In one sense, what your suggestions are for dealing with a breakdown of order as a result of acute and sudden “supply shortages” is all good. But there are several terrible or wrong assumptions behind the notion of someone writing this at all.
First of all, the analogy to the riots of the past. There may be one I can’t think of right now, but all that I can recall have not been in any way analogous to the scenario you paint. None have come from anything even slightly resembling an urban area “hit with worsening supply shortages”. They have all come from some single event sparking the violence. MLK’s murder, Rodney King’s beating, police shootings, protests, etc. To my knowledge, even in the USA –the least developed of developed nations — the notion of a supply shortage leading to riots seems far-fetched at best.
It seems to me that racism and maldistribution of opportunity and wealth is the threat and fixing these would mitigate or eliminate the problem.
In addition, the riots that occurred after both power outages in NYC (one of which I enjoyed up-close) also didn’t fit this scenario. Strangely, the exact opposite happened in the one instance that resembles your concern: New Orleans after hurricane Katrina. Amazingly, there were NOT riots, even though the failure was even more comprehensive than just the supply chain.
That anyone could be concerned about the events you describe suggests a complete lack of confidence in the basic capabilities of our government and the institutions that should presumably be responsible. To me, this is warranted under the current administration (NSC pandemic preparation office closed before the pandemic) or, for that matter, the last Republican one as well: back to New Orleans and FEMA and presidential leadership.
That the function and well-functioning of services and responsibilities of government that are exceedingly well planned, managed and executed by other developed countries are not in the USA is a truism. The threat does not really come from an event happening such as you describe. It comes from not having a government willing and capable of planning for and carrying out preventing such events.
You seem to be assuming the eventual state of the future is in line with the Club for Growth’s plans. As Grover Norquist has outlined it: the idea is to reduce government to a size where it can be drowned in the bath tub. A political party and a corporate constituency supporting this view will guarantee, eventually, something worse than what you’re concerned with: A Mad Max country.
