Could Poverty, Income Inequalities in US Lead to UK-Like Riots?
POSTED BY: Niki2
UPDATED: Wednesday, August 17, 2011 03:18
VIEWED: 3100
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We've been thinking about this, haven't we?Quote:
Americans have watched in astonishment, along with the rest of the world, the violence that's erupted in England as young, disaffected Britons take to the streets to vent their rage.
But could it happen in the United States as it grapples with a 25 per cent youth unemployment rate and a double-dip recession potentially in the offing?
The current bleak landscape in the United States is littered with all the same disturbing elements at play in the U.K. _ racial tensions, high unemployment, a growing income gap between rich and poor, a gloomy economic outlook and a feeling of hopelessness among youth.
Recent statistics reveal that 39.2 per cent of black teens and 36.2 per cent of Hispanic youth are jobless. In New York City, black and Hispanic youths are twice as likely to drop out of school as their peers, have a poverty rate that is 50 per cent higher than other ethnicities, experience an unemployment rate that is 60 per cent higher, and make up more than 90 per cent of young murder victims and perpetrators.
Although the biggest riots in the United States have involved race and civil rights, some observers think throwing a Great Depression-esque economic situation into the mix could spur America's youth to rise up too.
"There is a direct correlation between the violence here in Chicago, which is off the charts right now, and the lack of investment in inner cities and inner-city youth," Phillip Jackson, founder of the Million Father March, said in an interview on Wednesday.
"In Chicago and other major American cities, the violent acts are singular and isolated. The violence in London has become collective and focused, but the underlying causes are the same, and as soon as American kids figure that out, we're in trouble."
But others point out that America has evolved in a far different direction than the country it broke away from in the 18th century. Class divisions are not as pronounced as they are in the U.K., they point out, and America's lower classes generally don't regard the upper classes with the seething contempt that their British counterparts do.
"In the U.S., if you're born into a lower socioeconomic class, there is still the perceived possibility of transcending that, of achieving wealth," said Sean Snaith, the director of the University of Central Florida's Institute for Economic Competitiveness.
"The upper classes, the celebrity class, the wealthy _ to the average American, they're what royalty is to the British. Americans consider that something to be admired and held in esteem and awe. So that's a pretty good anesthesia in a lot of ways."
Youth might also be nervous taking to the streets given the tendency of American law enforcement agencies to respond to force with even greater force.
"Our police are much more willing to use brutal force," said Snaith. "There is no bobby mentality here; American police officers carry guns. If there's violence going down, they're going to respond with violence." http://finance.sympatico.ca/home/could_uk_riots_happen_in_the_united_s
tates/6b2ea178 Nightline last night we sat down with PBS and radio talk show host Tavis Smiley and Princeton University professor Dr. Cornel West about their Poverty Tour.
.....
"One percent of the people owning and controlling more wealth than 90% of Americans, that's unsustainable. That math won't hold up long-term. There is a bubbling, there is a restlessness."
"If you don't treat poor and working people with dignity now, chickens are going to come home to roost later," West said. "And it won't be about love and justice. It will be about revenge, hatred, and then we all go under." http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2011/08/smiley-and-west-povert
y-income-inequalities-in-us-could-lead-to-uk-like-riots.html [/quot
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The only places where UK-like riots could happen (for longer than a day) are in places like Chicago, NY, California, and Mass.
Typical liberal strongholds that have high unemployment, low morality, and gun control.
Just in case, tho...
Clean your gun, make sure you have plenty of ammo, food, water, and a secure location.
"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies"
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Quote:
Originally posted by Wulfenstar:
The only places where UK-like riots could happen (for longer than a day) are in places like Chicago, NY, California, and Mass.
Typical liberal strongholds that have high unemployment, low morality, and gun control.
Just in case, tho...
Clean your gun, make sure you have plenty of ammo, food, water, and a secure location.
"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies"
I have a feeling we aren't far from such events in any state that has larger cities with high unemployment especially as race baiting and class warfare continue to rule our leaderships tenor.
My state has already begun to hear undertones that something is brewing. You're right about the gun control part too. I don't think morality plays a part at all. People who are desperate do stupid things.
Jayne: "Ten percent of nuthin' is...let me do the math here...nuthin' into nuthin'...carry the nuthin'..."
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I know this is slightly off-topic but PN's thread has had enough views. The U.K "Riots" were triggered by a very complex set of back-issues, although Race-alienation and an incresing sense among the youth that they are likely to get away with acts of violence and vandalism only lightly punished were a factor. I'm not sure if this "Fear of our children" sindrome exists in the U.S. The chances of similar riots in America ARE very real, but for very different reasons.
I also wonder if you would see this afterward:
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/heartwarming-stories-from-the-uk-riots.html
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"I have a feeling we aren't far from such events in any state that has larger cities with high unemployment especially as race baiting and class warfare continue to rule our leaderships tenor.
My state has already begun to hear undertones that something is brewing. You're right about the gun control part too. I don't think morality plays a part at all. People who are desperate do stupid things."
By morality I meant this: "I don't think its wrong to burn and loot so long as I get mine". Morality DOES play a big role in riots. Do I burn and loot a store, hurt or kill someone, so I can get something that I want (not need)?
I would have more respect for a looter (barely, but still) if during a riot they took medicine, food, even ammo... instead of Jordans, big screen Tvs, Ipods, or FuBu.
"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies"
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"I know this is slightly off-topic but PN's thread has had enough views. The U.K "Riots" were triggered by a very complex set of back-issues, although Race-alienation and an incresing sense among the youth that they are likely to get away with acts of violence and vandalism only lightly punished were a factor. I'm not sure if this "Fear of our children" sindrome exists in the U.S. The chances of similar riots in America ARE very real, but for very different reasons.
I also wonder if you would see this afterward: "
Britain is one of the most closely "monitored" societies in all of the Western worlds. CCTV, and the like.
I just think they realized that the "watchers" don't have the ability to track and prosecute them all.
But the police-state there is trying. Kicking in doors, grabbing people.
I've said it before here. When the LA riots happened, the proper response was what the Koreans did.
They defended their property, and their livelihood.
"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies"
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All good points :) Although the argument can be made that those who are committing violence against another may not necessarily be the norm.
Actions taken against the "Man" or corporate ownings may be considered (rationalization I know..bad bad rationalization) an act of reciprocation, even though that store front owner "may" not be guilty of some transgression, the corporate products and commodities (Gas, Oil, Food, TVs etc..) sold there produced record profit gains for those producers and many people hold extreme resentment against those big companies and those who sell them. It doesn't make it right, but immorality is kind of a homogenous thing, depending on the culture and society.
I know here in NY, there have been several instances where severe price gouging has occurred by gas station owners. Even the Pricechopper Gas rebates (grocery purchases = gas savings) have been changed, manipulated, ignored or played with by the local Pakistani owners (most of our gas stations are owned and operated locally here by men of Pakistani and Middle Eastern descent). It has gotten so bad at times, that I have witnessed fist fights break out when someone calls the owners on it.
If people feel wronged, it becomes less about morality and more about vigilantism.
It's scary actually.
Jayne: "Ten percent of nuthin' is...let me do the math here...nuthin' into nuthin'...carry the nuthin'..."
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Same sort of things happened during Katrina.
You want to get out? Sure, just come by the friendly gas-station and pay 20 bucks a gallon....
then there was the "mayor", using the cops to disarm people. EXACTLY when they NEEDED to be armed...INSTEAD of helping folks evacuate.
I agree. Its scary.
Yet, whenever liberals get out of control, when the cancer of their beliefs begin to rage.. there are always those who stand against the darkness.
Tho I am hopeful that this may always be true, I know it takes simple people willing to fight.
Also, corny as it is.. even Chuck Norris is on board. :)
"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies"
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Quote:
Originally posted by Wulfenstar:They defended their property, and their livelihood.
You do realize that in the US you can't use lethal force to defend property. You can only use lethal force when you or others lives are at risk.
I do not fear God, I fear the ignorance of man.
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"You do realize that in the US you can't use lethal force to defend property. You can only use lethal force when you or others lives are at risk."
Depends on the state you are in.
Not a native, eh?
"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies"
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