So, I'm just curious

The Katrina deal with black folks "looting" and white folks just getting what they need to survive didn't draw me in. We are a racist fuckwad of a country - we just don't like to admit it, but I take it as a given.

But, now Mexicans are accused of looting in the aftermath of Wilma.

And I find myself wondering what exactly looting means.

I'm not even going to give you examples of what is said about it. I just wonder what the conditions are for drawing the line. When is it looting, and when survival?

And how did this notion even come to exist? Don't tell me ownership society and capitalism run amok. I want more.

What is this looting thing I hear of?