I recently produced several posts on the subject of how little it takes to transform ordinary citizens into unreasoning masses of malevolence. Racism is a good example. Marginalizing minority groups is another. And then there was Vancouver. What is not surprising is that large crowds assembled in a restricted geographical space could be goaded into a riot. The fact is that the police were ill prepared for such an event--even when its eventuality was almost a forgone conclusion. This is not the first riot that was sparked by a sporting event and it will not be the last. But is there something that should be learned from it?
What is probably true is that there were some people who attended the outdoor assembly who were intent on causing trouble. The police's description of these persons as "anarchists" is a political diversion strategy. It's almost as if labelling people as "anarchists" somehow absolves the police from doing their duty. The police, plainly, were not prepared. Just as much as the hockey team was unprepared. At least the Sedin twins stood up and took the blame. They said they had, plainly, not played well enough. The Vancouver police should do the same. They will probably take the blame when it is assigned by yet another endless and costly inquiry.
What is chilling about these riots is less that they happened but what occurred after the riots started. It may be true that the riots were caused by a few yahoos. But, once started, seemly ordinary people were only too happy to join in. They joined into the destruction of properly and in the wholesale looting that followed. On one television report a seemly ordinary young women was caught clutching an expensive handbag that she had purloined from an expensive shop. When asked why she had done such a thing she replied that she wanted it. No thought that she was stealing. No thought that she was participating in a wholesale riot as a perpetrator. She wanted it.
Usually riots are caused because of pent up anger. This riot was inflamed by people who were having fun. There were no up-raised fists against business globalization. There were young people who were running through a fire in the street in some form of limbo contest. The turning over and burning of cars was another event of hilarity. Just kids having fun.
I always guard against being an old scold. Against saying that my generation would not do such a thing. However, my generation did equally stupid things. There is no statute of limitations against stupidity. However, I will say, from a vantage point of perspective, that the casual disregard for property rights is a thing that has occurred over the past 30 years. When did "tagging" become the legitimate express of the oppressed in the ghetto. Not so long ago we called it defacing property. Another thing. The overall propriety of society has taken a nosedive. It is no longer rude to be rude. We now take this as an expression of our individuality. Cheating on tests is epidemic. Plagiarism is now being considered as being too commonplace to warrant giving the student a "0" on a paper.
And then, what about society's indifference to violence. Historians say that this indifference started when the Vietnam was was brought into everyone's living room via television. However, this has evolved into an almost anaesthetic reaction to urban violence where hundreds if not thousands are killed in gang wars. Add to this the gratuitous violence of movies, games and world events and society starts to believe that violence is the norm, not the exception. So if anything goes, everything goes.
But, what to do about stemming this kind of violence. It is unclear that any judicial process is going to reform these perpetrators. Either they are bent on violence out of primal instinct or they are sufficiently anti social so as not to care much about the consequences. I have long observed that people rarely change. I am against the death penalty only because of the fallibility of the judicial system in that perfectly innocent people are somehow put to death. I am against retribution in sentencing because that advances vigilantly justice. But, what to do with these hooligans? I would want to make the sentence as unpleasant as current laws provide without going to public flogging or the stocks. My solution is that these persons should be put on a work program where they worked sufficiently long to repay at least some of the damage that they cause. But, you say, they can't work off a million dollar damage bill. Yes, they can. They can provide services to the community for which the community would otherwise pay. No, it would not take away jobs. There are many things that communities need that they can't fund in the present economy. Let property destroyers do the work. For years, if necessary, until they have, literally paid back their debt to society. Maybe the perpetrators will have a better appreciation for the value of property. A slap on the wrist serves no one.
Bernie.
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