September 02, 2008

michael lewis on the day after

Great small piece in the Times today from Michael Lewis on the day after Gustav. Worth reading in full, but I’ll snip this bit for you:

Just now this would be a terrifying place to be a looter — and the troops and police are really only the first line of defense. Before Katrina the only thing stopping the not insignificant sub-population of well-to-do New Orleans men who enjoy the idea of sitting behind their front door with an AK-47 propped on their laps, waiting to shoot the first looter who walks through the door, was the fear of spending the night without air conditioning. After Katrina these people all went out and bought state-of-the art-power generators and so are holed up in their houses, longing for an excuse to fire a rapid burst from their automatic weapons.