- Like
- Digg
- Del
- Tumblr
- VKontakte
- Buffer
- Love This
- Odnoklassniki
- Meneame
- Blogger
- Amazon
- Yahoo Mail
- Gmail
- AOL
- Newsvine
- HackerNews
- Evernote
- MySpace
- Mail.ru
- Viadeo
- Line
- Comments
- Yummly
- SMS
- Viber
- Telegram
- Subscribe
- Skype
- Facebook Messenger
- Kakao
- LiveJournal
- Yammer
- Edgar
- Fintel
- Mix
- Instapaper
- Copy Link
My wife Marilyn and I recently finished Season 2 of Cinemax’s martial arts pulp fest, Warrior. Inspired by a concept written down in notes by Bruce Lee many years ago, and heavily influenced by Quentin Tarantino, the adventure follows a Chinese immigrant to San Francisco in the 1870s, where he becomes a tong soldier and is embroiled in the tong wars and intense racial tensions of the day.
The penultimate episode of the season featured a massive recreation of the 1877 anti-Chinese riots, when a mob of mostly Irish working men, incited by politicians, ran amok in Chinatown. The action and the body count is turned up to 11 in Warrior — but the real riots, and similar ones in Los Angeles, were bad enough.
In the behind-the-scenes feature on the episode, show runner Jonathan Topper said something that grabbed my attention, and it’s stuck in my mind since: Once the action started rolling, it was hard to get the actors and extras to stop “rioting.”
*
I have a visceral loathing of mobs. Individuals caught up in one lose their power to think for themselves and the seething mass develops a mind of its own. What Topper is saying is that even in a manufactured, controlled environment, the instinct of the mob to run rampant overpowers restraint.
That should give pause to those who goad mobs for political and cultural advantage. That deadly momentum is hard to contain. Those who allow themselves to get caught up may find themselves inciting and committing acts and facing consequences that they’d never approach as individuals. But words of warning inevitable get lost in the roar of the crowd, and the ecstatic rush of the action will always win out.
Like the song says, I saw things getting out of hand. I guess they always will…
Matthew says
Great piece Jim.
People, in my opinion, have a hard enough time thinking for themselves even outside the mob. Humanity has an inbuilt urge to follow the herd. I also think certain people take pleasure in destruction.
Jim P. says
Not unlike the Stanford Prison Experiment or Hannah Arendt’s Banality of Evil. Humans are predisposed to tribal thinking and the basest of behavior with a little prompting. Humans are easily placed the those roles.
Bill Valenti says
And yet, absent the mass marches and gatherings by African Americans in the early-mid 1960’s, there would likely not have been a Civil Rights Act or a Voting Rights Act. And the Vietnam War didn’t end because the Pentagon and Congress decided to be nice. There will always be provacateurs/accelerationists in the crowd, taking advantage of the energy to incite violence. The great social upheavals in history have all been preceded by massive protests and gatherings. Some peaceful, some not. Nature of the beast, methinks.
Rick Schwertfeger says
I agree with the concept of mob psychology leading to more extreme actions than an individual may have taken singularly. When I think about such events, however, I always am reminded of November, 1969, in Washington, D.C. I was one of 250,000 to 500,000 Americans who participated in The March on Washington — The Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam. Relative to this article on mobs, one thing about that day that stands out in my memory is that it was entirely peaceful. No attacking buildings, no fighting with police; just nothing but energized people who wanted to send a message that that American tragedy should be stopped. That experience leads me to postulate that demonstrations do not have to turn into mob violence. Perhaps the MOBE was peaceful because no one riled us up — either before the event or during speeches on that day. I don’t remember violence even being considered. My memory is that no one had any intention of going violent. Indeed, we were protesting to STOP unnecessary violence.
That really was a remarkable moment, and — given the scale of the event and the passions behind it — it is fascinating and probably important to contemplate why it didn’t turn violent. There seems to have been a conscious effort in that direction, especially as the demonstration was not composed of largely of radicals — the tent was very big. It seems like there was a conscious effort NOT to have it turn out like the mayhem a the year before at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago (in which the organizers definitely sought to provoke violence and the cops also basically rioted). Six months later, the National Guard lost its shit and opened fire at Kent State. Same month, a friend of mine got caught up in the “Hard Hat Riot” when construction workers in NYC weighed into a crowd of demonstrators and beat the shit out of quite a few. Whether that was a spontaneous action or not continues to be debated; not sure people keep lead pipes wrapped in newspapers handy in their lunch pail…
Point being, violent outcomes to demonstrations was pretty common in 1968–70, so the Moratorium March really does stand out.
It’s almost impossible to discern why something DIDN’T happen in history, but you bring up an episode well worth considering.
Quixotic Mainer says
Well said sir! I don’t think people appreciate the extent to which mob mentality is zeitgeist rabies. A few years ago I was tasked with opposing one such out of control crowd, when I was approached by a few kids who wanted to get into their house, but were afraid to go through the crowd alone. I escorted them most of the way when I was bum rushed by a young guy, hollering some unintelligible war cry. Suffice it to say he hit the ground, and I had opportunity to converse with him while getting him patched up. I asked him why he, a college kid from Cleaverville, had chosen to go hand to hand with a complete stranger. He tearfully responded; “I’m sorry man, it’s just what everyone’s doing”. I never forgot that, and in recent times it’s never far from my mind.
It’s not an excuse, but it is an explanation.
Gregory Walker says
Well said, Jim.
Exactly what occurred on August 12, 2020, in Bend.
When a mob put four ICE agents’ lives as well as three civilian contracted employees (drivers/medic) and two arrested suspects at extreme risk by blocking their attempt to leave private property (their hotel grounds). The ensuing standoff became violent that evening as outside agitators from Portland, alerted to the incident via social media and live streaming, began arriving.
In the end a contingent of 50 Border Patrol agents was diverted from their duties in Portland to essentially rescue their trapped fellow agents and those with them — as the Bend Police Department had been restricted by the city’s legal adviser from doing anything more than standing by and watching.
A review of the 911 Dispatch Center logs for the 11th and 12th reveal the escalation that took place and the criminal incidents that occurred, reported as they happened, until the Border Patrol arrived and per their Use of Force policy cleared a path for the agents’ vehicles with all onboard to safely leave.
The two suspects had been legally arrested under federal warrant, as were 1,998 others across the country beginning in July 2020 and ending in August, for domestic violence convictions (both felony and MISD) and being / returning to the country illegally. One was later released on bond with the caveat he has to obey all local, state, and federal laws while awaiting his Immigration Court hearing AND appear for all such hearings. Failure to do so may lead to arrest. The other suspect, in violation of a previous REMOVAL order, has been deported.
None of the activists/protestors in Bend were aware of anything other than having been called to rally against ICE at the Springhill Suites hotel in the Old Mill District. Nor were they aware that an identified number of them remain potential candidates for arrest under U.S.C. 18, .111 — Interfering with a federal law enforcement officer, should charges be preferred by the Oregon U.S. Attorney’s Office.
These include a Bend city council member who deliberately blocked the lead bus from leaving the parking lot by using her car.
What occurred at the Capitol was stupid, at the very least. Tragic in that people died on both “sides” and for no good reason at all. What occurred in Bend, Oregon, was equally as stupid. Thankfully, no one was seriously injured and no one was killed, both real world possibilities given the situation was wholly out of control.
Indeed, those who goaded the mob for their own agendas, are the ones we need be concerned about. Their ignorance feeds their actions and their actions can and have in the recent past turned deadly.
A lot of people have been fooling around with powers that they don’t understand and can’t control. I’ve previously likened it to pointing a loaded gun. If the trigger gets pulled, by accident or by intent, you can’t retrieve the bullet. That has happened way too much lately. That situation in Bend is a perfect example of irresponsible behavior from people who should know better but don’t really understand what they’re fooling with.