4 ms·
Straw Hat Riot
- yorwba 6y agoA nice demonstration of the theory that riots start when a well-known signal synchronizes the actions of a critical mass of would-be rioters: https://scholars-stage.blogspot.com/2020/05/on-days-of-disorder.html https://scholars-stage.blogspot.com/2020/05/on-days-of-disor... > 1. An event occurs that signals to would-be rioters that they may soon be able to riot. In this case, the end of straw hat season. > 2. This event gathers a crowd. A significant percentage of this crowd—though rarely, it seems, the majority—are eager for destruction. In this case, teenagers on the lookout for people wearing straw hats. > 3. An entrepreneurial would-be rioter tests the crowd for the presence of other rioters by engaging in a minor (yet easily perceived) act of carnage. In this case, by knocking the straw hat off someone's head and stomping on it. > 4. Other rioters follow suit, and as the number of offenders grow so does their willingness to take increasingly brazen acts of vandalism, theft, or violence.