Day 167 – Prepare to Stop

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167/365 (June 16, 2011) – Vancouver lost the Stanley Cup final yesterday, and the city went insane. Not because of the loss, but because a number of thugs incited a riot and completely trashed part of the downtown core. They burned 17 vehicles, including several police cars. They smashed windows, lotted stores, beat and stabbed people. It was horrifying, but not unprecedented. It had nothing to do with the game, it would have happened win or lose. Some think it would have been worse if we had won since more people would have stayed downtown. As it was, the police had a crowd of roughly 100,000 to try and deal with. I admire them for everything they did, I couldn’t stand in front of a crowd like that and retain any degree of sanity.

However, the fallout from this has been fascinating to see. The power of social networking is remarkable. The stupidity has been turned back on those involved as we exist in a age where almost everyone carries a cell phone or other device capable of photographs and video. Never have we been more visible, never has history of any kind been so well recorded. Public namings, public shamings, are all over Twitter, Facebook, blogs. Video and photographs are being turned in to the police in overwhelming numbers and people are facing public wrath. While I agree with those involved losing their scholarships, jobs, etc over things such as burning a police car, I don’t condone the violent threats against them. Mistake? Not really, we are sentient beings and we have a brain that allows us to make a choice. If the choice was foolish, we need to take responsibility and deal with the repercussions.

I am glad that names are being named and those involved are being taken to task, but I hope no vigilantism falls out of this. The justice system will not be able to mete out appropriate justice to them all, but their actions will likely follow them for a long, long time on social media. They will have a black mark that may lead to decisions that involve funding, jobs, and other future plans. A moment of stupidity takes a long time to go away, even longer in today’s world.