To my initial horror, there are media reports that in wildfire-ravaged Los Angeles looters are out and about. This from Sky news:
Looting has been a real issue for authorities in Los Angeles, with multiple instances of criminals wading into evacuated areas to steal from deserted houses, including some dressed as firefighters.
There have been a number of arrests, including seven in the last two days alone, according to an LAPD spokesperson this morning.
“We even made arrests of two individuals that were actually posing as firefighters coming in and out of houses,” they said.
“Individuals that were actually posing as firefighters”? What absolute low-lifes. Some 10,000 structures destroyed or damaged and there are looters out and about making things even worse. It wasn’t like this in my day, I can tell you. But actually, it was. And it was just as bad long before that, too.
I said “in my day” for a reason, because elderly folk are often keen to point out that in their day, crime didn’t exist. It hadn’t yet been invented. No one bothered to lock their doors because burglary had not been invented. “We all looked after each other,” except that actually we didn’t. Well, not much better than we do nowadays.
The stories of World War Two surprised me a little. Crime increased by 60% from 1939 to 1945, although the context has to be 60% of what? Either way, it shows that while a world war brought the best out of most people, there were sufficient wrong ‘uns who saw it as an opportunity to commit crime, usually for personal gain. While the figures won’t be comparable to the wildfires of LA, it’s another version of the same story. And it’s not necessarily a bad story.
Something like 4000 people are fighting the fires in LA, including some 900 prisoners. Now that’s a good story, a combination of heroic public service workers and people who have done bad things, perhaps atoning for their criminal behaviour. Which is, as I always say, proof that there are far more good people than bad ones. The problem is that the news bulletins often lead with the bad news, as parasitical, inhuman scumbags add to people’s misery instead of the vast majority who are trying to make things better. That is what happened during the war, too.
It is not easy when you hear nothing but bad news, but there is good news out there, even if you have to look for it. And the kindness, particularly of strangers, matters far more than those with no conscience, no sense of morality, no feelings and no filter. Trust me I am right when I say that the criminals of yesterday and today are not happy people. Sadly, they don’t always get punished for their actions, either, but who would you rather be? The brave firefighter or the petty criminal? Who would be the proudest person, who would be celebrated by others, who could sleep at night with a clear conscience?
I’ve done a lot of stupid things and a lot of things that were very wrong. They don’t make me proud, more embarrassed, regretful and foolish. I try not to do bad things these days and it makes me feel a better person. I reckon most of us feel that way, too. Sod the looters. We’re better than you and much happier.
