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Suffice it to say that rioting is a very old and accepted part of the civilized world, and that most intelligent people believe that it can be purposeful. What would be the Psychology of a person who cast a vote that they know is worthless. Perhaps a person in a historically blue or red state and every election they cast their vote opposite the historical inclination of their state? Perhaps they may not be under some delusional spell but excising their right to vote just as people who riot do so as an exercise in Democracy.
That riot is interesting. In that it is a group culture whose fun [cars] has been taken from them in a way that they see as unfair. Then you have different kinds of rioters. In the footage there are observers, followers, leaders, vocal cheering people etc. There seems to be even in a disparate crowd a group structure of a sort with different roles.
I had to laugh that the only one advocating riots is a newspaper editor (not exactly a statesman.) Imagine it improves his business. I suppose there are a lot of people who encourage rioting because it serves a selfish purpose.
Still, a riot cannot be called a revolution. It may be just directionless blind rage. Even if everyone's on the same page a revolution cannot be accomplished without thought, planning, communication, coordination. Those are not words that apply to rioting.
I think we have a basic problem of word definition here.
I had to laugh that the only one advocating riots is a newspaper editor (not exactly a statesman.) Imagine it improves his business. I suppose there are a lot of people who encourage rioting because it serves a selfish purpose.
Still, a riot cannot be called a revolution. It may be just directionless blind rage. Even if everyone's on the same page a revolution cannot be accomplished without thought, planning, communication, coordination. Those are not words that apply to rioting.
I think we have a basic problem of word definition here.
The word "revolucion" is known in French from the 13th century, and "revolution" in English by the late fourteenth century, with regards to the revolving motion of celestial bodies. "Revolution" in the sense of representing abrupt change in a social order is attested by at least 1450.[
IMO However fleeting, this seizure of social order by the rioter is empowering while they are in control. Perhaps it is the weakness of democracy to ingrain in citizens the fallacy that they are in control, but just as a politician can sign into law slash and burn budgets that can change social order, the rioter too turns over cars to experience this power.
Last edited by thriftylefty; 06-17-2015 at 10:10 AM..
I had to laugh that the only one advocating riots is a newspaper editor (not exactly a statesman.) Imagine it improves his business. I suppose there are a lot of people who encourage rioting because it serves a selfish purpose.
Still, a riot cannot be called a revolution. It may be just directionless blind rage. Even if everyone's on the same page a revolution cannot be accomplished without thought, planning, communication, coordination. Those are not words that apply to rioting.
I think we have a basic problem of word definition here.
Agreed. Senseless destruction and explosions of anger do not a revolution make. There are those who may CLAIM that they are busting the place up in the name of "revolution," when really, they are just being destructive for the sake of destruction.
Seeking temporary feelings of absolute power through rioting/mob behavior is actually not accomplishing societal reform. It's just creating chaos for its own sake.
Agreed. Senseless destruction and explosions of anger do not a revolution make. There are those who may CLAIM that they are busting the place up in the name of "revolution," when really, they are just being destructive for the sake of destruction.
Seeking temporary feelings of absolute power through rioting/mob behavior is actually not accomplishing societal reform. It's just creating chaos for its own sake.
340 chests of British East India Company tea, weighing over 92,000 pounds (roughly 46 tons), onboard the Beaver, Dartmouth, and Eleanor were smashed open with axes and dumped into Boston Harbor the night of December 16, 1773. The damage the Sons of Liberty caused by destroying 340 chests of tea, in today’s money, was worth more than $1,700,000 dollars. The vast majority was of English descent, but men of Irish, Scottish, French, Portuguese, and African ancestry were documented to have also participated. The participants were off all ages, but the majority of the documented participants was under the age of forty. Sixteen participants were teenagers, - See more at: Boston Tea Party Facts | Boston History
There was a specific relationship between the tea and the people if you remember the rest of the story. It was destruction with a planned purpose.
A government cannot bestow personal power on anyone. All a Democracy (Republic) can do is assure that God-given inalienable Rights of the Individual are applied to all.
A person can have all those Rights and still feel a sense of powerlessness. Every individual needs it and needs to learn how to create his own sense of personal power. And I'm not talking about brute strength which is something which fails us in the end. I'm talking about the kind of personal power which creates rather than destroys and inspires ourselves and others.
The sense of power a person gets from mindless destruction is fleeting and must be repeated to continue feeling powerful. Tipping cars and lighting fires gives no lasting sense of power because it doesn't create anything better. You can't spend your whole life destroying things to feel powerful without serious consequences.
What exactly is accomplished by bashing in car windshields and looting stores and setting fires because "your" team lost (or won) a championship sporting event?
There seems to be this idea that all mob action is motivated by impassioned political revolutionaries making grandiose sociological statements about the constructs of power and society, and not just idiots looking for an opportunity to burn stuff.
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And if enough do that? Riots!
