

Why Don't Americans Riot Anymore? - cs702
http://www.theatlanticcities.com/politics/2012/02/what-dont-americans-riot-anymore/1274/

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laxatives
They do riot, there just isn't much media coverage. There have been riots in
Oakland in the past few weeks.

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dfxm12
The general consensus is that all things considered, things are bad enough to
warrant a riot.

After closer inspection, that, of course, is not the case, however, the people
trying to protest get ridiculed by the media (which shapes the general public
opinion) because those in power don't want a riot.

We're given just enough to become satiated. Time after time, it is getting
less and less. The time we get handed nothing, it'll be too late to do
anything about it except riot. The protests come first because we want to play
by the rules. Eventually, we realize that it is a rigged game, so the rules go
out the window at that point.

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PhilipMallory
Nationwide riots ala Rodney King aren't exactly common, but that doesn't mean
riots don't happen. Sports riots (LA NBA Championship, Vancouver Stanley Cup)
are almost a perennial event, and then there's the riots that happen at every
globalization summit ever.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_riots>

* only technically American, the best kind of American!

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jeffool
Traditional rioting in America would be the lower class attacking the middle
class. We all "know" (feel? Know.) that we're pitted against each other while
another class above us remains safe.

Now, why you don't see vigilanteism under the guise of moral justice... That I
don't know. I figured we'd have more Class War Batmen around.

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drawkbox
The internet and outlets like video games. These have actually been calming
protesting. It is now confined to online petitions, ranting in forums or
rushing a base online. Basically going outside and protesting is too much work
now.

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ajuc
European anti-ACTA movement is counterargument - people that were the most
interested in participating are exactly the people that would deal with
everything in net instead of real life.

And yet 1000s of people went to the streets.

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GiraffeNecktie
There hasn't been much in the way of riots but, contrary to the last line of
the article, there has been a fair bit of mass mobilization particularly
around globalization (e.g. Seattle), the Occupy movement and even the Tea
Party.

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Permit
I wonder if this is a North American phenomenon. In Canada, we haven't
recently had any riots for reasons other than sporting events, either.

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Alex3917
Credit cards. Both literally and metaphorically.

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te_chris
Those aren't unique to America by any stretch. I don't think accessibility of
material goods can be proved in this particular case as a cause, as most of
the OECD has the exact same market conditions as far as bountiful
opportunities for debt and consumption are concerned. I haven't experienced
enough of America to say anything, but I think, to extrapolate examples from
NZ, there's been a steady erosion of any form of real collective, shared
struggle these days. Even when things are bad, they're not bad enough
generally for people to be able to build a sort of shared experience narrative
like happened in the past.

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bartonfink
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WINDtlPXmmE>

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stevengg
aaron sorkin's take on studio 60 sunset strip
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1INS1Rp3o9M>

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molecule
A: Militarized police @ all population centers and 1% of the population in
prison.

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stevengg
we do every time the Lakers win the finals
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbqTK3KsPl8>

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molecule
supporting evidence for the "we do" rebuttal:
<http://www.youtube.com/results?q=morgantown+riots>

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rgrieselhuber
Too much to lose.

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stretchwithme
Wait until the bills come due.

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pragmatic
Good grief...get thyself to Reddit foul linkbait.

