Whereas folks in my neighbourhood all pitched in to do grocery runs for the old and infirm.
> … after every hurricane, you'd see dozens of guys driving around with 4 brand new generators in the back of their pickup trucks, looking to sell them to desperate homeowners for 10X their cost.
Those guys are doing good: they are taking generators to people who need them. You see only the price, not the fact that the person who pays that price thinks he is better off with a generator than with the money. And those higher prices incentivise other folks to bring in more generators, which means … everyone who needs a generator will eventually get one. That is how markets work!
Even here in South Australia where we were had tiny numbers (a few 10s of cases a day), the supermarket shelves were stripped bare of toilet paper, sanitizer, hand towels, food).
People suck
I’ve always felt part of prepping should be to establish documents that details alliances and property rights with your neighbors and other preppers so when the government collapses you have a procedure to bring up a local rule of law and order very quickly.
For every one person who participates in a helpful community disaster preparation program, there are 20 who will instead look for ways to profit from a disaster and screw everyone else.