# Rioting - is the U.S. next? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 10, 2011, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rioting-is-the-u-s-next/592159 "2011-08-10T02:28:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rioting-is-the-u-s-next/592159/1 "2011-08-10T02:28:31Z")
I’ve been watching news coverage of the riots in London. Horrible and frightening images. You have to wonder are we next? There’s a lot of people hurting in this economy. A tremendous amount of anger at government impotence and gridlock. The scary thing about riots is you never know what will set one off. Social networking has made it even more dangerous. They say the London rioters are organizing this way. I still remember South Central LA burning after Rodney King. The Watts riots were when I was a very young kid. I hope things settle down. That kind of raw insanity can build and build. It scares the crap out of me. I live in a fairly large city with a lot of poverty. There’s this attitude many people have of taking what they want. We’ve had stolen cars used to bust into Sears a few years ago. Went right through the doors. Not a riot. Just three burglars. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rioting-is-the-u-s-next/592159/2 "2011-08-10T02:30:06Z")
No, the US has avoided any riots for the last twenty years since Rodney King. The US is socially stable despite its economic woes. Not to mention the US will act far more decisively to suppress rioting. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rioting-is-the-u-s-next/592159/3 "2011-08-10T02:41:14Z")
Americans are typically submissive and passive, they can be abused and exploited without resistance to a far greater extent than the citizens of most other countries. Usually, they blame themselves rather than whoever is victimizing them. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rioting-is-the-u-s-next/592159/4 "2011-08-10T02:44:11Z")
What about the Wisconsin state fair? Sounds to me like it’s already begun. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rioting-is-the-u-s-next/592159/5 "2011-08-10T02:59:21Z")
I think it’s naive to think that it couldn’t happen in the US, or Canada, or anywhere else, really. It pretty much means that no one will look for any signs, and so if it happens, they’d be caught flat-footed. I’m not a sociologist by any means, but I imagine that looking back, all kinds of things might begin to explain some part of what is happening in the UK, some part of what happened at the Wisconsin State Fair, etc. It would be irresponsible to not reflect and consider what our own social policies, our own economic state and our own handling of cultural differences is doing to our societies and whether it’s hurting or marginalizing individuals. Riots have happened before, and they can happen again. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rioting-is-the-u-s-next/592159/6 "2011-08-10T03:12:59Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Americans are typically submissive and passive, they can be abused and exploited without resistance to a far greater extent than the citizens of most other countries. Usually, they blame themselves rather than whoever is victimizing them. I don’t usually see eye to eye with you, but I agree here. We put up with a lot (especially employment-wise, like lack of time off/maternity leave) that people elsewhere wouldn’t. It seems to me that with the exception of the 1992 Los Angeles riots most of the few US riots during my lifetime have been born of spontaneously chaotic situations, _not_ mere frustration over political issues. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rioting-is-the-u-s-next/592159/7 "2011-08-10T03:16:45Z")
Sure it will happen here. It also will be a lot nastier due to our love of guns. ---
**Author:** ![Shmendrik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shmendrik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shmendrik)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rioting-is-the-u-s-next/592159/8 "2011-08-10T03:29:42Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > Sure it will happen here. It also will be a lot nastier due to our love of guns. If by nastier you mean people will be able to defend their property from looters, I agree. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rioting-is-the-u-s-next/592159/9 "2011-08-10T04:01:24Z")
I don’t pretend to know all the nuances, but I’m pretty sure the UK riots, like the very similar spasm of violence in France a few years ago, have a root cause in long-term and persistent unemployment at much higher rates than have historically been the case for the USA. There is certainly a potential for something similar in the US, but hell, there have been frequent riots here after major sporting events. What’s missing right now, aside from perhaps quite the sense of ‘no future’ among the younger tower-block dwellers of Europe, is a triggering event: the spark that set off both the UK and French rioting were percieved injustices done to youths by the police. There have been incidents in the USA in the recent past that could have served as such triggering events but have not done so. So, empirically, I guess, as some have said, it would take a bit more to really get a real city-burning spree going here. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rioting-is-the-u-s-next/592159/10 "2011-08-10T04:08:16Z")
> [@Shmendrik](#): > > If by nastier you mean people will be able to defend their property from looters, I agree. Why do you presume that the looters won’t have guns too? ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rioting-is-the-u-s-next/592159/11 "2011-08-10T04:11:40Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > The US is socially stable despite its economic woes. A lot of people were saying the same thing that hot afternoon in L.A. on April 29, 1992. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rioting-is-the-u-s-next/592159/12 "2011-08-10T04:13:03Z")
Moving thread from IMHO to Great Debates. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rioting-is-the-u-s-next/592159/13 "2011-08-10T04:18:15Z")
A great debate??? I didn’t realize there was any debate. Riots are breaking out in one country. They could easily do the same elsewhere. Anyway, on with the thread… It’s a lot worse than I realized. This is from a news report description on C4 news. Telecast today, Aug 9th. They pulled police from other areas into London. Now those area have rioting & looting. The maps they put up are pretty frightening. > [@](#): > > Over the next hour we’ll plot how the looting and destruction has spread, already tonight there are reports of trouble in Wolverhampton, West Bromwich, Salford and Manchester. In London many high streets closed early but anywhere it seems is a potential target and that’s what the police are up against. They are promising more robust action and thousands more officers but say the violence against them is unperecedented with 111 injuries so far. As ordinary people joined the cleanup the victims of the destruction have been left furious and devastated. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rioting-is-the-u-s-next/592159/14 "2011-08-10T04:18:42Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Why do you presume that the looters won’t have guns too? Maybe some of them will. But the type of people who riot are usually shitty shots. A properly-aimed .30-06 soft point and the sight of a rioter’s head exploding like a water balloon will probably be enough to scare off plenty of morons with cheap and improperly cared-for handguns held sideways. ---
**Author:** ![Chen019](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f19dbf/32.png) [@Chen019](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chen019)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rioting-is-the-u-s-next/592159/15 "2011-08-10T04:21:57Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > What about the Wisconsin state fair? Sounds to me like it’s already begun. Yes, that seems to have been the biggest of [several flash mob attacks](http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/07/orwellian_media_response_to_flash_mob_racial_violence.html)over the summer period. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rioting-is-the-u-s-next/592159/16 "2011-08-10T04:27:16Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > Maybe some of them will. But the type of people who riot are usually shitty shots. A properly-aimed .30-06 soft point and the sight of a rioter’s head exploding like a water balloon will probably be enough to scare off plenty of morons with cheap and improperly cared-for handguns held sideways. Or the guy playing Rambo will get killed by return fire from a hundred or so people. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rioting-is-the-u-s-next/592159/17 "2011-08-10T04:33:31Z")
It’s really interesting that, to you, someone defending himself from a rioting mob is “playing Rambo.” In any case, I think it’s highly unlikely that _hundreds_ of rioters are going to have firearms. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rioting-is-the-u-s-next/592159/18 "2011-08-10T04:33:59Z")
Forgot the link. Much better info than what they are reporting in the US. > **[Riots spread to Manchester, Midlands](https://www.channel4.com/news/riots-spread-to-manchester-midlands)** > > Riots continue for a fourth successive night in Britain, with the worst scenes of violence, looting and clashes with police taking place in Manchester and the Midlands. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rioting-is-the-u-s-next/592159/19 "2011-08-10T04:36:06Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > It’s really interesting that, to you, someone defending himself from a rioting mob is “playing Rambo.” Trying to pretend life is like a first person shooter game and fight 50 to 1 odds is indeed “playing Rambo”. > [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > In any case, I think it’s highly unlikely that _hundreds_ of rioters are going to have firearms. In America? I’d expect most of them to have at least one gun. So thousands, not hundreds. ---
**Author:** ![humanafterall](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/humanafterall/32/19654_2.png) [@humanafterall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/humanafterall)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rioting-is-the-u-s-next/592159/20 "2011-08-10T04:44:53Z")
I live in SW Ohio, and the nearest secure facility I can go is to a nearby Masonic temple, The building is solid stone and concrete with 1-inch thick steel rebar spaced 4 inches apart. It would take some heavy firepower to break through that. The front doors are large and of heavy oak, and the back doors are of solid steel, the only way in is with an ID card, and there are cameras all over the building. And if I cant hide there, then I’ll head to WPAFB, that’s a real secure facility. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rioting-is-the-u-s-next/592159.md?page=2)