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“Your Supplies Probably Won’t Be Stolen in a Disaster” by jefftk
When I write about things like
storing food or
medication
in case of
disaster,
one common response I get is that it doesn't matter: society will
break down, and people who are stronger than you will take your stuff.
This seemed plausible at first, but it's actually way off.
Looking at past disasters, people mostly fall somewhere on a "kind and
supportive" to "keep to themselves" spectrum. When there is looting
it's typically directed at stores, not homes, and violence is mostly
in the streets. Having supplies
at home lets you stay out of the way.
One distinction it's worth making is between short (hurricane,
earthquake) and long (siege, economic collapse, famine) disasters.
Having what you need at home is really helpful in both cases, but
differently so.
In short disasters (1917 Halifax
explosion, London Blitz, 1985
Mexico City earthquake, and the 2011
Japanese earthquake and tsunami) you typically see sharing and mutual
aid. Stored supplies mean you're not
competing for scarce resources, have slack to help others, and
make you more comfortable.
Stories of looting in situations like this are often exaggerated or
cherry-picked. I had heard post-Katrina New Orleans had [...]
---
First published:
April 23rd, 2026
Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/cNnRmwzQgz4bmd5i9/your-supplies-probably-won-t-be-stolen-in-a-disaster
---
Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.
---
Images from the article:
Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.
View all episodes
By LessWrongWhen I write about things like
storing food or
medication
in case of
disaster,
one common response I get is that it doesn't matter: society will
break down, and people who are stronger than you will take your stuff.
This seemed plausible at first, but it's actually way off.
Looking at past disasters, people mostly fall somewhere on a "kind and
supportive" to "keep to themselves" spectrum. When there is looting
it's typically directed at stores, not homes, and violence is mostly
in the streets. Having supplies
at home lets you stay out of the way.
One distinction it's worth making is between short (hurricane,
earthquake) and long (siege, economic collapse, famine) disasters.
Having what you need at home is really helpful in both cases, but
differently so.
In short disasters (1917 Halifax
explosion, London Blitz, 1985
Mexico City earthquake, and the 2011
Japanese earthquake and tsunami) you typically see sharing and mutual
aid. Stored supplies mean you're not
competing for scarce resources, have slack to help others, and
make you more comfortable.
Stories of looting in situations like this are often exaggerated or
cherry-picked. I had heard post-Katrina New Orleans had [...]
---
First published:
April 23rd, 2026
Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/cNnRmwzQgz4bmd5i9/your-supplies-probably-won-t-be-stolen-in-a-disaster
---
Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.
---
Images from the article:
Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.
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