But one thing that has been on my mind all day is what I'm sure most people were talking about today; the riots in Vancouver following the Canucks 7th game loss to the Bruins.
I have to admit, and I know I'm not alone in these feelings, that I'm shocked, sickened, disgusted, disappointed and angry with the behaviour of the hundreds of individuals who participated in the destruction of public and private property. What possesses a person to have so little respect for others that they have no problem causing such destruction? What's worse is reports of people with ski masks or balaclavas, indicating that they expected there would be a need to hide their identity. In the video I've also posted to this blog, you watch as one of the fiends pulls what looks like a crow bar or a golf club out of his back pack. Why would you bring something like that along if your going to watch a hockey game somewhere? Unless you were already expecting to use it to damage property. There are a few individuals who already are standing out in their attempts to stop the acts of violence. Youtube videos that show a man trying to stop others from destroying a car (which I've already posted). Images of people who are later identified as good Samaritans trying to put out fires or stop others from causing damage.
I've studied enough psychology to know that what happened in the evening of June 15th, 2011 on the streets of Vancouver is the product of what is known as "crowd mentality" or "herd behavior". I like to think of this particular instance as herd behavior since the people involved in causing damage acted like animals. For those not familiar with the term;
"Herd behavior describes how individuals in a group can act together without planned direction. The term pertains to the behavior of animals in herds, flocks and schools, and to human conduct during activities such as stock market bubbles and crashes, street demonstrations, sporting events, religious gatherings, episodes of mob violence and everyday decision-making, judgment and opinion-forming." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herd_behaviorIn other words, in a large group, when a small number of individuals begin to exhibit a certain behavior, like the group that initially started flipping and burning cars, others begin to join in, even if by themselves or in another situation, they would normally never do such things.
Does this excuse their behavior? NO! Can something be done to stop this once it starts? Yes, I believe so! The reason I believe this is, this type of behavior becomes the "herd mentality" as more and more people join in, but if a small group of people stand up to them and refuse to join in, others who are more like-minded are more likely to join, following this new herd (for lack of a better term). I encourage you to watch the video I posted. Pay particular attention to the man standing up for his city and the crowd around as the video comes close to the end. You can see people watching as some destroy this car, but once this man stands up and protests, you can see others agree with him, since they themselves are probably not bad people but didn't know how to approach a situation where some are carrying weapons. Does that mean I encourage everyone to put themselves in danger for the sake of a car, no, but don't ever be afraid to stand up if someone is doing something you know is wrong!
I'll end my first blog with this; in the age of cell phones with the ability to take pictures and videos, with people walking around with video cameras in their hands during the chaos, I hope that those that participated, especially the worse offenders are caught and punished. They should be charged and made to pay damages! And they should, regardless of their sentences, also be made to preform community service for the utter lack of respect for their city. To those there last night, if you have videos or pictures of people destroying property or assaulting others, please turn it in to the Vancouver Police Department. If you know someone in one of those images and are able to identify them, please contact VPD.
Join the herd, and stand up for Vancouver, stand up for Canada, and show that not all Canadians are like this, and we do have class and respect.
And to those that were there last night trying to do good, the good Samaritans, the police officers, the fire fighters, paramedics, security guards, and to those that came out as volunteers this morning to help clean up...THANK YOU! You are what make me proud to be Canadian!
Edited to add:
Hearing more stories today about good samaritans who stepped in to protect their city and help others. I'm upset and disappointed that as people stood up to protect property, others attacked the good samaritans.
Again, hoping the worst offenders will be found and punished.
