There are things you really should know about riots.
To be perhaps a little over-simplistic, there are two kinds of riot: those that enable the disenfranchised to express themselves and gain a political voice where one might otherwise be impossible to find; and everything else. To find examples of the former, you need look no further than the Arab Spring which has been rocking the Middle East and North Africa for the past several months.
But more relevant to my point here, there are some things you really should know about that "everything else" category. Let's take as an example the riots that occurred in Vancouver BC after Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final on June 15, 2011.
First, to be absolutely clear: I am completely pissed off and embarrassed about the whole situation. It is in no way whatsoever cool that a couple of hundred (thousand? we'll break down numbers below) jackasses have gone and given an otherwise beautiful, world-class city a black eye, and on top of that, associated the violence directly with a sports franchise that would love nothing more than to distance themselves from such rabid hooliganism. A good friend of mine said to me this morning, "This is why I can't be a Canucks fan." Of course, he's a Habs fan, so that's a completely different kettle of fish - but the fact remains that his statement is indicative of an even greater problem - another friend of mine said he'd rather not raise his daughter in a city like Vancouver, if this is what Vancouver is like, and he's a life-long Vancouverite. So...I'm going to go over some things you really should know.
Things You Really Should Know:
- posting status updates on Facebook or Twitter about how the riots are cool is NOT COOL
- posing for pictures in front of a burning car is NOT COOL, even if you make devil horns
- posting about punching some "pigs" in the head is NOT COOL
- lighting fire to a car, police or otherwise, and then mugging for the myriad cameras around you, is not only NOT COOL, but it is also extremely stupid. Extremely.
- attempting to achieve cool status by posting things you haven't even done, is not only NOT COOL, but it might cost you your job
- jumping on a burning car is actually kind of cool, but might get you in the ICU, thus NOT COOL
- flashing is almost always cool, unless you're a FUWM
- beating up people that actually have pride in their city and are trying to protect random panes of glass that are still, remarkably, intact, is not only NOT COOL, it also labels you as a complete jackass that should be in prison for a very, very long time
On further thing - if you want to riot, take off that Canucks jersey - you aren't a fan, you're a stupid POS.
To get briefly into numbers. A good friend of mine was downtown at The Railway Club, and from his first-hand experience, he felt that the entire riot was fomented by a few dozen or at most two-hundred individuals who appeared ready to riot, re: bring ski masks, batons, lighter fluid, and the like. And the ballsy simplification being provided by the VPD is an obvious attempt to politicize the riots (it wasn't just a bunch of anarchists and drunken youths, it was a few people wanting a riot, and a bunch of drunk idiots who thought that a bit of social reconstruction and violence would be cool - this thing would never have got out of hand if several thousand idiots hadn't insisted in staying downtown to "experience" the whole thing).
So, some things you really should know: if your riot is for anything other than a sense of disenfranchisement and a need for a political voice to be heard, it comes under the category of "everything else" - it is, basically, a piece of absolute shite, and should be abandoned at the absolute earliest possible moment lest you be labeled as completely idiotic and NOT COOL.
Well written post, Steve. It's unfortunate that the people who will read it are already in the choir - the type of miscreant that actually *needs* to read it would not be so self-reflective as to seek out that kind of analysis online.
ReplyDeleteI agree completely with the majority of your points here, but what makes me the saddest is that one of the reasons that this event is receiving so much attention in the media is that it is not a "one off" event.
ReplyDeleteThere is a pattern here...It happened in 1994 as well...and it happened with an entirely different group of young (late teens to early twenties) hooligans. Hooligans who unfortunately ARE Canucks fans (unlike the common defense I hear around town and in the media).
As a point of proof, I offer the fact not that the majority of rioters were wearing Canucks jerseys, but that those jerseys cost them an arm and a leg to get. (It's rare to see a customized jersey for less than a few hundred dollars these days.) Perhaps sadder is that these middle class youths with nothing to protest just wanted to see violence for the sake of violence (as you mentioned earlier).
So, these were Canucks fans. I take solace in the fact that MOST Canucks fans aren't like this, and in the wonderful response of those who flocked to the downtown core to help clean things up the next day. However, there has to be ramifications for all Canuck fans. Like "no more free-for-all downtown drinking on the streets". If the streets were properly manned by police, the blocks in question were cordoned off, and a quick pat down for balaclavas, alchohol, drugs, and other paraphanelia took place, this would never have happened.
Unfortunatley, it kind of all comes down to Henrik Sedin's "Messier-like" guarantee in the media of a win in game seven. Everyone, EVERYONE, including the police were guilty of this over-confident cocky attitude. The police "assumed" that it would be another gold medal game at the Olympics...well...that's sports...that's why they are so great to watch in a world where so many various fictions compete with each other on a daily basis.
Now, before you go criticizing my preference of hockey teams, I am aware that Habs fans had a heck of a riot after winning the cup in 1993, and that many argue that Vancouver's passion for hockey has simply matched that of the fans in Montreal who live and die for their teams.
The difference is that the Montreal police learned from 1993, and have on several occasions dealt with and suppressed potential riots by taking appropriate measures. There was no excuse for the VPD not learning from 1993 in 1994, and there is even less of an excuse for not taking the proper precautions these 17 years later either.
If you allow over 100,000 most young, many inebriated, fans to converge freely in an area this is going to happen. Let's just make sure we learn from it this time Vancouver?
Just to clarify on the "they're not Canucks fans" comments you're hearing in the media and in this post: the rhetoric is not that these are not people that cheer for the Canucks - most of them quite obviously are - the rhetoric is that we, as non-rioting/respectful of others and their property fans of the Canucks wish to disown them entirely. I believe the Canucks should do the same thing - publicly state that anyone found guilty of participating in the riots downtown, whether through acts of violence or looting, will be banned from attending any Canucks game in the future. This might really bring it home to this group of spoiled, entitled, middle-class 17-20 year-olds who think that torching someone's car is good for "kicks."
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