why did people riot during the 77 blackouts but not the 65 blackouts?

[pstokely]

would people have rioted Thursday if 9/11 had never happened?

[slappypan]

1. There was a severe snowstorm during the '65 blackout.

I think the '77 blackout occured in summer. I think times have changed, people have instant access to information so they are not as panicky when something like this happens, and the police are much better prepared and can respond more quickly.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

2. i think higher unemployement rates and interest rates and poverty in 77?

[meegbear]

3. My thoughts exactly ...

and I think with 9/11 still in their minds, it made people be more civil during times of crisis.

[slappypan]

4. also demographics

We have an older population now; in '77 the huge baby boom generation was between18 and 30, the age group responsible for most crime. I believe the rate of violent crime in the U.S. peaked in the late 70's.

[AP]

5. I read something somewhere saying that JFK's class origins didn't

matter to voters so much in the early 60s because, coming off the huge economic gains and growth of the 50s, everybody felt rich. This also explained the appeal of James Bond, who was a playboy living the lifestyle of the ultra-wealthy. Everybody identified with that, some the Bond books and movies got big.

So, I'd say, people didn't riot in '65 because they felt like they were pretty content with their economic situation. By '77, it was a different story. Society wasn't working and people saw the blackout as an opportunity to get what they thought they were being denied by a fucked up social reality.

[Art_from_Ark]

6. There were riots in the 60s

including the deadly Watts riots, and lesser known Chicago riots, of 1965. Detroit and Newark both saw riots in 1967. But these riots were mostly race-related.

At any rate, the blackout of July 13, 1977 lasted 25 hours, while the November 9, 1965 blackout lasted less than 12 hours. Perhaps the length and/or season was a causative factor:shrug:

[Johnyawl]

7. ANGER!

Pure and simple, the answer is anger. '65? That was just before the country exploded in a cycle of protest, riots, and assasinations. Both the Civil Rights movement, and the anti-war movement, were relatively non-violent (at least on the part of the demonstrators) until '67. Both became increasingly violent after '67. The assasination of ML King, and Bobby Kennedy; the "police riot" in Chicago at the Democratic convention in '68; the shootings at Kent State; these are all the "highlights" of what was an angry, society increasingly at odds with itself, and willing to turn to mob violence when provoked. The resignation of Nixon in '74, and the election of Carter in '76 did a lot to soothe that, but there was still a great residue of anger at society, especially amongst those people who were not yet seeing any tangible benefits from the struggle for equality. Given an excuse (the suspension of civil order due to a blackout) the reaction in '77 was to loot, smash and destroy. A quite different reaction from the blackouts of '65 and '03.

Well, that's what I think, anyway.

[jagguy]

8. Civility was still in effect

not for much longer though.