Hi folks, I hope you enjoyed the exciting run the Canucks made this year on the Stanley Cup. I hope you found the story of Manny Malhotra's recovery inspirational. I hope that for at least a little while you really did believe. I hope that the scenes of thousands of people gathered on the sunny streets of beautiful downtown Vancouver touched you in some way. What I hope most though is that the actions of a few on Wednesday night don't totally devalue these positive moments.
I had the incredible good fortune to spend around 10 days in Vancouver during the 2010 Olympics. There I felt blessed to be part of huge moment, with it's own stories, disappointments and triumphs. During the games Vancouver carried itself with a poise rarely seen. Despite a few instigators early on and some over zealous security measures around the Olympic cauldron Vancouver felt warm and safe, bright and colourful.... most of all, inviting. Many on the Internet, I feel, are oversimplifying the events of the riot last night. Many blame the city as a single entity, ashamed as residents, they feel obligated to carry some of the blame. Many write it off as "too much booze". Some see it as sign of a greater socialogical problem, displaying what little it takes for a "sophisticated" society to fall into chaos. I agree in some way with these assessments but I have a few other things I would like to say.
A crowd is a funny thing. Watching the little bit of coverage I have I noticed most of the people staying on the streets were doing so in order to get some sort of cell phone footage, perhaps their motivations were noble with them wishing to provide evidence or street level journalism. In many cases I fear they were hoping to capture the graphic/ painful/ stupid/ violent/ whatever video that would get them a bunch of hits on YouTube. The end result of these people hanging out was that those who were starting fires and acting violently were difficult to engage and subdue without having to engage the crowd as a whole. If people had dispersed instead of standing there a few idiot "rioters" would have been arrested after smashing some windows and starting some fires. There would have been no mob and no riot, just some vandals.
Now I am in no way saying that people should not have to right to gather. What worries me most is actually quite to opposite. Vancouver went to great length to create downtown fanzones, closing streets and setting up massive outdoor screens where thousands gathered to watch the game. I'm not too confident they will be interested in doing such a thing next time the Canucks make the finals. This situation, born of something as trivial as a hockey game (though I suspect more born of the selfish actions of some sociopaths who couldn't care less about hockey and would have done something similar regardless of the outcome of the game) will be used as a reference for future public gatherings. What I mean is that the next political convention, rights rally or whatever that may be a subject for legitimate protest will likely be subjected to more security, escalate more quickly or be outlawed altogether.
It saddens me to think that the actions of a few can have reverberating effects on the freedoms that we are supposed to enjoy in our society. If these people have any sort of self-satisfied smiles on their faces today because they feel they have "stuck it to the man", "showed those pigs" or any other silliness it's simply not the case. The Canucks lost last night, that sucks. Freedom of Association, one of the core components that is intended to make our country free lost last night too, that is the tragedy.
I don't condemn Vancouver, I love Vancouver. I certainly don't blame "the crowd" in downtown Vancouver. You can't blame the Canucks or the organization behind them. I haven't seen every minute of tape but I didn't see anything that I would call escalation from the police side of the event. Some things may not have been handled well but I think the overall response was appropriate. I think, as is almost always the case, media sensationalized the event. But that's their job isn't it..... *cough
There is one picture I want to share. I don't know where it came from but I feel it captures the whole thing pretty amazingly. A situation is what you make of it and making love is a lot more fun than starting a car on fire.
I still love you Vancouver, and I still hate douchebags. Please don't mistake the actions of one for the other.
Thanks for listening to Long Beach Radio.
