What, me worry?
In Minneapolis, several hundred men and women smashed the windows of a grocery market and made off with fruit, canned goods, bacon, and ham. One of the store's owners pulled out a gun to stop the looters, but was leapt upon and had his arm broken. The "riot" was brought under control by 100 policemen. Seven people were arrested. (Description of riots during the Great Depression, February 1931.)
Over a year ago, my dad was up visiting and I somehow got off on the tangent of the possibility of riots in downtown Chicago (in short, it was something along the wandering lines of the real estate market, pushing low-income families out of the city into the suburbs, the destruction and gentrification of Cabrini Green, the expanding gap between the "haves" and the "have nots", all of my guns being 600 miles away, and several cans of Busch Light).
Pretty sure that Dad thought I was being paranoid. He said something like "is this something you think about a lot?" Actually, sort of. I think we are one spark away from riots downtown. It would only take one low-income mother being arrested for stealing milk or something showing up on the news, plus one idiot (think Sharpton, Jesse, Obama's minister, etc.) holding a rally in front of the grocery store, for everything to blow up. The ensuing riot would be less defined by race, and more by socio-economic status.
Food riots are becoming a reality throughout the world, and as prices continue to rise, more and more people are questioning whether (or when) they will happen in the U.S., including members of the mainstream media (Wall Street Journal, the AP) and the usual outliers/crazypeople (indybay, Economie). The Wikipedia page on this continues to expand, and both Time (here, here, here and here) and CNN have devoted substantial coverage to the issue. There is lots of interesting information out there.
I'm not saying that everyone should run out and buy a 12 gauge and a 25 lb. bag of pinto beans (although I highly recommned the 12 gauge, and pinto beans are damn good beans). I am saying that as a general matter, Americans remain blissfully ignorant to the situation, and the "head in the sand" approach to preparedness is going to lead to lots of problems for lots of people.
Over a year ago, my dad was up visiting and I somehow got off on the tangent of the possibility of riots in downtown Chicago (in short, it was something along the wandering lines of the real estate market, pushing low-income families out of the city into the suburbs, the destruction and gentrification of Cabrini Green, the expanding gap between the "haves" and the "have nots", all of my guns being 600 miles away, and several cans of Busch Light).
Pretty sure that Dad thought I was being paranoid. He said something like "is this something you think about a lot?" Actually, sort of. I think we are one spark away from riots downtown. It would only take one low-income mother being arrested for stealing milk or something showing up on the news, plus one idiot (think Sharpton, Jesse, Obama's minister, etc.) holding a rally in front of the grocery store, for everything to blow up. The ensuing riot would be less defined by race, and more by socio-economic status.
Food riots are becoming a reality throughout the world, and as prices continue to rise, more and more people are questioning whether (or when) they will happen in the U.S., including members of the mainstream media (Wall Street Journal, the AP) and the usual outliers/crazypeople (indybay, Economie). The Wikipedia page on this continues to expand, and both Time (here, here, here and here) and CNN have devoted substantial coverage to the issue. There is lots of interesting information out there.
I'm not saying that everyone should run out and buy a 12 gauge and a 25 lb. bag of pinto beans (although I highly recommned the 12 gauge, and pinto beans are damn good beans). I am saying that as a general matter, Americans remain blissfully ignorant to the situation, and the "head in the sand" approach to preparedness is going to lead to lots of problems for lots of people.
posted by White Hat Black Hat at 12:28 PM
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