cynical
"a: contemptuously distrustful of human nature and motives b : based on or reflecting a belief that human conduct is motivated primarily by self-interest"
as in- i would call what's going on in new orleans shameful, but really it's just human nature in effect...civilization is an illusion...that the smallest geologic/cosmic/atmospheric event can tear it away...asteroids...hurricanes...earthquakes...ice ages...magnetic polar shifts...these kinds of things are common...on the human scale they can seem like the end of the world...so...greed...and survival...come to the fore...rule of law be damned...the problem with the concept of civilization is that it's in denial...of the human animal...we want to believe that the beast has been tamed...can be tamed...our entire culture is built around a handful of fallacies...this is one of them...ultimately...the lie will always out...
