>>>>>>>>I wish I knew. Maybe the masses are already trained to expect violence and looting, and nobody bothers to organize really peaceful protests. Those who come do so with a shopping list. People tend to repeat what they see on TV.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Unfortunately there really are people who are simply ignorant thugs who will take any opportunity that presents to make others lives miserable. People key other peoples cars. Why? People pull down street signs. Why? They smash the glass in bus shelters. Why?You can look for conspiracies everywhere if you like, but sometimes it's as simple as thugs.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Random acts of vandalism against public property used to be a tradition over here. Park benches would be broken within months, phone booths demolished, the swings and carousels on a playground would be torn, even random trashcans may be overturned. A part of the explanation for that may lie in the history - after 340 years of Ottoman rule (which somehow figures as five centuries - the worst rounding error ever) and then a couple of occasions of Austrian, German or other rule, there's a healthy disrespect towards any authority. But private property was generally respected, even in years of socialism.
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>>>>>>Nowadays, the initial accumulation of this wave of capitalism has brought thugs on top (and that's not just Serbia, it's all the way to China; IMO, part of the project) and greed is promoted as good, while removing the social safety nets. As a result, you get a thick layer of disenfranchised people who see symptoms of wealth all around, owned by someone else and inaccessible to them. A part of those will take it out on anything that comes under their hand - be it during a peaceful protest which they will see as a chance to fight the police or get a new pair of sneakers from a shop window, or just to key an expensive SUV they couldn't afford even if they had a job.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>OTOH, I am amazed with the number of phone booths and park benches which remain intact and operational here nowadays.
>>>>>
>>>>>Sounds like New Orleans/ Los Angeles/ Miami over here. It's amazing how many big screen TVs and pairs of designer shoes people need in a crisis. Also amazing how after the looting and shoplifting, the same people whine about the government not giving them enough and not rebuilding fast enough after their rampages.
>>>>>
>>>>>Oddly, it doesn't work that way in some other parts of the country.
>>>>
>>>>I think it always slightly surprised my children (london based) when we visited my parents (country based) and could walk right into their house with no locked doors etc. Where I live in London we seem to seem to spend all our time locking and unlocking doors and windows.
>>>>
>>>>Even though I'm a lefty liberal I'd happily see the people who burgle homes branded somewhere visible and maybe a hand chopped off.
>>>
>>>I agree.
>>>
>>>One of the primary reasons we live out here in the middle of nowhere is because we do not feel the need to lock up the house/cars/kids/etc. We know all our neighbors and we watch out for each other. If someone were to try stealing something around here, they'd wish the police caught them rather than the neighbors.
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>>>Yeah - It's nice to be in a neighborhood where all the neighbors are armed!
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>>I guess in the middle of nowhere the neighbors have to protect their weed grow operations and meth labs.
>
>Are you another fan of "Breaking Bad"? That series is such an admirable piece of writing. You don't have to like the characters to like the series. In fact you are specifically intended to not always like the characters, in a cumulative way which seems headed to an unhappy ending. The guy you sort of liked at the beginning, even though he was cooking meth, becomes a steadily more sinister force. He starts out wanting to provide for his family after his terminal cancer runs its course, which is sort of understandable, into turning into someone as bad or worse than the "real" meth dealers. The series creator, Vince Gilligan, has hinted in interviews that Walt will become even less likeable as the series winds down. This is not the typical character arc on American TV.

I watched part of the pilot and a few minutes of a couple other episodes....didn't really do it for me, but I might wait till the season is over and sit down over a couple of days and watch all the episodes back to back.