Foreman: You say you want a revolution?
Washington (CNN) -- In case you didn't notice, London is on fire. Rioters are setting blazes, hurling stones, beating up famous statues and some of them kicked Prince Charles' car. Which is a little like beating up a statue, but still...
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Which has me wondering if maybe we're setting the stage for similar unrest here on the American side of the pond.
Foreman touches on the LA riots in the early 1990s as the "it could/has happen/ed here" anecdote, and while I disagree with his premise that the LA Riots in 1992 mean riots could be right around the corner, I agree that the potential is here. One of the unintended consequences of trying to turn the US into Europe West is that we're likely to get *all* of the features of Europe, including the riots on a monthly/weekly/daily basis. The LA riots of the early 1990s were a near-perfect storm of discontent: racial unrest, rampant unemployment, out-of-control crime, and an overbearing police department all contributed to the flare-up that costs dozens of lives and millions of dollars in damage.
But it hasn't happened since.
Sure, we've had sporadic incidents here and there; a trashed downtown after a sporting collective wins/loses the big game; lioting in the wake of floods/hurricanes/other natural disasters; periodic instances of unrest have reared their ugly heads. But we haven't seen rampant violence like in France, where it's considered "normal" for only a couple cars to be overturned and burnt in a night. We haven't seen riot police out in the streets for extended periods of time even in our most dilapidated cities. Strikes do not utterly paralyze major cities in America, with police clashing with workers in ever-increasingly violent fashion.
Certainly the Second Amendment plays a part here; even the LA riots themselves were kept to the levels they were owing to privately owned firearms (witness the largely untouched Korean-owned shops where the owners barricaded themselves inside armed with SKS rifles and shotguns). It's a lot harder to rampage through a city setting fire to people's houses if they're very likely to shoot you dead before the molotov cocktail leaves your hand. Even the riots that have occured here in the USA have happened in urban areas where "self help" is "discourage[d]" (to borrow a term from the illustrious MA AG). People - even when they've formed a mob - are lot less brave about confronting armed opponents than unarmed. Certainly the police are armed - but there are clear and defined "rules of engagement" for them to employ deadly violence. Not so with a homeowner facing several dozen rioters with clubs, fists, and improvised explosives.
The larger part, though (and perhaps this is where JayG shows his foolish optimistic side) is the general spirit of America. We can excuse riotous behavior after a particularly thrilling sports team win - it's generally localized to the city of the win, and most often involves minor property damage. "Boys will be boys" and all that. When it's more widespread - or turns deliberately violent - we're far less charitable, and the vast majority don't mind seeing violence employed against the violent. This is what happens when there's still a semblance of private charity and not rampant socialism; when the less fortunate are helped not solely by the government but also by private organizations and religious entities. We're generous to a fault, and when this generosity is snubbed in favor of violence, we become less inclined to be sympathetic.
Widespread violence like which has been seen in Europe would be a sheer catastrophe here in the USA. Too many groups - both private and federal - would be quick to seize upon pandemic unrest for their own gains; rash acts of individual and mob violence would be flashpoints across the landscape for demagoguery and grandstanding. Should we start to see the same discontent here that has ravaged Europe, it's not clear whether harsh government response would help - or hurt - quell the unrest; it's quite possible that it could prove the flash that ignites a larger conflagration.
In any case, I certainly hope we never get to find out.
That is all.
8 comments:
JAy- Why should we excuse ANY rioting??? What if it were your car that was burned...
2001 Cincinnati Riots
They only lasted 4 days, but they were fueled by race.
JayG -
Did you leave us with an accidental portmanteau - or did you really mean to create the term "lioting" to describe looting and rioting? Either way, an elegant linguistic turn.
I join JayG on the side of trusting in the American Spirit. There is yet in our nation the sense that, when all is said and done, We The People own what we have created, and will take responsibility for it.
My father likes to tell a story about the Watts riots and a certain person with whom he worked. Let us say that this person was of a slightly darker complextion than my full blooded Italian father. This person liked to run his mouth about how he and his friends would be going to the lily white suburbs to do some looting. My father was kind enough to make him aware that dad owned a 30.06. He also advised him that the first shot was for the guy in front of the mob, and the second was for the big mouth SOB with the bullhorn egging them on. There was no further talk of lily white suburbs and looting.
NFO,
Call it poetic license on my part if you will. I don't excuse the rioting, but mean that we can tie it to a certain, concrete event. *Obviously* the rioters are responsible for any damage done and should face appropriate penalties.
Merlin,
While I'm by now means downplaying that event; it's in a different league than the riots in France that lasted the entire summer. We still have issues here in America; that's not in question; it's that our issues are an order of magnitude or better less than those in other areas.
Phil L.,
While I'd like to pretend that I'm that clever, it was a typographical error, not a clever new word minting...
Sean,
Interestingly enough, my "off-the-boat" grandfather had a similar outlook - if you recall, Boston had riots in the 1970s over busing issues...
I hope things don't deteriorate to the point of riots, either, but I am not optimistic about avoiding them if (as I pessimistically expect) the economic downturn drops the other, bigger, shoe next year. I am only about a mile outside the city limits of Baltimore, and between two main arteries out of Charm City.
I'm reminded of that sad girl who got shot out of the scaffolding at Fenway after the Sox won the world series. The Globe went off like a Pit bull at a nursery, but the public response was almost a universal "What the F was she doing up there anyways?"
I'm on the Trust in the American Spirit thing. Which does, admittedly, include, In JMB and Gaston and S&W and Remchester &c We Trust...
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