In an emergency darwinian instincts take over, and people can't be expected to 'do the right thing' because most won't.

The gov't needs to take an active role in this: identify which items are in short supply, have the companies double/triple production of those items, enforce limits on how many items people can buy at one time, etc. The cops and/or national guard should be placed in and around stores and supermarkets to prevent price gouging, hoarding and theft (people are stealing items from the carts of older people, women, etc).

We hear very little about this issue on the news, only that 'everything is ok with supplies', yet the shelves are stripped bare of the essentials in most stores, even in large metro areas.