09-06-2020, 03:37 PM
(09-06-2020, 01:35 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Okay then. Now that we have shown that your response to my question made no sense lets try again.
What is your explanation for why we have had so many riots based on racial incidents over the last 50 years, but never had this current level of protest and rioting until Trump became President.
Since most Trump defenders have been programmed to blame the media I will go ahead and point out that the media has been here for the last fifty years also. So have Democratic Mayors of major cities. So I don't see any logic in either of those answers.
I just thought the reason for the cutoff date of your time frame was amusingly obvious. Actually, we've discussed this very topic extensively here on the board and there was a broad consensus, put best and most succinctly by Bel. Please refer to it if you like.
Essentially it's a combination of numerous factors. The fear and uncertainty of the pandemic, the cabin fever and frustration of the quarantine/lock down, the especially egregious nature of Floyd's death, the large amounts of unemployed people with uncertain finances and future prospects, the partisan polarization which has steadily worsened over time (of which Trump is a symptom, although he certainly exacerbates it), the increasing division of racial/identity politics, the friendly treatment of the riots by both the media and the Dems which emboldens escalation, the handcuffing and demonization of law enforcement, the treatment of criminals with increasing leniency, the perceived earth shattering importance of the impending election.
We probably came up with more, and not everyone agreed with everything on that list, but that's a pretty complete listing of the factors that we all discussed.
