Deconstructing the mob behaviour of the riots following the Vancouver Canucks loss tells us a lot about who we are as humans — the good, the bad, and the very, very ugly.
2011 Vancouver riot following Stanley Cup Finals
So it’s the day after the riot that shook Vancouver. They’re calling it the Vancouver riot or the Canucks riot. But most of Vancouver wasn’t rioting. They were tucked in at home watching their TV’s in shock and disgust. And the Canucks definitely weren’t rioting. I hate to think of those poor guys having to deal with the idea of marauders in hockey jerseys with their names on them torching cars and breaking windows.
I’m a Canadian who lives just 35 miles from where the riots occurred. Like many Canadians, I keep apologizing to the world for what happened in Vancouver. I wasn’t there, but what I saw turned my stomach.
Canadians aren’t like this, I keep telling people.
An acquaintance from the U.S. messaged me: “I thought Canadians were supposed to be nice.”
Yeah. I thought so too. And most of us are, most of the time.
What we saw go down in Vancouver after the Canucks lost wasn’t about being sore losers, or a violent society, or poor policing, or any single factor. It was mob mentality at work — and for mob mentality to have it’s way, the right (or “wrong”) conditions have to come together in a perfect storm. I wanted to write an article about the Vancouver riot and mob mentality at work, but then I found the article “Vancouver Riot: Psychology (Not Hooligans) Responsible for the Chaos” by Bobby Brooks on The Bleacher Report. Brooks says it better than I could. I hope you’ll read his fascinating article and tell us what you think?
“As I sat at home watching the Vancouver riots unfold in front of me, I was amazed at how ill-informed the newscasters and on-site reporters were about such an event.
The truth behind a riot is much more complicated than a mere “hooligan” explanation.
That is the easy and lazy explanation of things.
Underneath it all, there are more dynamic variables at play, interacting at a rapid pace.”
Read more from “Vancouver Riot: Psychology (Not Hooligans) Responsible for the Chaos” by Bobby Brooks.
Photo Credit
Burning a vehicle after the Canucks/Boston Stanley Cup finals in Vancouver.
A Vancouver Canucks fan holds a hockey stick after smashing the windows of a bank as he reacts to the Canucks losing Game 7 of the NHL Stanley Cup final hockey game to the Boston Bruins in Vancouver, British Columbia June 15, 2011. REUTERS/Mike Carlson
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