Hi, -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of D and N Sent: Thursday, June 16, 2011 8:41 PM To: RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION,EDUCATION Subject: Re: [Futurework] FW: Riot as Performance Art
I surely trust your perspective and observations. I didn't make the connection that you were the witness, but must admit, still, to seeing two sides to this. The masses collected round you would of course be filming everything and seizing the opportunity for their 15 minutes of fame. That's what they do all the time otherwise, and the intense post-game atmosphere, alcohol/drug/meds assisted, would preclude the need for any script, simply allow for improvisational anger fever, however staged. A few instigators take the lead, and the crowds just carry the vibes, as they might at a public storming. I suspect you observed more benign behaviour than many shop keepers experienced. Again, who was actually responsible for the latter is yet to be revealed. BRILLIANTLY PUT... (BTW, I THINK, HAVING WALKED AROUND THE AREA THE MORNING AFTER, THAT THE DAMAGE IS SERIOUSLY OVER-ESTIMATED... A COUPLE OF DOZEN SHOP WINDOWS, TWO OR THREE STORES LOOTED... IT WAS HARDLY DRESDEN... THE INSURANCE CLAIMS WILL NO DOUBT BE EXAGGERATED BUT NOT MUCH TO LOOT IN CAR RENTAL AGENCIES OR BANK BRANCHES... A-political? Yes and no. They don't need any specific party to act out against, given that once in power, parties invariably become homogenous. Politics initially provided the disgruntled fans with the pulse, CBC had hyped it to near Olympic proportions, everyone was there and everyone knew all eyes were upon this scene. Not a bunch of poor kids--they could afford the booze at bar prices, and many could afford tickets to the game. They're mostly just drunken mimickers, Canadian or not, uninhibited by alcohol, and feeling safer in numbers. But yes, kids from the burbs are getting scarier. They're so cut off from real life it's ridiculous. YES... ONE INTERESTING SIDEBAR IS THAT THE CROWD WAS REALLY QUITE MULTI-CULTURAL AND WITH GOOD GENDER BALANCE AND THERE WA, AT LEAST AT THE BEGINNING WHEN I WAS THERE LITTLE VISIBLE CLEAVAGE BETWEEN SAY ETHINICITIES AND/OR GENDERS (SIGNIFICANT UNDER-REPRESENTATION FROM THE CHINESE BUT CERTAINLY SOME... BUT THIS WAS A HAPPY CROWD AND EVEN THE FIGHTS AND DAMAGE THAT I SAW WAS "HAPPY"... MORE, TO USE YOUR TERM, "ACTING OUT" OF SOME TV/FACEBOOK IMAGE OR OTHER RATHER THAN AN EXPRESSION OF ANY SORT OF RAGE.. There was a pretty good film made about a Calgary suburb--called Radiant City. Kids have to be chauffeured everywhere to their planned, highly organized extra-curricular activities. Bus systems just simply suck, and the kids can't usually haul the heavy books and equipment they need anyway. They don't know about grass or trees till the community matures enough to grow some. There is no town square for them to gather, unless they can get to what's known as a power center--the local strip mall square that features stores all other power centers have, all pretty boring. No one knows their neighbours, though they moved to the burbs partly for better, safer community feeling. The other side to this is that they couldn't afford a good city home, and their parents will forever be work slaves who constantly think about money. Their homes are invasively close to their neighbours, so the legendary country views are most often blacked out by mini blinds or the next phase of building in their district. The developer owns the common grounds, and police it vigilantly with private security. The internet and school are their most immediate connection to other life forms, and from these two they take their cues. If they're schooled in the city, that's a bit of a benefit, but otherwise characters on the internet are who they will emulate. They have little real freedom, as do their hard working underpaid parents, and we really have the economy to thank for all of it. Their lives evolve around the car, their garage prominent homes and endless highways are constructed for the convenience of traffic flow, and they're raised in paranoid worlds. Kind of good, that movie. YES "LITTLE (BIG?) BOXES"... BUT I THINK VANCOUVER AND SURROUNDS IS LIVING IN A MAJOR BUBBLE THAT IS WAITING TO BURST... DEPENDING ON HOW IT BURSTS THE BEHAVIOURS IN THE "RIOT" MAY BE MANIFEST AGAIN BUT HAVE A QUITE DIFFERENT MEANING DEPENDING ON THE SPECIFIC CONTEXT (ALTHOUGH THE MULTI-CULTURAL, GENDER BALANCED MEDIA SATURATED ELEMENTS WILL REMAIN AND GIVE IT SOME SPECIFIC COLOURATION/CONTINUITY... Perhaps Pete could offer some direct observations of post-game antics? M Natalia On 6/16/2011 4:53 PM, michael gurstein wrote: > What I saw in the 90 minutes or so I was walking around just before > and just after the game ended was a lot lot fewer police than there > should have been... I'm not sure why... Earlier in the evening I > passed a contingent of police leaving the downtown area!? There were > plaincothes police around as well (you could tell them because they > were 35 and 40 yr. olds dressed like 20 year olds... They just stood > around and watched at least where/when I was including the trashing of > the porto-potties which seemed to go first.. > > Most everyone had a camera of some sort... And most of the actions I > saw seemed to have something to do either with being photographed or > videoed including one fist fight that seemed less a fist fight than a > photo-op for some Ultimate Fight tv advert. > > What was interesting to me was how completely a-political it was... It > was a bit of a mob and it could have been activated by anything/and > likely deactivated just easily with some smart policing... Also I > would guess that they were for the most part typical suburban > kids/young adults... N, you may be right in how you characterize them > but if so, then things are a lot worse in the burbs than I would have > guessed. > > I don't think it was just a small group of "anarchists" intent on > disruption... Rather it was a rather large group of young adults > intent on getting their faces widely seen on tv and recognized on > FB--and that is something well worth pondering I think. > > M > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of D and N > Sent: Thursday, June 16, 2011 4:06 PM > To: RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION,EDUCATION > Subject: Re: [Futurework] FW: Riot as Performance Art > > > This kind of acting out has taken society by surprise every time it > occurs, yet it's really not uncommon. The extent of crowds and damage > were probably proportionate to the event. Perhaps some may recall a > similar police bashing on one little two block street in Kingston, > Ontario some years ago. It was a homecoming event for Queens > University, held on little Aberdeen Street-- where we had our family > home in prior decades. (House by house, university frat farms took > over) Some 5000 turned on defenseless cops, and it made international > news. Queens is notorious for drunken craziness. Those Engineers are > notorious! Once when its football fans lost a game in Montreal, TVs > were tossed out of hotel room windows, and the usual antics of drunken > mob behaviour absolutely terrorized the downtown. > > I don't think it matters to drunken rioters what the trigger is. > They're just looking for peer approval to get wild. They live in an > increasingly repressive system, they're angry at everything because > they can't control it and they have a grim future to face with their > governments piling up non repayable debt and destroying their home > planet. Add alcohol to enhance the disappointment and you can generate > a lot of real-life entertainment which rather mirrors video games > they've enacted at home. Let's not forget many of these are kids > likely to be taking anti-depressants, or are the children of parents > who are taking same. Mix those with booze and you get the real crazies > flying round. > > I don't know what video Michael refers to. We've been hearing rather > different stories here in Victoria about young angry men, may be16-20 > of them, doing most of the trashing. Many had bandannas covering their > faces. Reports from CBC said riot police were introduced too late, and > allowed much to happen for fear of appearing heavy handed. There may > have been police instigators, as well. It's certainly not past them. > This they have done before (G-8) in order to justify future heavy > handed crowd control tactics. Did it help that bars had line-ups to > get in starting at 11:00 a.m., and the cops didn't take the hint? > > I agree with Arthur about media hype being partly to blame, and the > pathetic fact that this is entirely about corporate loss, successfully > sold to the public as team spirit and a reason for personal > identification. I find it so sad when in any sport the fans seem to > have no other reason for living, and many actually don't. Thank the > corporate/military educational system. > > Just two days ago, a woman in Prince George was expressing > bewilderment over a "victory" for supporters of a multi-million dollar > arena, while another pitch for a badly needed performing arts center > was scrapped. With just a turn of events like the post-Canuks 7th > game, $22 million worth of arena could go up in smoke, so out of touch > with the wonders of the mind and sensorium, as Ray always says, are > the people of our times. > > Natalia > > On 6/16/2011 1:56 PM, michael gurstein wrote: >> Arthur, >> >> I think that that is precisely what we can look forward to... The >> 21st century equivalent of "thrill killings"... Someone almost died >> making a foolish jump from one heighted perch to another, presumably >> while being cameraed and egged on by his friends. >> >> M >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: [email protected] >> [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Arthur >> Cordell >> Sent: Thursday, June 16, 2011 12:26 PM >> To: 'RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION,EDUCATION'; >> [email protected] >> Subject: Re: [Futurework] FW: Riot as Performance Art >> >> >> So could we call this a Facebook age event. Where it doesn't matter >> what is done, almost, as long as everyone can see it. And can we >> look forward to more? Smash this, burn that, loot this. Kind of a >> graffiti riot where everyone can play and be playful in their >> destruction of their playpen. >> >> Arthur >> >> Ps. I think the city fathers (and mothers) hyping the game along with >> the CBC that earned revenues from the telecast are part of the >> problem. Building up expectations to some sort of outcome. >> >> Also, there is something sad about people cheering for corporations, >> which these teams are. Yup businesses. (but as my wife says better >> cheering for corporations than throwing bombs) >> >> >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: [email protected] >> [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of michael >> gurstein >> Sent: Thursday, June 16, 2011 2:59 PM >> To: 'RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, EDUCATION'; >> [email protected] >> Subject: [Futurework] FW: Riot as Performance Art >> >> >> Datapoints re: the Hockey Riot in Vancouver observed after the game >> finished for about an hour. >> >> 1. The gender ratio was roughly 50-50. >> 2. Women seemed as aggressive as men. >> 3. At least half the folks had cameras of one sort or another and >> were constantly taking pictures. 4. The crowd overall was cheerful. >> 5. Lots of alcohol and marijuana but not a lot of falling down drunk >> people. 6. Almost no one was covering their faces. >> >> What does that sound like. To me it seems rather more like a concert >> audience than the makeup of a serious riot. >> >> I think the key things though was the gender equality, the cameras, >> the general good cheer and the uncovered faces. >> >> What made this different from a rock concert was the presence of the >> police. They were costumed differently from normal rock concert >> security-kitted up in riot gear complete with black uniforms, >> shields, weapons etc.etc. >> >> But nor was this Seattle, the G20 Toronto or Tahir Square. These >> folks weren't afraid of being seen and recognized, they were going >> out of their way to be recognized and they wanted that recognition, >> captured and presumably re-presented to the world via SMS, Facebook >> or Youtube and the tv news. >> >> This wasn't a riot. It was a performance with much of the violence as >> far as I could see it being done for photo capture and transmission >> rather than out of deviltry, rage or simple youthful destructiveness. >> On one of the news shows a reporter passed along a story that the >> original truck which was burned near the hockey rink had been >> deliberately brought to the site and left exposed there so that it >> could be torched should the Canucks lose. >> >> What is televised will not be the revolution. >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Futurework mailing list >> [email protected] >> https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Futurework mailing list >> [email protected] >> https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Futurework mailing list >> [email protected] >> https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework >> > _______________________________________________ > Futurework mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework > > > _______________________________________________ > Futurework mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework > _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [email protected] https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [email protected] https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
