Lakers Win! Time to Riot?
Photo from www.latimesblogs.latimes.com
Lakers Win! Time to Riot? – The Lakers are up, Kobe Bryant has the ball and the last seconds count down until finally the buzzer buzzes, and yes, YES! the Lakers win back-to-back NBA titles! At that moment, the entire city of Los Angeles erupted in a cacophonous sound that would make the ancient Roman gladiators cower in fear. Where I was watching the game, far from downtown L.A., someone in the room jokingly said, “Let the riots begin.”
Sure enough, after only a few minutes, the television screen began to flicker images of the carnage that was downtown Los Angeles last night and early morning. Was the joker in the room a prophet? Of course not. Everyone expected that a few hundred people would participate in some nihilistic anarchy. It’s just what happens, I guess. We are, after all, merely primates.
Someone once described to me the “personality” of the three major metropolises in California. San Francisco is far left, radical, but with a sort of hippy calm. San Diego is far right and conservative, and calm in a smug kind of way. But Los Angeles? Los Angeles is just pissed off.
But Laker Riots are not unique in any way. After all, there are soccer riots in London, Berlin, Rio de Janeiro, Calcutta, and anywhere there’s a large group of drunk males relative to the police presence necessary to stop them, coupled with the good news that their team won.
The psychology of a “riot” is an interesting one, because ironically most riots, like European soccer riots, happen with the announcement of good news. Rioters aren’t really angry while they’re rioting, either. The joyous look on these primates’ faces as they loot, burn, and destroy tells the observer that this isn’t merely an angry protest against social conditions.
What starts a riot?
Before a riot starts, a large amount of people have to be present and under the influence of alcohol. From there, it takes only one person to do something – break a window, for example.
Most people at the scene of a riot are already expecting the riot to happen. They just think someone else will start it. So, the better question is “Who starts a riot?” David D. Haddock and Daniel D. Polsby, in their article Understanding Riots, call this person the ‘entrepreneur’. The risk-taker.
If this person is able to do something without any retaliation from police – it’s monkey see, monkey do from there. We are primates, after all, and this biological trait of following the leader comes from our ancient simian ancestors. All humans are susceptible to it, too – but especially young males. It’s not like riots are specifically a black or Mexican phenomenon, as many often accuse. It’s a class issue and it’s a testosterone issue, and what it seems to be based on is the reputation of the male.
Most middle-class folks act in a socially benign way – that’s a prerequisite to move up the social ladder in our society. In essence, ‘respectability’ is important to them. It’s so important, in fact, that these types demand much better odds in their favor before acting like a nihilistic maniac. But some people – mostly aggressive young males – don’t care about respectability, or rather – respectability works in the opposite direction. This is especially in the case of gangs, where aggression in males warrants respects. While social disposition and race relations does factor into the equation, basically any male before the age of 30 who is single and unemployed are potential rioters, especially if they are members of a gang or any subculture that rewards aggressive behavior.
And that’s basically who starts a riot – a young male who doesn’t care about society’s version of ‘respectability’ who is willing to take the first shot, and risk being arrested. He is the catalyst. Everyone else is just a young, aggressive male. Sure, there’s a few women in there, but I’m talking generally. Seriously. Try to find a riot where the majority of looters are women, children, or the elderly.
June 18th, 2010 at 10:57 am
So why do Lakers fans riot and not others, say the New Orleans Saints fans? Or USC? What makes them special, as in need of special education?
June 18th, 2010 at 11:28 am
We’re not merely primates. We are a species created by God with fallen sinful natures. It’s been proven that we are not primates. I’m offended by this comment. Riots go back to bible times. There is nothing new under the sun. A good person with a good heart doesn’t jump on cars, smash out windows, set fires to the streets or throw cones at expensive sports cars. What I saw last night in East LA was appalling. I’m surprised there were only 20 arrests.
June 18th, 2010 at 11:33 am
@Bobby, I think in those cases we’d have to take a look at the situation. Were people looking to riot at New Orleans game? If they were, was there gangs of young males large enough to ignite a riot relative to the amount of police available to stop it? That’s the main factor. If someone did try to do something, the police in New Orleans probably reacted quickly. Otherwise, the police presence was too intimidating for someone to ‘cast the first stone’.
The USC games is an easy explanation. It’s college – I think that alone is enough to scare away most of the aggressive males who participate in rioting – they simply don’t follow college football.
June 18th, 2010 at 12:08 pm
This article is poorly written and laughable. The blogger writes: “While social disposition and race relations does factor into the equation, basically any male before the age of 30 who is single and unemployed are likely rioters.” What? What an inane generalization. This blogger needs a lesson in critical thinking and what it means to exaggerate based on subjective ideas.
June 18th, 2010 at 12:58 pm
@Manny – Scientists (i.e. anthropologists, sociologists, human biologists) agree that males from their teens up to the age of 30 are considered reckless and aggressive, especially if they are members of a gang, and are unmarried and/or unemployed. This is further corroborated by the observations of law enforcement personnel.
@Barbara – The problem with the Bible hypotheses is that it fails to explain the involvement of testosterone, the observations of scientists who can see reckless behavior not just in young male humans but other young primates. Also, the main point of the article isn’t that riots are new, it’s that riots are not new and are explainable by biology.
June 18th, 2010 at 1:16 pm
Barbara Richards needs to drop her bible and be educated about the Real World(TM), where logic prevails and silly religion isn’t forced into every subject.
Bringing “God” and your religion’s pseudo-science into a blog post about Lakers fans rioting? Really? Go back to the bible belt you came from already.
June 18th, 2010 at 2:00 pm
first of all.. to all you out ther.. lakers are number one and have been number one.. you would only understand if you live in los angeles. the majority of LA are all laker fans. So every neighborhood around here comes together to celebrate something soo majot like this. i would like to say i partook in the lakers victory celebration. fuck all yall haters nigga this is LAKERS NATION and no one gives a shit about usc or new orleans.. ALTHO, the same things would happen if the dodgers won the world series.. its LOS ANGELES UNITING TO FUCK SHIT UP AND RAGE IN THE STREETS!!! im sorry most of u ppl will not like my response but FUCK YOU it’s your car thats gonna be lit on fire next time… TEAM LA yall have a good day :]
June 18th, 2010 at 2:22 pm
LOL. We are animals, and just like other animals some are more stupid than others. Cracks me up.
June 18th, 2010 at 3:11 pm
I believe the L.A.P.D should have made more of an effort to keep people that had no tickets to the game away from the Staples Center. I watched the news coverage and saw that during the game eventhough people couldn’t watch the game were still crowding around the Staple Center. People that were rioting these so-called Laker Fans should be ashamed of themselves. I am hoping while they were harrassing and turning innocent Laker Fans cars no children were inside the vehicles. I seen pictures of these disgusting people smiling while they were committing these crimes and i think to myself that i hope the get caught and be banned from being around the Staple Center. These are not true fans these are just pathetic scums who have NOTHING better to do than to spoil a Celebration!!
June 18th, 2010 at 7:19 pm
Try as I may, just can’t empathize with fans willing to spend thousands of dollars to see lanky, probably big penis bearing men run up and down and around pitching a ball into a hoop??? Then, THEN…to unleash tirade destroying other persons’ property…risk injury and arrest, death even without compensation or other tangible benefit is annoyingly mind numbing, stupid irrational.
Especially on Super Bowl Days or other “event” weekends, guys will oftentimes exchange appreciative looks/terse comments (because there are no crowds for the masses are glued to the idiot box) as we wait for the next set of waves or our turn to board a gondola anticipating another pleasure filled few moments skiing or cycling down a steep gully.
Everyone please take note of the very mild intensity of police action at last nights post Laker game criminality vs. the disproportionate heavy fist beating against mostly middle aged White Americans and White college students peacefully protesting against globalist agenda destroying USA sovereignty at any G20 meeting.
Observing police response to mostly Latino rioters, along with reality of so much off shored manufacturing, ever increasing unemployment stats, decades of Congress failing to respect wishes of constituents, joo supremacist non stop blather about ruling the world and going so far as to erect huge joo candles even in front of the White House…I’d say some cocky, control freak joo’s and others will even accelerate measures leading to America’s total implosion…so George Soros’s vision for a global government can be fully made reality.
Expect Latino’s to be agitated to kill Whites, Blacks and Yellows with glee…forsaking their Catholic influences or perhaps perverting them to support the agenda of reconquista.
June 18th, 2010 at 9:59 pm
Yeah westside,
Fuck you punk. Those fucking rioters should be shot on the spot. Fucking ghetto losers. Try and set my car on fire and see what surprise you get.