Those aren't unique to America by any stretch. I don't think accessibility of material goods can be proved in this particular case as a cause, as most of the OECD has the exact same market conditions as far as bountiful opportunities for debt and consumption are concerned. I haven't experienced enough of America to say anything, but I think, to extrapolate examples from NZ, there's been a steady erosion of any form of real collective, shared struggle these days. Even when things are bad, they're not bad enough generally for people to be able to build a sort of shared experience narrative like happened in the past.
Traditional rioting in America would be the lower class attacking the middle class. We all "know" (feel? Know.) that we're pitted against each other while another class above us remains safe.
Now, why you don't see vigilanteism under the guise of moral justice... That I don't know. I figured we'd have more Class War Batmen around.
Nationwide riots ala Rodney King aren't exactly common, but that doesn't mean riots don't happen. Sports riots (LA NBA Championship, Vancouver Stanley Cup) are almost a perennial event, and then there's the riots that happen at every globalization summit ever.
The internet and outlets like video games. These have actually been calming protesting. It is now confined to online petitions, ranting in forums or rushing a base online. Basically going outside and protesting is too much work now.
European anti-ACTA movement is counterargument - people that were the most interested in participating are exactly the people that would deal with everything in net instead of real life.
The general consensus is that all things considered, things are bad enough to warrant a riot.
After closer inspection, that, of course, is not the case, however, the people trying to protest get ridiculed by the media (which shapes the general public opinion) because those in power don't want a riot.
We're given just enough to become satiated. Time after time, it is getting less and less. The time we get handed nothing, it'll be too late to do anything about it except riot. The protests come first because we want to play by the rules. Eventually, we realize that it is a rigged game, so the rules go out the window at that point.
There hasn't been much in the way of riots but, contrary to the last line of the article, there has been a fair bit of mass mobilization particularly around globalization (e.g. Seattle), the Occupy movement and even the Tea Party.
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[ 5.3 ms ] story [ 45.4 ms ] threadNow, why you don't see vigilanteism under the guise of moral justice... That I don't know. I figured we'd have more Class War Batmen around.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_riots
* only technically American, the best kind of American!
And yet 1000s of people went to the streets.
After closer inspection, that, of course, is not the case, however, the people trying to protest get ridiculed by the media (which shapes the general public opinion) because those in power don't want a riot.
We're given just enough to become satiated. Time after time, it is getting less and less. The time we get handed nothing, it'll be too late to do anything about it except riot. The protests come first because we want to play by the rules. Eventually, we realize that it is a rigged game, so the rules go out the window at that point.