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With the Occupy movement gearing up, the Zimmerman trial later this year, the upcoming SCOTUS decision on the health care mandate, the upcoming national election, and on and on (and on) - do you foresee wide spread civil unrest in this country?
Not sure if I should have put this in the debate section or here but I would be more interested in perspective from a prepper standpoint than any other.
With the Occupy movement gearing up, the Zimmerman trial later this year, the upcoming SCOTUS decision on the health care mandate, the upcoming national election, and on and on (and on) - do you foresee wide spread civil unrest in this country?
Not sure if I should have put this in the debate section or here but I would be more interested in perspective from a prepper standpoint than any other.
Short answer - No.
Long answer, some preppers are plain crazy and in their heads we have been in a bad state for who knows how long, they are probably already barricaded on top of a hill somewhere, waiting .
Others are more normal and are just preparing the best they can for most normal things that could happen in any society or country. For some it is just a hobby or a desire to be a more (or less) self sufficient - these folks pay no attention to daily news....
Civil unrest could always break out anytime, for any reason. All it would take is another death of an unarmed civilian by police forces or wanna be police forces to spark mass outrage. I don't know if the Occupy movement will come back stronger this year, partly because I see the job situation has improved at least in my area, and if you believe the government statistics, the unemployment numbers are improving across the country. If Zimmerman is found not guilty, it may cause riots in some areas of the country. I think the American populace as a whole is too apathetic to care about the SCOTUS decision on healthcare. If the mandate to purchase health insurance is upheld, Americans will just take it in the ass like they always do. And once again, the Presidential election will boil down to which well-connected millionaire do you want to run the country. This has been going on for decades and is unlikely to cause social unrest because again Americans in general are apathetic, ignorant, brain-washed, dedicated to money, and worst of all, think they actually have a choice. My two cents.
Don't know. I'm not a soothsayer. No crystal ball. But the way the world is today, not much would surprise me.
On the other hand, I tend to believe that it would take something much more vitally important than insurance mandates and loss of liberty to cause an outright rebellion--something like taking folks' smartphones away or banning their asses from shining above their waistbands. You have to hit them where it counts to really rile them up. They'd be mad as hell and they wouldn't take it anymore...
I don't think it'd happen in an election year, the presidential election is usually where all of the pent-up social unrest gets channelled into as suddenly people feel empowered instead of helpless, and it is feeling powerless that often leads to those riots. It also keeps the public neatly divided and politicized, so I don't see collective action of any sort going down until afterwards.
With the Occupy movement gearing up, the Zimmerman trial later this year, the upcoming SCOTUS decision on the health care mandate, the upcoming national election, and on and on (and on) - do you foresee wide spread civil unrest in this country?...
I think that people are being driven and encouraged to engage in civil unrest as well as selfish intent by various forces, and I don't see an election year making any difference to them.
For the past several weeks I have felt a nagging, grinding feeling deep in my gut of "something's coming" - and apparently I'm not alone. Yesterday two different friends with two different ages (19 and 56) and from totally different walks of life posted two different end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it, religious-themed videos on their FB pages - totally unexpected from either source, as they are usually happy-go-lucky, non-religious folk. The fact that neither received any comments on these posts from their large circles of friends, who usually post lists of rapid-fire comments and conversations, even as of this morning, speaks a lot more to what people are thinking/feeling.
Glad I'm prepping - and in the middle of nowhere. If something explosive does happen, I'm well away from it.
We have been watching the Zimmerman thing closely. Of all that was mentioned, this is the spark that could catch fire. I don't see how the trial would be "fair" to either side. I'm not taking sides here, but minority populations have been waiting since Inauguration Day 2009 for some sort of change in their favor. That just hasn't come about. They are losing patience, and now they have their "cause". Regardless of the trial outcome, it won't bring the young man back, nor will Zimmerman get the death penalty. But this is exactly what some people want - "an eye for an eye".
It's gonna be a long, hot summer. God help us if Zimmerman gets off, AND the O-man gets defeated in November.
OP, I think urban rioting is likely in select areas for purely political purposes. If one lives in that urban environment then he/she can choose to either get out or harden their structure to the best of one's abilities and be prepared to be cut off from the outside world for the duration of the unrest.
Massive protests are already scheduled to shut off major avenues of traffic and business areas via "Occupy" in NYC (May Day) as well as protests in Chicago during the NATO summit and protests of the GOP National Convention in Tampa (the city is constructing a "clean zone" for riot control). Frankly, if I lived in these areas and could manage time off work my prepping would include my own scheduling to just not be where the trouble is brewing.
Honestly, I don't see widescale (countrywide) massive civil unrest happening until there is a currency collapse/run on banks/bank holiday.
Last edited by lifelongMOgal; 04-23-2012 at 12:32 PM..
I think that people are being driven and encouraged to engage in civil unrest as well as selfish intent by various forces, and I don't see an election year making any difference to them.
For the past several weeks I have felt a nagging, grinding feeling deep in my gut of "something's coming" - and apparently I'm not alone. Yesterday two different friends with two different ages (19 and 56) and from totally different walks of life posted two different end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it, religious-themed videos on their FB pages - totally unexpected from either source, as they are usually happy-go-lucky, non-religious folk. The fact that neither received any comments on these posts from their large circles of friends, who usually post lists of rapid-fire comments and conversations, even as of this morning, speaks a lot more to what people are thinking/feeling.
Glad I'm prepping - and in the middle of nowhere. If something explosive does happen, I'm well away from it.
SCGranny, I think the 13 yr. old being assaulted/burned was an isolated attack. It certainly is a-typical for the metro area as a whole, even in this particular "crime alley" where it is black on black gang/drug related crime which is the norm of the murders in the area. I've seen no related incidents to what happened to that little boy. Unfortunately that part of the community follows a "no-snitch" policy which makes solving many of these crimes difficult at best.
Granted, the Martin/Zimmerman case has brought about a number of racially charged murders and attacks throughout the country. Similarly, each is an isolated attack for that particular metro area. The common denominator: metro areas (urban). Bad actors will always look for an excuse to vent their rage and bad behavior. The problem is that our political atmosphere and certain "leaders" actually have encouraged and enabled the escalation.
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