Never saw the movie "High Noon"? It's a story as old as man himself.
Most otherwise good men will run and hide in times like these. As has been pointed out, by others far more eloquent than I, the veneer separating civil society from chaos is very, very thin and there are few who will stand up alone and fight it.
Ditto. I suspect the thugs that were doing the intimidating, raping and murdering defenseless people had guns, and unless you're armed or crazy, most rational men wouldn't immediately attempt to take on an armed scumbag without realizing he'd be murdered on the spot.
I agree with the general theme here, keep your arms ready and don't depend on the government to help in chaotic conditions like this, and I've drawn the conclusion that both the mayor of NO and the governor of LA are mental midgets who don't have a clue and happily blame Bush so as to maintain their sorry A$$ position in what continues to be the most corrupt and bassackwards state in the U.S.
God help the innocent and pray for a relatively quick turnaround on this Mother Nature made catastrophe.