# When the suburbs erupt into flames and violence - it was only inevitable.... **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 22, 2013, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-suburbs-erupt-into-flames-and-violence-it-was-only-inevitable/659005 "2013-05-22T12:49:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-suburbs-erupt-into-flames-and-violence-it-was-only-inevitable/659005/41 "2013-05-23T22:37:49Z")
> [@scamartistry](#): > > In the lefitst narrative it is often portrayed as a cry for help and a reach out from the suppressed unprivileged masses. Examples are scant, from Paris to London to Scandinavia. > Now, are there any solid fact about these social “eruptions”. People from the left often want to claim the very troublemakers to be the victims and are only doing what is right, and want to be hear. Would I be wrong to say that in the latest riots (lets say from 2000 and beyond), were instigated by opportun thugs, without any greater Cause (besides stealing Nikes). And that the police should just stomp em ouy like any other criminal activity. Strawman argument. You manufacture “what Liberals say” out of certain addled ramblings you have heard from non-Liberals, refute it without proof, and then grin like you won the Nobel prize, & declare victory. Sorry, no. ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-suburbs-erupt-into-flames-and-violence-it-was-only-inevitable/659005/42 "2013-05-24T02:03:28Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > When the founding fathers dumped tons of East India Company tea into Boston Harbor, were they criminals? This point highlights an important distinction: colonization is a nascent form of war. Colonial territory is a kind of conquest. The colonized may organize to say, “We aren’t your subjects, we are our own sovereigns.” At this point they are on their way to their own law and are a separate entity. They aren’t criminals, they’re rebels- at least until they’re caught. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-suburbs-erupt-into-flames-and-violence-it-was-only-inevitable/659005/43 "2013-05-24T02:28:29Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Why can’t they be both, like the late Earl Warren? Actually, the early Earl Warren was far more of both than the later one. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-suburbs-erupt-into-flames-and-violence-it-was-only-inevitable/659005/44 "2013-05-24T10:29:22Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Sometimes these things happen because the minority is genuinely oppressed and are lashing out against authority. > > Sometimes they happen because the minority is angry and are lashing out against anything within reach. > > Sometimes they happen because a large enough group get together to break things and steal stuff, and others join in because they think they can get away with it in the confusion. > > Not all riots are equal. > [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > Are you saying this is like the Rodney King riots? The Rodney King riots were much more about the second reason for rioting, although looting happened and of course the inciting point was the perceived injustice. The London ones went very rapidly from the first reason to the second to the third; certainly the Croydon rioting had very little to do with the first two reasons and much more to do with people being poor, bored, frustrated and perceiving a chance to steal and burn stuff for fun (note that the “burning” was actually fairly minimal in terms of fires set - I think there were two, although the Reeves building did burn spectacularly once alight). ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-suburbs-erupt-into-flames-and-violence-it-was-only-inevitable/659005/45 "2013-05-24T11:03:02Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > When the suburbs erupt into flames and violence, the rioters must be really, really determined. A riot is really an on-foot kinda thing; hard to carry it off in a neighborhood not built to walkable scale. In all the footage I saw, these suburbs appeared more like dense multi-level housing complexes on the outskirts of the city. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-suburbs-erupt-into-flames-and-violence-it-was-only-inevitable/659005/46 "2013-05-24T11:27:45Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > When the founding fathers dumped tons of East India Company tea into Boston Harbor, were they criminals? > [@John\_Mace](#): > > Yes, but that is what they had to do in order to get heard. Typical leftist rubbish. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-suburbs-erupt-into-flames-and-violence-it-was-only-inevitable/659005/47 "2013-05-24T12:30:56Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Typical leftist rubbish. **John Mace** and I have long been known on this board for our far left leanings. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-suburbs-erupt-into-flames-and-violence-it-was-only-inevitable/659005/48 "2013-05-24T12:36:47Z")
And the founding fathers too. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-suburbs-erupt-into-flames-and-violence-it-was-only-inevitable/659005/49 "2013-05-24T13:52:52Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Typical leftist rubbish. Are you whooshing my whoosh? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-suburbs-erupt-into-flames-and-violence-it-was-only-inevitable/659005/50 "2013-05-24T14:18:11Z")
Yep. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-suburbs-erupt-into-flames-and-violence-it-was-only-inevitable/659005/51 "2013-05-24T14:20:02Z")
> [@](#): > > **When the suburbs erupt into flames and violence - it was only inevitable…** Rows of houses that are all the same. And no one seems to care! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-suburbs-erupt-into-flames-and-violence-it-was-only-inevitable/659005.md?page=2)