# What started the Riot of Woodstock 1999? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 11, 2002, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-started-the-riot-of-woodstock-1999/123370 "2002-08-11T05:49:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shrew)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2002, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-started-the-riot-of-woodstock-1999/123370/21 "2002-08-13T00:36:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Meatros \* > This is such a weak, crappy, and pathetic excuse. A lot of people seem to think that today’s society is worse than those of yesteryear (good old days syndrome of forgetfulness). In my opinion this is just a reaction to losing touch with society. I hate to break it to some of you folks but previous generations were not guilt free and all love your neighbor conscious. I think the problem with this believe lays in the news. News programs report sensationalism, not an accurate portrate of reality. Take for instants this new fear of child abduction. Their is no increase in abduction, only abduction stories being shown on the news. > > If you think concert violence is a result of youths in the 90’s you are SADLY mistaken. I’m going to ignore the typographical and grammatical errors of your post and go straight for content. Stating that times are changing is not the same as saying that past times were trouble-free. Sure, history had its own set of problems, but the youth of today **are** different because society is different. The concepts of childhood and youth are different. Societal factors are different. Social conditioning is different. Just to name a few factors, we have Ritalin, Columbine et al., more widespread gang and sexual activity, different racial problems, and of course the changing face of the standard family. While none of these factors are entirely **new** , they are different. Have I based my opinions on sensationalistic news programs? Or a skewed loss of reality? Well, let’s see. I’m 25, and I’ve been teaching high school for the last four years. I work with teenagers everyday. I may not be an expert on teenagers, but I’m closer than most people. ---
**Author:** ![pesch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pesch/32/4925_2.png) [@pesch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pesch)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2002, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-started-the-riot-of-woodstock-1999/123370/22 "2002-08-13T03:38:38Z")
They ate the brown acid? C’mon. SOMEBODY had to say it. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Wrong\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b782af/32.png) [@The\_Wrong\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Wrong_Girl)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2002, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-started-the-riot-of-woodstock-1999/123370/23 "2002-08-13T04:40:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mr\_Friendly \* > \*\*and to say that women get raped in the moshpit? do you know what a moshpit is? I cant imagine how hard it would be to rape someone among all the manically jumping and running people, what a stupid thing to say. In any group there will be stupid, ignorant or plain chauvanistic males who will take advantage of situations to get sexual kicks, this is no way related solely to rock music. If anything rock can often promote equality and respect for women, it will naturally vary from group to group and event to event. \*\* Perhaps I’m not understanding your post correctly, but are you saying that women getting raped at Woodstock '99 didn’t happen? Again, sorry if I misunderstood your post. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2002, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-started-the-riot-of-woodstock-1999/123370/24 "2002-08-13T05:16:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Wrong Girl \* > \*\* > > Perhaps I’m not understanding your post correctly, but are you saying that women getting raped at Woodstock '99 didn’t happen? > > Again, sorry if I misunderstood your post. \*\* I don’t believe he was saying that there were no rapes at Woodstock '99. It is demonstratibly true that women were raped at that festival. He was saying that it didn’t happen in the mosh pits. For those who don’t know, a mosh pit is when a small opening in the crowd starts from someone slamming back and forth until people back up. Then, other people run into this opening and purposely run into people. Sometimes it gets really violent, but most of the people who can’t take it either leave or get pulled out. Nobody could be raped in a **true** mosh pit. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2002, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-started-the-riot-of-woodstock-1999/123370/25 "2002-08-13T05:23:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by shrew \* > \*\*You have GOT to be kidding. In order to exalt the idea of revolution in the name of peace, they burned, pillaged, destroyed, rioted, and stole? And just for kicks and giggles, raped countless women? And you have the audacity to say that they did that in the sprit of the original Woodstock? > > Puhleaze.\*\* I never said they got it right in 1999. The original Woodstock was about rebellion. This is why I make a point to say Woodstock and Woodstock '99. There was only one true Woodstock. The second was closer than the third. > [@](#): > > \*\*As to the OP, why did they do it? The times they are a’changin’. The spirit of Woodstock ‘69 is all but dead. The promoters were insane to think that today’s young people were capable of such togetherness. So they had to stand in line? Put up with insufficient outhouses? Pay for food that didn’t belong to them? Boo friggin’ hoo. Welcome to the real world, gentlemen. \*\* My point about the water was, seriously, _$5.00_ for a _12 oz. bottle of water?_ Even you have to admit that’s more than a little steep. And it’s not like they could just run down to the 7-eleven when they wanted a drink. It was either, spend an exorbant amount of money, or go thirsty. Besides, there is no way a person could carry 3 days worth of food and water to a place like that. At least, not carry it with them at all times and still properly enjoy the show. If I had gone, I would have brought propably between $150.00 and $200.00 with me for food and souveniers. But not everyone is as well off as I. ---
**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2002, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-started-the-riot-of-woodstock-1999/123370/26 "2002-08-13T11:25:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by shrew \* > \*\* > > I’m going to ignore the typographical and grammatical errors of your post and go straight for content. Stating that times are changing is not the same as saying that past times were trouble-free. Sure, history had its own set of problems, but the youth of today **are** different because society is different. The concepts of childhood and youth are different. Societal factors are different. Social conditioning is different. Just to name a few factors, we have Ritalin, Columbine et al., more widespread gang and sexual activity, different racial problems, and of course the changing face of the standard family. While none of these factors are entirely **new** , they are different. > > Have I based my opinions on sensationalistic news programs? Or a skewed loss of reality? Well, let’s see. I’m 25, and I’ve been teaching high school for the last four years. I work with teenagers everyday. I may not be an expert on teenagers, but I’m closer than most people. \*\* Thank you for ignoring the typographical and grammatical errors-I noticed them FAR to late. I’m more than willing to admit that the youth of today are slightly different than that of yesteryear, but I think you go to far with statements such as “The promoters were insane to think that today’s young people were capable of such togetherness” and "So they had to stand in line? Put up with insufficient outhouses? Pay for food that didn’t belong to them? Boo friggin’ hoo. Welcome to the real world, gentlemen. " The first statement I disagree with because it is absurd. Why do you believe this? I mean hindsight is twenty-twenty sure, but the second Woodstock was almost incident free (as much as most concerts can be) and I’m willing to bet that at least 95% of concerts now-a-days do not include raping and pillaging. The second statement you made I don’t agree with because I don’t think it was the real reason things went down the way they did. How many other events are outrageously expensive, that don’t result in violence? I might agree with you if you said that the price and bad outhouses were PART of the problem. I’m just curious but do you have any nationwide statistics or sites that lend you to believe that the world is getting darker (for lack of a better phrase)? I maybe misinterpreting you but it seems to me like you think the world is a lot more violent than it once was. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Wrong\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b782af/32.png) [@The\_Wrong\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Wrong_Girl)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2002, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-started-the-riot-of-woodstock-1999/123370/27 "2002-08-13T13:40:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lord Ashtar \* > \*\* > Nobody could be raped in a **true** mosh pit. \*\* Well then, I guess there were no “[true](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/daily/july99/woodstock29.htm) [mosh pits](http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/Music/9907/29/woodstock.rape/)” at Woodstock then, huh, since these clearly state that women were raped in the mosh pits. ---
**Author:** ![Tars\_Tarkas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tars\_Tarkas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tars_Tarkas)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2002, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-started-the-riot-of-woodstock-1999/123370/28 "2002-08-13T20:27:15Z")
[http://www.straightdope.com/columns/020712.html](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/020712.html) cecil on whether the world is more dangerous now-a-days. (sort of relavent) ---
**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2002, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-started-the-riot-of-woodstock-1999/123370/29 "2002-08-13T21:26:48Z")
Interesting, so violent crime works on cycles. I thought as much. ---
**Author:** ![gex\_gex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/94ad74/32.png) [@gex\_gex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gex_gex)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2002, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-started-the-riot-of-woodstock-1999/123370/30 "2002-08-14T14:49:34Z")
> [@](#): > > _originally posted by Shrew_ > So they had to stand in line? Put up with insufficient outhouses? Pay for food that didn’t belong to them? Boo friggin’ hoo. Welcome to the real world, gentlemen. This isn’t comparable to the real world at all. The festival was a monopoly; there were no businesses competing to force prices down to a reasonable level. Furthermore, the artificially high prices were on goods that are necessities; the consumer can not choose not to purchase the good. Your average Joe bitches when fuel prices go up. How do you think they’d like it ‘the real world’ was like this. There’d be a limit of one supermarket chain that had fixed abnormally high prices. And I’m not sure where you come up with the idea of “insufficient outhouses” being a fact of life in “the real world.” I sure can find somewhere to relieve myself when I’m out and about, and I’m wondering why you consider a request for proper amenities deserves the response “boo-friggin hoo.” And if there are any grammatical or spelling errors in this post, I thank you in anticipation that you’ll so graciously excuse them. ---
**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2002, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-started-the-riot-of-woodstock-1999/123370/31 "2002-08-14T20:12:35Z")
Good response Gex! I couldn’t’ve said better myself! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-started-the-riot-of-woodstock-1999/123370.md?page=1)