just re=read the OP...Cobb! Oxymoron award of the decade; 'anarchy school' rotfl

Subreal! you quoted me! In agreement, no less! thank you. Now I will have to disagree with you. "there are no more new frontiers of land, material, or energy to exploit." how very 19th century of you! Didn't we surpass the industrial age already? are we limited to physical elements in the creation of wealth? I disagree. the constantly renewing resource of human ingenuity is always ripe for exploitation. Garnering wealth is not a zero sum game. ...a bit beyond the scope of our discussion of angry mobs, but still... Cobb, the underlying assumption in your scenario of ladies browbeating the 'yoots' into behaving themselves relies on an internalized acceptance of the rule of law. I think this mob demonstrates that they reject the rule of law. At least in this instance

Acham's razor. What is the simplest answer to this? It's likely to be right. I don't know what the answer/response should be. But I feel that we in america should have a response, even though this tragedy didn't happen on our soil. My job takes me all over Los Angeles County, and all of southern california. Why WOULDN'T the disaffected in our many crowded neighborhoods rise up and ransack the malls? I'm sort of amazed it hasn't happened already. Skid row is one bus stop further down than Disney Concert hall. THe glitterati walk with diamonds on the soles of their shoes, while a handful of blocks away, prostitutes set up shop in portajohns (pun intended), giving service for the price of a bag of crack. And the homeless have to defacate in the street. Why haven't they stormed the shops? Are they just waiting for the right blackberry friending? I can sympathize with the desire to have a chance at the nice things in life. I would hope that our society can provide a self-respecting way to do that. But I'm not sure we in America have done a good job of giving out road maps to self-respect and self-reliance.

One of the things that has my geek soul mesmerized is the application of a secure communications media: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/aug/08/london-riots-facebook-twitter-blackberry Blackberries have been used by corporate america because they are more secure than the more sexy PDAs for a long time. The 'yoots' are using the tools of the big boys against them. I have a guilty sense of justice about it. It's wrong. THey shouldn't do that. But, it's sort of cool. You bring up the lone protestor in tianamen square as an example of a single ONE acting heroically. That's the photo-negative (pardon my archaic reference to film) image of the current riots. ONE man in china stood up, risking his life for the many. The many are gathering in london to benefit the ONE. Each ONE hopes that the group will allow him to bring home a better flatscreen. I don't think protest signs are part of this ethos at all. I don't think it's a protest, not really. I think that it's "I'm Mad as Hell and I'm Not Going To Take It Anymore!" with action. But who can know what they are thinking? You are right to call it moot. The pertinent question is, What is to be done? what changes? What actions? As a person who deeply distrusts government, I think a broader societal response would be appropriate. It is, after all, a broad societal wrong that is just happening. Should a broad societal re-org (of thinking, of individual action) be the response?

Your post is a little dense, COBB. But maybe you are not interested in reaching out to new users. I guess you are wondering if the 'fault' of this widening of the societal fissures lies with the left or right. The leftist heritage of 18th century marxism has left a long skid mark into the future of "REVOLUTION!". This is romanticized and heralded in higher (and not-so-high) education. It's also lauded in popular culture, with t-shirts of Che and all. But the message is oddly diluted. It's not a mass movement exactly. In London, the mass movement is very individually motivated. The ONE wants the stuff. The PEOPLE are not at all the concern of the ONE. Which is oddly almost libertarian. Up the individual! I can see these riots as a wierd amalgam of individualistic acting out in a vague class-warfare motivation. I'd love to hear your thoughts.