Preparing for civil unrest

Submitted by Bill St. Clair on Tue, 07 Jul 2009 11:39:38 GMT  <== Politics ==> 

Claire Wolfe at Backwoods Home Magazine - Claire defines "civil unrest", talks about its likelihood, and gives a few ideas about how to avoid and survive it. [rationalreview]



Here are my definitions of levels of civil unrest and a little bit about how they might affect us:

LEVEL ONE: The lowest level of civil unrest is when people turn on their own neighborhoods--as happened during the race riots of the 1960s and the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles. Level One civil unrest can be deadly and destructive, but primarily to people who live, work, or must travel in the immediate area. Level One unrest is spontaneous, Dionysian, is confined to a narrow geographical zone where the protestors live. Police response may be harsh, but it's localized. Unless you're in the middle of it, you're unaffected.

LEVEL TWO: Level Two civil unrest may also be focused on a single area. But in this case, rioters or protesters have deliberately targeted a business district, a facility, a transportation system, or an organization to impose maximum disruption. One example: the World Trade Organization protests in Seattle in 1999; young people with violence in mind and rage in their hearts attacked an entire downtown, affecting hundreds of businesses and tens of thousands of workers who hardly knew what hit them. Another example: This spring, protesters in Thailand shut down the Bangkok airport, affecting who knows how many individuals and businesses. Level Two unrest is usually planned or semi-planned. The target is chosen deliberately. Although still focused in one area, Level Two can disrupt normal life and business in a whole region or country.

LEVEL THREE: Level Three comes when mass unrest or authoritarian crackdown causes disruption at state or regional level. Then, no matter what the original cause or location of the trouble, everyone in the region is affected. Effects might include travel restrictions, random ID checks, mass arrests, food and fuel rationing, controls on money and banking, roadblocks, and other harsh "emergency" restrictions.

LEVEL FOUR: Level Four is Level Three--but on a national or even international scale. It's martial law. If things ever get this bad, it's likely that the government itself will be a far bigger threat to everyone's well being than whatever the original cause of the clampdown was.

And of course, any level of civil unrest can lead to laws, regulations, and harsher police policies that end up affecting everybody in the long run.

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Comments (1):

Thanks for posting this. And

Submitted by Happy Curmudgeon on Fri, 10 Jul 2009 14:02:09 GMT

Thanks for posting this. And for letting me know that Claire is writing again. I missed her.

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