The Collapse of Society in New Orleans?

I was wondering whether we were watching a collapse of society in what we were seeing in New Orleans, or perhaps we were seeing the results of a previous collapse of society in those who have become sheep, those who believe it is the government's responsibility to take care of them. Perhaps we should teach these people to take care of themselves, perhaps someone should have taught them long ago they are responsible for where they find themselves, and they are expected to act to survive, not just sit around waiting for someone to save themselves. They really did remind me of a sheep that we had once. It had tried to cross a creek that was partially frozen, and had broken through the ice. It laid there in the water, not even struggling, just bleating now and then. The water was only three inches deep! It could have stood up and walked out! We had to put a rope on it and pull it out onto the bank.