sorts of things occur because every case is different in its own way and in my opinion can’t really be generalized. But I guess finding out why it happens is completely different from trying to understand why such things occur. SO, basically, I think that there are some prime factors to why this group/groups of people are picked on and why those in power decide to give them the worst option if any at all. I think the most important one is the fact that they don’t have a strong voice to represent them and speak their needs loud enough so that it can be heard so just about any injustice can happen to them, and most wouldn’t even turn to try and understand what went wrong. Two, society is based on prioritizing the ones that give the most. By this its’ referred to those who have the money to spend as much as they want and haven’t experienced true need. They are the ones that are most liked by the government because they give the most while the ones that don’t have enough for themselves require the government to use some of that precious money given to them, for programs (which usually don’t work) targeted to help. Three, through generations, we have all become accustomed to assuming that the worst happens to those below us, which in my opinion, are only below us because we grow-up with that mentality, therefore creating a class that’s almost impossible to get out of.