It may be that we should be asking WHEN there will be riots. This will be a hot summer. Many companies are holding on until the end of June. Others are collapsing as their customers or suppliers fold.
The Guardian reports, today, in an article titled, Britain faces summer of rage - police ,
Police are preparing for a "summer of rage" as victims of the economic downturn take to the streets to demonstrate against financial institutions, the Guardian has learned.
Britain's most senior police officer with responsibility for public order raised the spectre of a return of the riots of the 1980s, with people who have lost their jobs, homes or savings becoming "footsoldiers" in a wave of potentially violent mass protests.
Superintendent David Hartshorn, who heads the Metropolitan police's public order branch, told the Guardian that middle-class individuals who would never have considered joining demonstrations may now seek to vent their anger through protests this year.
He said that banks, particularly those that still pay large bonuses despite receiving billions in taxpayer money, had become "viable targets". So too had the headquarters of multinational companies and other financial institutions in the City which are being blamed for the financial crisis.
Hartshorn, who receives regular intelligence briefings on potential causes of civil unrest, said the mood at some demonstrations had changed recently, with activists increasingly "intent on coming on to the streets to create public disorder".
The warning comes in the wake of often violent protests against the handling of the economy across Europe. In recent weeks Greek farmers have blocked roads over falling agricultural prices, a million workers in France joined demonstrations to demand greater protection for jobs and wages and Icelandic demonstrators have clashed with police in Reykjavik.
In the UK hundreds of oil refinery workers mounted wildcat strikes last month over the use of foreign workers.
Hartshorn goes on to suggest that extreme right AND left wing groups will exploit the situation. Maybe he doesn't get it that when tens of millions lose their jobs and the ability to take care of their families, all of them become radicals.
Just this past Saturday, 5000 people showed up in South Florida, hoping to apply for subsidized housing benefits. The officials only had 3000 application forms. This Miami Herald article reports that "scuffles" occurred. CNN reports that people "desperate for housing" showed up, that mace was used that"fights broke out." And CNN shows a wall of police cars, with police wearing riot gear.
When the riots start, don't expect the mainstream media to immediately report them. Some might even call what happened in Fort Lauderdale "riots."
One thing is clear. Congress is still not dealing with the extremity of the crisis. Obama isn't either. The small steps taken so far are woefully inadequate. The reality is, the appointees, from the same companies and system that created the problem are not the right ones to do the necessary job.
We need people who are not Siamese twin attached to the system, like Summers and Geithner are. We need people with the kind of long term vision AND independence from the system, who are able to see whole new ways to navigate beyond this crisis, not just staying a tiny bit above water.
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