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| Home Front: Politix |
| Why Aren't Americans Rioting? |
| 2011-08-14 |
| Bottom Line, Up Front - ThereÂ’s a long and proud history of Americans standing up for what they want, dating back, at least, to the original tea party in Boston in 1773. That tea party grew into a revolution and ultimately produced a government that would not be so easy to topple. The American political system is structured to channel anger and discontent into political institutions. James Madison, the genius behind the Constitution, envisioned a system of government that would embrace dissent and offer malcontents the hope, however distant, that they can get what they want by working through it. Protesters who start in the streets envision themselves, or at least their causes, entering the halls of power. |
| Posted by:Bobby |
| #11 "No worries. If the "Food Stamp President" runs out of food stamps, you'll see plenty of rioting." No, he'll do what Republicans do with the greenback...he'll just print more. |
| Posted by: Shakey Steve 2011-08-14 22:29 |
#10 The average Haitian never had much chance to show whether he was "worth much of a shit." On the rare occasions when they do, the others react like the proverbial crabs in a bucket. They're poor for the same reason America's inner cities are poor -- they can't stand to see someone else successful. |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2011-08-14 20:29 |
| #9 In truth, Haitians have had a lot of opportunity to improve their lot, and the only time they ever had a government worth a damn it was the USMC. A critical factor is that Haiti does not have enough arable land to feed itself, so can only be profitable by growing export crops. Right after their revolution, the north and the south split under two different leaders. In the south, the leader tried to redistribute farms to the ex-slaves, which collapsed their economy. In the north, Henry Christophe ruled as a dictator, keeping the plantations, and they economically prospered. So the south kept trying to invade and conquer the north, and though they were more prosperous, the northern Haitians eventually revolted against Christophe. That was probably the best native government they ever had. Probably the best outcome that could ever happen in Haiti is for the nation to be taken over by an international agricultural concern, with all the Haitians being their employees, under contract for some major powers to rebuild and restore Haiti, without any Haitian input into the process. All children would be put in mandatory boarding school, to wipe clean any trace of the bad culture of their parents that they might pick up. And in perhaps two generations, Haiti would be a nice place. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2011-08-14 19:01 |
| #8 Chris, I contend Haitian poverty has a lot to do with their having to pay France huge amounts - virtually all the nation's free cash flow - for over a century for their 'freedom'. And what wasn't paid to France was stolen by the 'leadership'. The average Haitian never had much chance to show whether he was "worth much of a shit." |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2011-08-14 17:36 |
| #7 Because we don't get paid enough to do so? Just asking. |
| Posted by: Perfesser 2011-08-14 16:15 |
| #6 The right to keep and bear arms will keep most of the country free from London-style riots: in this country, the Korean merchant and the black rib joint owner and the white used car lot owner all have guns and will use them. If the first batch of rioters in London had been met with buckshot from the store owners, the riots would have been over the same night. |
| Posted by: Shieldwolf 2011-08-14 16:11 |
| #5 p2k, give me a fuckin break! haitians are poor because they are not worth much of a ashit as whole group. |
| Posted by: chris 2011-08-14 14:49 |
| #4 A whif of the grape generally clears the blockage. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2011-08-14 11:59 |
| #3 The right doesn't tend to riot. They are branded with all sorts of craziness but they clean up their trash and stand in line and don't tend to be the rioting type. I suspect if Obama loses there will be riots in some areas but as the UK has shown some folks are just waiting for an excuse, any excuse will do. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2011-08-14 11:54 |
| #2 About the quickest way to end a rioting streak here would be to take anyone caught in the process, load their posterior into an aircraft, land at Port-au-Prince and make a one for one exchange for a Haitian who wanted just the opportunity to come to this country. Let the looters know what real poverty is for the rest of their lives. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2011-08-14 11:27 |
| #1 No worries. If the "Food Stamp President" runs out of food stamps, you'll see plenty of rioting. "I Promised Hope and Change. I just Changed the Promise." |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2011-08-14 11:00 |