Shootall,
I think that in the end, you are totally correct. Katrina provided the great lab experiment of what would happen if a mass catastrophy hit a large urban center in America. We saw the results. 99% of the folks limped to a big town center, waiting for the government to save them, and many just curled up in a ball and died on the sidewalk. Had the government never arrived, they would have probably hung around another month or so, until typus or cholera broke out, and then maybe all of them would have died.
150 years ago, nobody would have done that. They would have said, "Well, if we can walk 100 miles north, we will be out of this mess, so let's gather up our packs, our canteens, our six guns and rifles, a pot and some dried food, and start walking. We can make it in 10 days. We'll travel in a group of 50 adults for protection. Well have four armed men out ahead as scouts, and two out aways on each flank to prevent surprise attack. We'll have a big campfire every night, and take turns standing guard with weapons loaded."
The things that prevent modern urban folks from being able to do this are (i) their utter and unshakeable belief that a government will come and save them, (ii) the fact that more than half are morbidly obese and can't walk a half a mile, and (iii) their total lack of knowledge of anything practical in life.
And it certainly isn't just minorities. There would be equal numbers of white people. Picture the characters of "Seinfield" in such a disaster. They would have just stayed put in their little apartments, trying to order out for Chinese, and drinking their sparkling water and Frosted Flakes, until the food ran out and they died, curled up next to their Superman action figures. Elaine's last words would have been, "Man, . . . this really sucks."
Manny
