Reply #9: I'm sure I'll be slammed and told I'm full of crap,

[frustrated_lefty]

but I think some of the responses in this thread are misguided and ill informed.

I, personally, am still recovering from the aftermath of Katrina. It destroyed everything I owned, and eventually contributed to my divorce. I'm on a heavy SSRI dose to handle PTSD, and on an anti-psychotic so that I can sleep without having nightmares and flailing in my sleep. My point is that I have very personal, direct experience with climate related natural disasters.

There was no universal response among the people who went through it, and some people went to extraordinary lengths to help people other than themselves. There were, however, men in the shelter who just ditched their wives and children to save themselves. They admitted as much. They left their wives and children to fend for themselves.

I try to not pass judgment on any person's actions in a crisis of that magnitude. Leaving your family to fend for itself.....that's just wrong.

It's not a cultural thing, it's not a fundamentalist thing, it's not an Arab thing. I don't know exactly what it is that let's a person do that. But, it exists in our society, in our culture, with our liberties and rights.

I still think about this, and have no answers. But, I know we won't find an answer to this problem by pointing fingers at other cultures. We have to look at our brothers and sisters, our neighbors and co-workers, and figure out how or why they might leave the weak to fend for themselves when they most need support.

For the record, I'm not just blathering. I very nearly died doing it, but I got my three children out of a nightmare. How any man can do less makes no sense. But, it happens, and it happens here, in America.