Quote:
Originally Posted by Civicsman
As difficult as it may be, try to picture yourself in that position. You go to the state (or federal) capital to try protest the lack of jobs, lack of food, etc. Now there are 50,000 people; all of them angry. The power keg is there. The match is lit.
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I guess I don't know how I would react if pushed to breaking point. I think if it became a matter of survival for me or my family, then I would feel compelled to do things I would not normally consider justifyable. However, herein lies my problem with these recent riots. Many of those involved were not there because they are on the poverty line. They were not rioting because they felt strongly about the shooting of some gangster they didn't know. They saw it happen on TV, they felt it was a great excuse to do something/try something that they felt would have little or zero consequences for them. The fact that lots of it was "organised" using Twitter, Facebook and Blackberry Messenger, makes me think these people are not exactly short of money to feed themselves and their family. If that was me, I would sell my phone/laptop etc. before I reached breaking point.
And whilst there was some rioting in local communities (i.e. trashing their own neighbourhood as Karl suggested), most of the sensationalised rioting took place in the centre of major towns.
There was one photo of people looting Pound Land (or Pound World or something similar - shops where everything costs £1) and a rather "large" lady was coming out with her jacket stuffed full of crisps/sweets.
People died. Millions of £ worth of damage was caused, many millions more in terms of lost revenue for large business AND small business - many are now out of business. Compensation from the government and insurance companies etc. I'm feeling less embarassed now and more angry for the actions of the stupid or the selfish or the greedy or the violent thugs involved (or in many cases, I guess, a combination of all of those types).