Just had an interesting conversation with the wife…
Let’s say that you found yourself in the middle of a riot. How strong would the peer pressure be in this kind of a situation? I know that most of our readers probably have a sound value system in place and realize rioting is wrong. But isn’t there a little something in all of us that would want to participate? And if so, to what extent? Mob mentality can be a tricky thing. We have a friend who was once amidst a mob of sorts and he literally looked a girl straight in the eye and proceeded to step on her, even though she was trapped under a barricade. In his defense, he was caught in the middle of a forceful crowd and had no other choice…or did he?
So back to the question, if you found yourself in the middle of a riot, would you participate?
1) Would you loot anything from a store that was already being raided?
2) Would you burn anything?
3) If it came to it, would you try to inflict bodily harm on someone else?
4) Would you aid others in flipping over a car?
5) Would you break or deface any public property?
My answers:
1) Yes – But I don’t think I could steal any “expensive” items.
2) No – I don’t think I have it in me to commit arson.
3) Maybe – There’s no telling what’s going to go down in a riot. If I have to protect myself or my loot, it could happen.
4) Yes – Not a strong yes, but I would strongly consider it. When else would you have that opportunity?
5) No – Although, if someone has already thrown a brick through a store window, it can’t really be too big of a deal if another one gets tossed through trying to knock out the rest of the glass the first guy missed
-Matt
KITES
3 years ago
3 comments:
In response to the first question, I said that I would probably loot, but would not want to loot publicly. Instead, I would wait until the looters had passed, and then possibly get some of the items that had been picked over.
-Angie
If you wait until everyone else is finished, THEN loot, you're a thief, which is arguably worse. If you do it during the riot, at least you have a peer-pressure defense.
I say if you're going to loot, loot with the looters who are too busy looting to notice what you.
I'm pretty sure I wouldn't participate in any riot, but I've never been in such a situation. Morals aside, it seems pointless and wasteful.
But I do believe the cause for the riot would affect participation.
It seems like taking the high road by not participating would be the smartest move. You might lose respect from the kiddos on your baseball team if they see you on CNN running out of a grocery store with a loaf of bread and some hand soap.
However, I agree whole-heartedly with throwing the brick through the already broken glass. If anything, you're doing the clean-up crew a favor.
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