Do you think that riots in CA is a realistic scenario for the future? (Oakland: foreclosures, renters)

[xani]

I mean the food, gas and homelessness riots...
I'm not very good with politics and understanding economic news, honestly. My friend, who's a smart businessman, told me yesterday that economic meltdown is impending and will result in riots in places like LA. (he's taking his money out of the US right now). He said it had to do with China becoming bigger oil consumer, huge US debt, and China being able to find alternative markets for their goods.

To me, this stuff always seemed like something out of sci-fi mostly... never worried about that stuff, not even in 2008. I talked to a Riverside county official recently about some permit issues and he went off on a rant that pretty much was saying the same stuff as my friend... Just wonder does anyone consider this to be a likely future scenario? Like if you own a property in the lower end neighborhood, one may end up dealing with riots and stuff, does it even sound like a legitimate concern.

[HeyHolliday!]

Well considering there have been riots in the past It could very well happen.

However, there are many communities in the U.S that have it worse than Cali and rioting is not happening so I would consider it very unlikely.

[John23]

I think it's way overblown. The internet has overblown this economic "depression".

-Restaurants are still full.

-People are still buying ipods, ipads, ps3's, etc. How can so many electronics (at $200-400) be sold if we're in a deep depression, on the brink of riots??

I remember the riots in LA in 1992. Gas was a $1 something. Homes were $250,000? Its funny how there haven't been any riots since then, yet things are much tougher.

We might get into a real crisis with shortages. If people are still going to Best Buy and Cheesecake Factory, I don't see how we're on the brink of big riots. In 10 years, things could be completely different. China still needs the US. The China, US imbalances probably aren't going to play out the way people expect.

[xani]

Yeah, to me honestly it doesn't look like CA in any kind of deep recession, considering the amounts of foods eaten in restaurants and tech toys being bought (I eat only home-cooked food myself and limit my consumption to a minimum). The only thing is that many people are renters in LA and live from paycheck to paycheck--they could be very easily screwed up in case of major changes....

[bayarea-girl]

Don't see it ever getting to the point of riots. Especially if there are subsidized programs. Once those programs go away and prices go up, I can see an influx of petty left, home invasions, then riots.

[Hemlock140]

Riots have been caused by a large number of people becoming emotionally charged by an unpopular decision or event.

I was in Oakland during the Rodney King decision that caused riots in LA, and while it was not nearly as bad it was definitely scary in Oakland.

I think the general hopelessness being experienced by many people now with the high gas and other prices is going to become far more difficult to tolerate when summer comes. It won't take much of an event during those hot nights in CA to trigger violence.

[majoun]

Originally Posted by bisjoe

Riots have been caused by a large number of people becoming emotionally charged by an unpopular decision or event.

I was in Oakland during the Rodney King decision that caused riots in LA, and while it was not nearly as bad it was definitely scary in Oakland.

I think the general hopelessness being experienced by many people now with the high gas and other prices is going to become far more difficult to tolerate when summer comes. It won't take much of an event during those hot nights in CA to trigger violence.

While I don't think violence is likely any time soon- there are too many factors and variables at work to make a prediction- if/when it does come it might not take the form of riots ; after 10 years of constant media saturation regarding terrorism and plenty of disgruntled vets with experience with using explosives, it could easily take the form of terrorism and bombings. Americans in 1992 didn't think along those lines because they weren't exposed to those sorts of events in the media continually ; it's a different story today.

As for foreseeable events right now that could possibly trigger off violence somewhere in the state, the mass prisoner release - if not handled right - seems the most likely potential cause of riots. As for where it could happen, look to areas where the youth population is increasing. The Bay Area and even L.A. are aging as is most of coastal California. Aging populations are less likely to be violent.

[Vascodagama]

I was in LA during the Rodney King riots. The riots were sparked because of the police being acquitted but once the riots started people were committing crimes just because of the opportunity not because of the acquittal. We had crime being committed all over SoCal.

Will there be riots in the USA due to the economic crisis? There is rioting in other countries that are ahead of us in the economic crisis. Our government thinks there is a high probability and they are currently preparing for it. I personally think there will because I believe the current economic situation is on life support by our government and the Fed’s with actions like quantitative easing. This is a temporary action that will end in June and when it does we will see much worse economic conditions. The current economic conditions are already getting worse and that’s with quantitative easing still in progress. Inflation is starting to take hold now and more people are losing their jobs and eventually going homeless. Just yesterday I was watching a report on the housing market and the situation is getting much worse with more foreclosures and almost 30% of US home owners upside-down now owing more to the bank than the home is worth. The experts say we are starting to see the 2nd dip now and they expect home values to fall much more.

[TimC2462]

I would be surprised if there was a riot as the result of limited resources because the potential rioters should burden much of the blame for electing public officials. The next several decades should be very interesting since real economic growth has come to an end.

[Boompa]

Originally Posted by xani

I mean the food, gas and homelessness riots...
I'm not very good with politics and understanding economic news, honestly. My friend, who's a smart businessman, told me yesterday that economic meltdown is impending and will result in riots in places like LA. (he's taking his money out of the US right now). He said it had to do with China becoming bigger oil consumer, huge US debt, and China being able to find alternative markets for their goods.

To me, this stuff always seemed like something out of sci-fi mostly... never worried about that stuff, not even in 2008. I talked to a Riverside county official recently about some permit issues and he went off on a rant that pretty much was saying the same stuff as my friend... Just wonder does anyone consider this to be a likely future scenario? Like if you own a property in the lower end neighborhood, one may end up dealing with riots and stuff, does it even sound like a legitimate concern.

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