Partypup: I agree that we haven’t lost the spark. There is a tendency to forget about the Watts riots (1965) and Detroit riots (1967) and even the River Rouge, MI riot at the Ford plant (1932). All were a result of either economic/social inequality or outright economic disaster (the River Rouge riot took place during the height of the Great Depression).

While people generally refer to Detroit, 1967, as a “riot”, the government was so concerned about the situation that they classified it an “armed insurrection” and responded accordingly, bringing in the National Guard and tanks.

The Watts and Detroit riots also involved a limited slice of the population and occurred in largely segregated (racially speaking) areas.

What happens when the majority of the population rises up? We saw the results in Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, etc during the collapse of communism.