I am sure this first statement will make people mad at me. I know it is not a popular view. But I did say it to a few people before Wednesday night, and it bothers me that I was right.
There were going to be riots, whether Vancouver lost or won.
I would love to sit here and say that I am surprised at the extent of the damage. I would love to say I am so shocked that some of my fellow British Columbians would take part in this despicable behavior. I would like to say that I never expect anything like this to ever happen again. I can not say any of that.
I knew that there were going to be riots. Had my daughters asked to go to Vancouver for the final game, the answer would have been a resounding NO. There is no way that I would have allowed them to be there, despite the fact that they are both intelligent, responsible, aware, lovely young women. Knowing that the riots were going to occur did nothing to change the feelings of dismay, horror, sadness, embarrassment and frustration as we watched the destruction.
What I did not expect was how profoundly these riots affected my mood on Thursday; and I was not alone in that. There was a gray cloud that hung over B.C yesterday and it had nothing to do with the weather. It didn’t matter where in the province you lived; you felt it and you saw it everywhere.
Floating in that cloud are questions, and undeniably the loudest, most asked question is: WHY??
I have sat and looked at hundreds of photos. I have watched hours of video footage. I had to stop because it made me so sad, and so scared for the future. As I watched, the one thing that I noticed was that in a majority of cases the individuals committing these acts were male, between 18-29 years of age, seemly well dressed (Canucks jerseys are NOT cheap) so one can presume they are not from the marginalized population. If I wanted to be stereotypical I would call them ‘poor little rich kids.’ That is not to say that everyone show on tap comes from an affluent house/neighbourhood/upbringing. And that is also not to say it was only 18-19 year old males that took part in this.
So what it is that is going on that makes it acceptable in the minds of these individuals, specifically this age group, that they feel that this type of behavior is ok? Don’t get me wrong, this twisted mindset is not new to me. Keep in mind what I do for a living. I am faced with what I can only call an attitude of entitlement on a regular basis. In the past when I managed student residences we continually saw a lack of responsibility, a lack of concern from some individuals for damages, and most times it was deemed as ‘hilarious.’ How have we moved so far backwards as a society that today’s youth basically find joy and pleasure in the ‘rape and pillage’ mindset of centuries ago?
I have theories. I have sure many people have theories...we could debate, share, argue, brainstorm and so on about all the theories…De-sensitization due to mass media and entertainment, children growing up with more because they are given more by their parents (done with the best of intentions), the glamorization of thugs, society failure to ensure children learn personal responsibility (our school system becomes more and more of a joke each day). All of these and many more can be pointed to as reasons. But in the end who cares what the reasons are?
When are we going to fix it? When are we, as a society, going to stand up and say enough? When will we stop the bullying at ALL levels, starting with the government? When will we as Canadians start to take a stand, to speak our minds, to get control back of our towns, our provinces and our country? It is only through this that things will start to change. Enough with apathy. Time to stand up and give a damn. Time to care about your neighbour, your city your country. Time to make the government accountable at all levels. And time to make individuals accountable for their individual actions.
Time to wake up Canada. We live in one of the best countries in the world. We have so many rights and freedoms. This is a democracy; we have the chance to say our piece. Yet we choose to riot over SPORTS?
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