I think maybe the problem here is there is no justice when the system has failed by not confining the worst behaviors of the rich. We have no access to the tools you have mentioned, such as prosecution. Their felonious leader has modeled their path forward by evading any and all consequence. We are the innocent bystanders. They have already normalized harming us and now they will legislate it. We must resist the bystander effect at all cost.

What do you suggest in this scenario?

I worked in community relations with FEMA for a few years starting with the Charlie, Francis, Ivan season. We had threats and used police escorts back then, especially in the rural areas or where there was a high population of evacuees. Our training included how to avoid packs of feral dogs and militia. We often had to hide our insignia the second we weren’t on strictly official duty. There were guns flashed and one shooting that I’m aware of. I personally got screamed at in stores and parking lots fairly regularly. Many people expected we would just hand out checks everywhere we went but considering I was the first person to contact many of them, the best I could do was hand them brochures and tell them where to go for an application.

After Katrina and Rita in New Orleans my friend was the first hellicoptered in with bulletproof gear on and we had National Guard escorts everywhere.

Sometimes the worst people were in rich neighborhoods with a few things on their front lawn from their flooded basement. They were very angry because their insurance didn’t cover them and they had enough income that the government would either not provide any money, or they didn’t think the cap of $1400, or whatever it was, was enough for them. After talking to people who lost literally everything, including family and were bussed to a state they’d never been to before, these people furious about their furniture were difficult to tolerate. But, that anger was very real regardless of how they came to it and it doesn’t surprise me in the least that it might fuel even more distrust of the government.

I saw many things poorly handled that I could never excuse, but the nature of massive disasters is confusion and chaos. It’s an incredibly difficult situation for everyone.

I think the biggest problems I ran into were just a general misunderstanding of what FEMA is and what they do. I even have a tshirt from a local that says “Fix Everything My Ass”. Ironic for me because of course, that’s not what FEMA does but it is exactly what people expected. Hard enough to correct under the best conditions but then we had critically limited communications and the local news would fire up the outrage, sometimes with outright lies. It’s natural to look for patterns and easy solutions in chaos, it’s also good to be skeptical of authority. Those things combined in an environment that is changing so quickly even the people “in charge” can’t keep up from moment to moment, is perfect for fostering conspiracies.

The militia and Klan folks only needed an excuse.

I learned about the infrastructure at the time but that’s why being unaccustomed was a hinderance, especially when it’s unexpected. The insurance stuff seems likely more in line with what I was told than what I was remembering in short.

I thought I heard that insurance laws changed maybe since then or around that time and there was a reason for a lot of hit and runs. I don’t know, but that was my experience a while ago. The weird part was mostly how the dude had no visible reaction at all except to take off, which probably could’ve been anywhere.

As an out of towner I did have trouble with the short on ramps. I wasn’t sure how to get into a rhythm because there was no place to get up to speed. I didn’t like feeling like I had to shove my way in and it was hard to tell how to let others in safely. I suppose you just know those things when you live there long enough.

I was driving in slowish freeway traffic in Detroit and the guy behind me plowed right into me, didn’t even slow down, didn’t even look away. He sort of bounced off of me, pulled onto the shoulder, and squeeled off while I had to find some sketchy spot to stop and make sure my bumper wasn’t dragging too much.

A person I was visiting there in Detroit told me that insurance wasn’t required so many people run off rather than risk getting blamed and the cops wouldn’t even bother with a report.