But ultimately, under the circumstances, your question is nothing more than a grotesque diversion. You seek justice for looters. The collective spines of the black community in Baltimore have been busted up for decades by brutal police tactics. I can’t condone, dismiss or defend the mayhem on the streets of Baltimore this week. The vast majority of peaceful protestors on those city streets would probably agree. But absent the looters, the thugs, the actions that created an environment that demanded non-stop focus, would any charges have been brought? Would peaceful protest have yielded similar results? Which crime is worse, a broken window or a broken spine?[/quote]
I didn’t say the police were innocent in this one either did I? But I fail to see where all the merchants that had nothing to do with it had anything to do with this mess. No different than during the L.A. Riots. And I don’t find this a grotesque diversion because unlike you that probably had no relatives or friends that were ever impacted by riots that you had nothing to do with, I did in L.A.. The only thing stupid that these merchants did was I guess setup shop in said areas probably…So the obvious reaction to police excessive use of force is to let a town burn by people who probably don’t even live in that area???
And yes, I think peaceful protests would have brought the same results. We live in a world of social media in which the slightest injustice is publicized near instantaneously. Just take one example of that CFO that went to chick-fil-a that went ballistic on a worker about how horrible she was working for terrible company that was against gay rights,etc. While championing for gay rights is one thing, it was completely out of line to take out out on some worker that has nothing to do with it…. With the social media uproar, that CFO is now unemployed and on foodstamps because no one will hire him (I feel sorry for his family but I can’t seem to feel that sorry for him).
Or to a lesser extent, let’s take the example of two tech workers at a conference that were making crude jokes among themselves, and a women heard it, took a picture of it, blogged about it….Eventually, the two workers got fired, and the woman was fired as well.
So… Yes, I think social media and public shaming is effective at deterring most stupid behavior…And to a lesser extent, ends up probably blowing things completely out of proportion in other cases…No rioting is necessary. 21st century is completely different in which everyone is connected, and we’re all eying each other to make sure we’ll all “nice”.