Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

I’m having some intellectual difficulty between ‘looting’ and ‘scavenging’. Some of it is pretty clear-cut to me – a fellow climbing out of a shattered Best Buy lugging a big-screen television is not scavenging for the essentials of survival. (Although one apologist opined that he was going to possibly sell the TV to get money to buy essentials.) That person is, by any definition, I think, a looter.

The person who grabs a gallon of milk and a bag of fruit out of a collapsed bodega? Well, it is stealing…or looting. But it’s a bit more understandable and, to some folks, excusable.

The argument that Im seeing is that if you are taking items necessary to your immediate survival then it isn’t looting. I’m not sure I agree with this. Right now there’s homeless people living on the street. If the temperature plummets tonight will it be okay for them to walk into the local WalMart and walk out of there with a sleeping bag they didn’t pay for?

“But that’s different”, you say. “We’re talking about during a disaster.” Are we? If your need is that critical, what difference does it make if its during a disaster or not? Haiti, in every news report I have seen, is listed as the poorest nation in the western hemisphere. Even before the earthquake there was poverty, hunger and disease. All that has happened now is that it is on a grander scale. So, before the earthquake, would those Haitians living in squalor, hungry and sick, been scavenging if they ran into their local market and took what they needed? Or would that have been looting and stealing?

I do recall that one belief system has mortal and venial sins. Felonies and misdemeanors, I suppose. Some sins were sending you straight to hell and some might get you a stern talking to from the imaginary man in the sky. I am inclined to think that looting is like that. Steal a Rolex and youre going to jail, steal a case of bottled water and you pay a fine and try to keep your nose clean for the next six months. Give the clerk of the court $25 on your way out the door and don’t forget to write your apology note to the storeowner.

All unlawful taking of property is stealing. (And, honestly, theres some lawful taking that Im not terribly approving of either.) Whether it’s a PlayStation or a package of diapers, it is all looting. However, I would probably be far more…lenient…to the person stealing diapers, baby formula and drinking water than I would be to the person stealing Nikes, Nintendos and Heinekens.

If I was stuck in such a situation would I crawl into a shattered grocery store and loot food and water? If I genuinely needed it, absolutely. But I’d also understand what I was doing and be prepared to pay the consequences. This is one of the reasons I try doggedly to make sure Im not put into that position.