Don’t know if any of you were in LA during the last round of riots. I lived in Long Beach at the time.
I remember those days pretty clearly. A building across the street from my condo complex was burned down.
This thread sort of brought all that back.
That was similar in that it was a backlash against police violence.
From time to time the poor will rise up to be heard. But, opportunistically, the more well off will do so too.
After the LA riots (which spread throughout the US to some degree) there was widespread looting.
Interestingly enough, trucks were sent out into the neighborhoods and they were quickly filled up by those who regretted their actions and tossed the things they had stolen onto the trucks.
Whatever is begun in anger, ends in shame. Ben Franklin.
Also, a good book to read on mass movements was written by Eric Hoffer. The True Believer. Check it out if you can find a copy (if you hadn’t read it long ago…). Some themes on mass movements and the like.
But, despite it all, I think I’m most in agreement with pri_dk. These things are newsworthy, but are rash actions, not well planned or thought out. With them cutting across socio-economic lines makes them difficult to pidgeon-hole.
