On rioting...
When I was a young undergraduate I took an introductory class to Psychology. My professor was an interesting researcher who worked so much with monkeys that he walked a little like one. I always remember him talking about mob mentality and how fascinated he was with it because of how difficult it was to study. A scientist cannot morally stage a riot to study people’s brain to determine how quickly they decide to join in rioting or looting. He said it is hard to predict when and where it will happen. This was in the early nineties, and I am certain now that this conversation in class must have come about after the Rodney King Riots. If you are a Gen Xer like I am, it is hard to forget it. Wikipedia says 63 people died in those riots. It was the first time in my life that the public consciousness was so aware of the police being out of control. It is also the start of what we now know is a video age, now the digital age, where civilians owned or carried cameras and theref