It's the end of the world ---- lets go steal stuff!

[Not_Done_Living]

This is kind of a weird question but..

My family was talking about "the end of the world" and the human response to the event.

In movies, it's all about looting.. people running rampant through the streets lighting fires and stealing anything that isn't nailed down... but why?

if it's the end of the world stealing things isn't going to benefit (or hurt) anyone as there isn't going to be anyone left tomorrow anyway... is it just a throw back to the base instincts of survival by accumulation?

[Pudding Crawl]

That's a novel question (and nice timing from where I am, I am watching several jolly nuclear war documentaries today).
It might be a response to fear, as sometimes it causes you to 'act out' and go nuts and throw things, rather than cowering or being quietly terrified etc. and a shop window is big and satisfyingly smashy. So in that case the destruction is the fun part rather than the accumulation of stuff.
Or the immediate response to a complete breakdown of control/authority- if you were in a public place, you might either sock someone in the face or half-inch something expensive. Not to suggest that people desperately want to do these things anyway and the thin skin of perceived authority is all that is keeping them from meltdown, but rather it may be the most extreme reaction and therefore the first thing that comes to mind.
IANA expert in apocalpyse psychology- I just enjoy a good disaster documentary.

[Beachlife!]

I think it's because people don't entirely believe it's the end of the world, but it is a good opportunity to do such things with little chance or punishment.

[Troberg]

Don't you know, whoever has the most stuff when they die wins!