No looting in Japan

As devastating  as this event has been, this is what happens when a nation is prepared for it. The destruction could have been FAR worse had major buildings have fallen as well. The solidarity of the Japanese people is what is really staggering too. I guarantee that people will misinterpret this post, so I'm not going to even preemptively backpedal*. Similar disasters such a Haiti and Katrina, were immediately followed by looting, murder and horrendous crime. In the case of Haiti, their people had been surrounded by an ineffective government, little to no constructed structures, no modern plumbing and crime levels beforehand that were near the bottom of any developing nation, but that behavior has continued for over a year later. In recent months crime has been reported to be nearer to normal pre-earthquake levels, but thats not still not good (and another issue). Katrina didn't really have that excuse, while it was one of the poorest sections of the United States, it was still in the United States. For MONTHS following the storm and subsequent flooding, it was safer to walk down the streets at night in Baghdad than downtown New Orleans**... just think about that.

In Japan, there have been no (credible) reports of looting... This is beyond impressive and I will let that fact stand for itself. Today I drove past the Japanese Embassy in DC, there are no banners, no protesters, no signs. Just a simple collection of flowers and candles against one of the building's walls and the flag at half mast... They are focusing on recovery and rescue, nothing else. I know I'm harping on a specific issue, but in my opinion, its a good measure of the reaction to a disaster.

*not going to backpedal, a lot. - I really hope people don't miss the point of this post,  if anything its intended to be a compliment to the Japanese people, nothing more.

No looting in Japan -> http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/edwest/100079703/why-is-there-no-looting-in-japan/

more links about the lack of looting -> http://www.google.co.uk/search?um=1&hl=en&biw=1472&bih=634&q=why%20no%20looting%20japan&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=iw

sorry for the clarity, cameraphone pic

**just trying to make my point