Food riots break up in Minneapolis (1931)

[nadinbrzezinski]

Let me try to illuminate something that is not well known about the Great Depression. Hunger was so extensive that yes, riots broke out.

Here is but one example

http://www.xtimeline.com/evt/view.aspx?id=101108

(Due to Copyright you will have to go there)

But I am betting the people at the time had the same reaction as posters here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1772079

It is almost comical... but to me people forming flash mobs and taking food, that they probably cannot afford to buy (and I don't care about the quality at this point) is a leading indicator of things that are not well.

No, morality does not enter into the equation. Our REAL unemployment, that is all those who are in unemployment, the 99rs, those who have given up, et al, is close to 20%... that is the truth. So if things are that dire... you will see more of this. This is not a prediction... it is a fact. When people are hungry, as in real hungry, they will do this. And at this point pointing fingers is not going to help... but at a POLICY level we need to start dealing with this...

Otherwise, here is purely anecdotal, during the crisis in the 1980s in Mexico hungry men waited outside the supermarket and took bags of food from patrons. None got hurt, as far as I heard from people, but those who stole, mostly did it to feed families and in more than one case they apologized for doing it. We are very close to that. In fact, anecdotally I have bought milk and fruit for people who cannot afford it. I have completed more than one cart. Why? That is the other choice... and if you are so concerned about the thugs' tactics or ethics... how about the society that allows for that?

It is easy to point the fingers... it is hard to solve it... in fact, that is the HARD WORK. I can fill the prisons with people... that is easy... dealing with the conditions that led to that is not. But if you want to be puritan about it, so be it.

[county worker]

1. My guess is that some people today are very afraid of the future. I know I get that way

at times. But I know that there will be "civil unrest." I remember that phrase from the past somewhere. Yes it scares me too but I'm not going to live in denial about it.

It serves a purpose to hang on to the belief that our society is built on rock. It is actually very fragile. It all depends on how much a person feels they have to lose.

Another way to say that is at a certain point, the risk is worth taking.

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. The unrest has alrady started

and it is not limited to the US. IN fact, we are trailing to be honest.

But WI could be seen as social unrest, (productive but the RW framed it that way, with union thugs and everything).. that said it is here... and it does not help t hide our heads in the sand...

But the mechanics are the same. and part of the problem are things like those riots. People know of the soup kitchens, but we have gone out of our way to hide the fact that those riots were one reason for the new Deal.

[Obamanaut]

6. The attempt to justify the actions of a 'flash mob' by comparing those

actions to hungry citizens during the depression is "really* grasping at straws for a post.

And a bit sad.

[county worker]

7. Nobody here is justifying just not seeing it as you do.

We are attributing different motives to the actions.

[Obamanaut]

10. Change the word 'justifying' to 'glorifying' then. The attempt to minimize

the thievery/thuggery of flash mobs who coordinate their efforts and carry shopping bags in which to tote their loot, and compare them to hungry depressionees (I made up that word) acting spontaneously is still desperate.

[nadinbrzezinski]

15. Alas getting why social dynamics happen

does not mean one is glorifying them either.

And seeing things as leading indicators (that right now with some intelligent policies can be turned around) does not mean one WANTS these things to happen.

That is what is called in logic poisoning the well.

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. I can read a calendar

1931 was oh two year after the crash... and there was no safety net.

2008 was oh three years ago, we still have some safety net... things take a little longer to get desperate... what we need at a policy level is a WPA... yes, it is that simple... it worked then, it would work now...

But let's continue to call people thugs... I am reminded of this....



Yep that was a looter taking some baby diapers... yep, that was a looter... :sarcasm:

[Zax2me]

3. Epic FAIL.

These thugs/punks are not stealing because they are hungry!
Geez!
They are stealing chips, beer, cokes and candy.
It is a SPORT to them.
Look at the videos - some of them are packing on an extra 100 pounds - no one is starving!
Babies aren't being fed because some Snicker bars and Budweiser were taken.
What a freakin' joke.

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. People said the same thing about the food riots

thanks for dealing with the issue. :sarcasm:

So tell me, we really do not have a real unemployment at close to 20%?

I see these things as a leading edge... food riots in Minneapolis were NOT the first thing either.

So I agree, epic fail indeed... what is it that Santaya wrote? Oh never mind... why trouble with it?

[county worker]

5. Why is that you have to attack a person rather than what they said?

Epic FAIL? Does that serve any other purpose than to show you don't have as much certainty in your belief? Maybe deep down you know better.

[Selatius]

9. I remember some number of incidents during Katrina of food rioting.

There was a Red Cross shelter we heard on the ham radio asking for assistance because they ran out of food and medical supplies, and you could hear people struggling with each other in the background over what was left. I was a search/rescue volunteer at the time, and some of the things I saw and heard were amazingly terrifying, like total breakdown of society bad.

If the Great Recession becomes a true Second Depression, we're going to see some serious strain on societal order like nothing seen since the 1930s.

[nadinbrzezinski]

12. Yep as a Disaster Services coordinator

that was my worry during our own floods in TJ... that the shelters had enough food\water\ medical supplies and yes... security.

And it was nothing like Katrina.. the food riots of the 1930s have mostly gone from popular memory... or even historic memory. Hell, I went looking for photos, and outside the bonus march, they are hard to find.

Why I see these flash mobs as leading indicators. Sadly at the policy level they should know what works... but they will not start until the serious unrests starts... just like the last time.

By the way, thanks for doing that...

[Selatius]

17. Yeah, but because of what I did, I now have PTSD. Two people I worked with have died already.

They committed suicide; I guess what they saw combined with the survivor's guilt broke them down in the end. These are brutal times.

[county worker]

13. I had a cousin back in the sixties who was married to a wealthy conservative.

He gave me a book titled, "None Dare Call It Treason." He invited the whole family over for Christmas. He showed me two sawed off shot guns that he bought for himself and his wife. I asked him what were the guns for. He said they were for "when they come." I asked for when who comes. He said the poor people.

The more things change the more they stay the same. Conservatives must be scared as hell that "they will come."

[Selatius]

16. To be frank, I hold little sympathy for the wealthy who voted in these thugs.

Sure, they can load up on guns, but in the end, they only have themselves to blame. You can only stomp on the poor for so long before they rebel against you.

[Tallulah]

11. People won't have to riot for food

Our government won't let that happen, our people won't stand for it. Obama should seriously think about giving every family a food card. Soon, before Christmas.

That is one stimulus that everyone can use. If you're going to throw money away, FEED THE PEOPLE FIRST !!!!

[nadinbrzezinski]

14. A good ol' fashioned WPA would do much of the trick

to be honest... and the government has let people starve in the past. So I would not say they won't let it happen.