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For fans of the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles, the team’s quest for a national championship finally became a reality Sunday night with an unexpected victory over perennial Super Bowl contenders the New England Patriots.
Naturally, in Philly the victory sparked celebration, as tens of thousands of residents took to the streets to cheer for their team and the chance to bring home the Lombardi Trophy.
But celebration quickly turned into pandemonium, as fans — or, more accurately, rioters — began to tear things up, start fires, break windows and generally bring chaos to the city of Brotherly Love. Light poles were torn down; cars were ‘accosted.’ People were injured — among them, a police officer. Fights broke out.
One idiot jumped off into a crowd believing he was going to be caught; he wasn’t.
Dude jumps into the crowd from the light pole on broad and chestnut #flyeaglesfly #Philadelphia #SUPERBOWLCHAMPS pic.twitter.com/xZa4MFCkko
— JJ ONeill (@FieldOf_dreams9) February 5, 2018
An awning at a Ritz-Carlton hotel collapsed under the weight of a dozen people who climbed atop it. Windows at Macy’s and a T-Mobile store were smashed. Even the gates at City Hall were breached; one group of people even brought a keg of beer with them.
There was additional looting at multiple convenience stores, and unconfirmed reports of two police horses being stolen (but then recovered).
And yet, amazingly, only three people were arrested.
Now, just imagine if the Eagles had lost like they did in their two previous appearances (Super Bowls XV and XXXIX).
Now, just imagine if the situation were much worse than a professional sports team losing a big game (yes, there are worse things) — like a complete collapse of the stock market, our currency, our economy, and the financial sector.
We got a taste of that on Monday, when Wall Street’s gains for the year were wiped out in a single session, falling some 1,175 points. That was actually a recovery; the Dow Jones Industrial Average had fallen by nearly 1,600 at one point, the largest same-day drop in Wall Street’s history, Fox Business reported.
In addition, 30-year Treasury bonds also “flash-crashed,” as Zero Hedge reported, falling back below three percent yields.
“The first thing to know about the stock market’s eye-watering slide Monday is that it wasn’t caused by anything fundamental,” CNBC reported, likely in an attempt to calm fears of a broader sell-off in the days ahead.
The real culprit, many economists believe, is, basically, an improved economy, as goofy as that sounds. The Federal Reserve noted last week that inflation looked to be on the rise due to an increase in hourly wages, which ticked up 2.9 percent in January (more money in the pockets of Americans generally means companies can raise prices for their products).
So the damage isn’t likely to be extended for very long; the market will likely recover. But what if next time it doesn’t? (Related: Hillary Supporters burn American flag, riot, threaten to kill Trump after losing election.)
A major tanking of the markets and the broader U.S. economy will make the damage done by “celebrating fans” in Philly Monday night look like child’s play. When you’re talking a collapse of the economy, that will become synonymous with the collapse of society, and as we’ve always said, the major urban centers of America will disintegrate into mayhem and lawlessness first — as food, water, and other vital resources are snatched up by crowds of marauding citizens or commandeered by armed gangs.
The police won’t be there to help — just like they weren’t really much help in curbing Monday’s Philly “celebrations.”
Many users of social media took to various platforms in the aftermath of the Philly chaos to ask what would have happened in the city had the local team lost.
The more relevant question to ask is: How does someone escape the deadly disintegration of the civil society in a collapse? Read Rioting.news for more coverage.
Which, as we saw this week, could happen in a flash.
Read more of J.D. Heyes’ work at The National Sentinel.
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