Michael Barnholden, author of Reading the Riot Act: A Brief History of Rioting in Vancouver (Anvil Press 2005), is associate director of Humanities 101 at the University of British Columbia, member of the board of the Kootenay School of Writing, and managing editor of the literary magazine West Coast LINE.
I have to admit I was taken by surprise. When asked if there would be a riot after game 7 of the Stanley Cup final I said: “No, conditions just aren’t right, there’s not enough anger out there.” The anger I was referring to would be the anger directed at the police and the government, in short, the authorities. I was wrong. It seems there was no shortage of anger. But then, I also thought the Canucks would win the cup.
For me the question that remains is what is the source of the anger? I don’t buy the theory that losing a game results in such rage. The bad apple theory doesn’t hold water nor does mob mentality. Too many bad apples not enough mob. So where does the rage come from? Here’s my theory.
BC has just come through the most vicious ten year cycle of class warfare waged by the BC Liberal government under Gordon Campbell and the election of a new leader in the person of Christy Clark promises more of the same in a new style. What is the evidence?
The lowlights:
100,000 children living in poverty
$7,800 for one scalped ticket to game 7 Stanley Cup Final
$7320 = annual income for single “employable” welfare recipient
2 billion dollars transferred from business to consumers through HST
$197.25 plus “handling charges” = face value of 1 playoff ticket for round four
$235 monthly support rate for single “employable” welfare recipient
$10,000,000 = Roberto Luongo’s annual salary
$1,000,000 = average house price in Vancouver
$375 shelter component for single “employable” welfare recipient
$18.17 an hour = estimated living wage in Vancouver
$8.75 = minimum wage in BC
Between 1989 and 2008, the richest 10% of BC’s families with children saw an average gain in their annual income of $84,713 or an astonishing increase of about 52%. Meanwhile the bottom 40% saw their average annual income drop by more than 4%, or an average loss of $6,909.
Further commentary from Michael Barnholden can be found in this week’s Megaphone.
Joseph Jones
June 20, 2011 at 5:03 pm
The standout detail here? Michael Barnholden’s surprise!
Bob
June 21, 2011 at 12:05 am
An interesting take Michael, but I think you’re giving the rioters far too much credit for intelligence and interest in current affairs. Professional sports is the new bread and circuses, mindless entertainment to distract the mindless masses from what really matters.
Sean Antrim
June 21, 2011 at 12:18 am
I think there’s a strong correlation between the child poverty level and the number of people who show up at a riot, whether the rioters are conscious of politics or not.
Rudeep
June 21, 2011 at 10:14 am
I think Canada needs to look into their education system closely. These are the people who had a highly subsidized education, which was provided to almost everyone. Schools should start focusing on teaching how to be a good citizen, after all that was their own city that they destroyed.
blaze
June 25, 2011 at 2:42 pm
nice post. i think you’re right on. people ARE (and should be) frustrated about the sick display of collusive, exploitative politics in bc over the past ten years. that these policies have hit the young and the poor hardest is no surprise. i think that making this point helps to show up the vacuity of alternate explanations for the riots, such as those given by the other commenters here: i.e. “the riots can’t have been politically motivated, because people who follow sports are stupid, and those who follow politics are smart” (the inadequacy of the claim demonstrates its own fallacy); or “children are ‘badly educated’ and should be more efficiently programmed to be ‘good citizens'” (obviously the rioters didn’t perceive it as ‘their own city’; facile ad hominem explanations obscure any chance to use the events as an impetus for reflection).
When are Canadians going to stop patting themselves on the backs and start hauling the skeletons out of their/our closets!?
Dennis E Bolen
June 28, 2011 at 9:51 am
Greatly germain, Michael; the political debate has largely been left out of all the hair-pulling and scatter-gun recriminations. Our former premier quietly packs his bags for London, leaving the broken glass and smouldering vehicles for someone else to clean up.
Derp Derp
June 29, 2011 at 1:16 pm
if you don’t think these kids are conscious of their class and future prospects, you are sorely mistaken.
all of their targets of rage and want:
a BMW M5
Holt Renfrew (didn’t get in though?)
Louis Vuitton
London Drugs looted to the tune of $1million, particularly electronics
The Hudson’s Bay Company – the now american owned symbol of White Canadian expansionism across the frontier.
etc etc.
i’m as far left as they come and i’m telling you bob, that you’re being a typical snobbish liberal. do what Hu Jintao says and “go deep in the reality” like i do – i have $10 left on my visa.
i suggest you listen to the lyrics of Sublime’s April 26th, 1992
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-L3D8vKBCM
.. snob ..
Derp Derp
June 29, 2011 at 1:19 pm
and he has his own chauffeur – praise be to jebus. call MADD.
Al
July 7, 2011 at 7:03 pm
Thanks, Michael, for doing what the entire Canadian media has ignored for years and for providing us with some thoughtful analysis at the time when the mainstream media is too busy covering the royal frenzy. Having said that, I don’t believe that the people who participated in the riots had any idea of the unjust economical and political system they all are living in! The bitter question one should ask is why the rioters, and we nonviolent bystanders, see all the questionable facts of our society and either remain silent or protest over some shallow fantasies.
My point is: we, as citizens, have become too narrowminded, silhouettes, numb and ignorant. This is why I’d like to talk about the role of the media as a contributing factor – and don’t get me wrong: I’m not blaming the media for inviting people (fans!) to Downtown Vancouver to celebrate. I am blaming them for ignoring their role as the fourth pillar of what is called Democracy. And I think we have to lay some charges on other pillars of our society as well, e.g. our school system. My 5-year old daughter is being bombarded in the school with songs about Canucks and the “Sedin team” instead of learning what they are supposed to learn at school! The entire system is at work to turn citizens into fans, ignorant fans: fans of Canucks, fans of William, fans of who knows what next!