Phrases to incite riots
- Thread starter Lodow MoBo
- Start date
Bloodstone Press
Explorer
[shameless plug]
Coincidentally, I am currently working on a revision of the Book of Broken Dreams. I am adding a chapter on group dynamics which includes discussions of crowds, mobs, riots and many other group activities such as juries, mass hysteria, and adventuring parties.
Basically, I don't think it would be easy to incite a riot with a phrase or two. A riot happens only under certain circumstances. To quote from the upcoming revision:
Crowds: Crowds, also known as collectives, are substantially different than typical groups. A crowd is marked by several unique characteristics including spontaneity, brief duration, huge size, common focus, and disorganization.
Examples of crowds include a group of people watching a building burn, spectators at an arena, and witnesses to an accident. Note that a group of various families at a beach does not constitute a crowed because the individuals do not have a common focus. If something dramatic were to happen that grabbed everyone’s attention, such as a fire or a shark attack, the group would suddenly become a crowd....
Mob: A crowd that becomes emotionally charged is identified as a “Mob.” A mob can form whenever a crowd is exposed to an extremely dramatic event that evokes the same general response in all the members of the crowd. A mob is governed by emotional impulses, not reason. Mobs are volatile, unpredictable and often violent. People who become involved in a mob often behave in ways that are very different from their normal behavior. After a mob disbands, many people are shocked by the actions they engaged in as part of the mob. The idea that people “lose their minds” when they become part of a mob has been around for centuries....
Riots: Riots occur when huge mobs go on rampages, often destroying property and committing assault and murder. Rioters often set fires and raid wealthy establishments....
My personal opinion, not cut from the revised Book of Broken Dreams. :
In order for a riot to happen, the people need to be gathered together, share a common focus and be emotionally charged by the focus. Typically the conversations that happen in the taverns and in the homes prior to a riot can serve to prime the group's opinions, making them ripe for a riot, as happened in New York in 1863. 50,000 people rioted over the draft, but only after they had time to think it over and talk with their friends, family and neighbors. As the collective attitude about the draft became more negative (via polarization), a few impassioned speeches and some rogue elements of society were all that was needed to start the riots.
The same thing happened in LA after the Rodney King verdict. By the time the verdict was read, the masses already had formed opinions about it and had spent a great deal of time thinking and talking about it with their friends and families.
Rioters also have targets whom they attack. Often times these targets are scapegoats. I'm not sure whom the targets of the rioters would be in the scenario given in the initial post in this thread. I think the scenario is more akin to mass hysteria or panic rather than a riot. Of course, mass hysteria and mass panic are also discussed in the Group Dynamics chapter in the upcoming revision of the Book of Broken Dreams.
[/shameless plug]
Coincidentally, I am currently working on a revision of the Book of Broken Dreams. I am adding a chapter on group dynamics which includes discussions of crowds, mobs, riots and many other group activities such as juries, mass hysteria, and adventuring parties.
Basically, I don't think it would be easy to incite a riot with a phrase or two. A riot happens only under certain circumstances. To quote from the upcoming revision:
Crowds: Crowds, also known as collectives, are substantially different than typical groups. A crowd is marked by several unique characteristics including spontaneity, brief duration, huge size, common focus, and disorganization.
Examples of crowds include a group of people watching a building burn, spectators at an arena, and witnesses to an accident. Note that a group of various families at a beach does not constitute a crowed because the individuals do not have a common focus. If something dramatic were to happen that grabbed everyone’s attention, such as a fire or a shark attack, the group would suddenly become a crowd....
Mob: A crowd that becomes emotionally charged is identified as a “Mob.” A mob can form whenever a crowd is exposed to an extremely dramatic event that evokes the same general response in all the members of the crowd. A mob is governed by emotional impulses, not reason. Mobs are volatile, unpredictable and often violent. People who become involved in a mob often behave in ways that are very different from their normal behavior. After a mob disbands, many people are shocked by the actions they engaged in as part of the mob. The idea that people “lose their minds” when they become part of a mob has been around for centuries....
Riots: Riots occur when huge mobs go on rampages, often destroying property and committing assault and murder. Rioters often set fires and raid wealthy establishments....
My personal opinion, not cut from the revised Book of Broken Dreams. :
In order for a riot to happen, the people need to be gathered together, share a common focus and be emotionally charged by the focus. Typically the conversations that happen in the taverns and in the homes prior to a riot can serve to prime the group's opinions, making them ripe for a riot, as happened in New York in 1863. 50,000 people rioted over the draft, but only after they had time to think it over and talk with their friends, family and neighbors. As the collective attitude about the draft became more negative (via polarization), a few impassioned speeches and some rogue elements of society were all that was needed to start the riots.
The same thing happened in LA after the Rodney King verdict. By the time the verdict was read, the masses already had formed opinions about it and had spent a great deal of time thinking and talking about it with their friends and families.
Rioters also have targets whom they attack. Often times these targets are scapegoats. I'm not sure whom the targets of the rioters would be in the scenario given in the initial post in this thread. I think the scenario is more akin to mass hysteria or panic rather than a riot. Of course, mass hysteria and mass panic are also discussed in the Group Dynamics chapter in the upcoming revision of the Book of Broken Dreams.
[/shameless plug]
