Flash Mobs: the Labor Unions of Crime

I keep thinking about the flash mob crime phenomenon.

As I’ve noted, ancient texts tell us mob crime was a characteristic of Sodom and Gomorrah, and it was one reason for their destruction. Jesus said he would return in times like the days of Lot. Well, here we are.

Flash mobs are the labor unions of crime. One criminal can’t do all that much. A thousand criminals can do anything they want. They can plunder a neighborhood. They can take a department store or a sporting event hostage and then demand ransom and immunity. We’ll do anything they want, once they start flexing their muscle.

Think about the potential for sex crime. Imagine a flash mob descending on a group of women. Who will stop them? Certainly not the cops. A mob can strip women in broad daylight and do whatever comes to mind. We’ve already seen it in Egypt.

If you had told Henry Ford he’d have to pay people a hundred thousand dollars a year to do unskilled labor for four hours a day, he would have laughed in your face. Now the Big Three do it as a matter of course. Mobs made them bend the knee. If a mob could do that in the days of vacuum tubes, what will be beyond reach to a mob with Ipads and Iphones?

Technology has given worthless people power they never had in the past. Now you can turn on your phone and direct thousands of people instantaneously. This will help criminals overcome the inertia and confusion that used to hinder them. And the left’s obsession with protecting freedom of expression (except for political expression by conservatives) will make it very tough to get the phones and pads shut down. Twitter refused to cooperate with the authorities during the London riots.

We’ve all heard the Craigslist stories. A man in Oregon came home to find people driving away with his belongings, because someone posted an ad saying he had left the state, and giving people permission to take everything in his home. It shows how quickly and effectively modern communications methods can unite and guide criminals. It can even put honest people to work for criminals.

Sooner or later, bright people will start making intelligent plans that will result in flash crimes the authorities will be unable to anticipate or thwart. They’ll pick a certain house or a certain neighborhood. They’ll send part of their troops to create diversions to draw police away from the real targets. Then the mobs will show up. Who will be able to repel them? Simple. Gun nuts. Get on your roof with an AK, several magazines, a case of ammunition, and a helper, and you’ll be all right. The savages will go to your neighbor’s houses. The Obama bumper stickers will look like welcome banners.

If I had no conscience, I’d be all over this. I’d be working right now to get a crew together and pick targets. Somewhere out there, people with the same idea are already at work. It won’t always be morons stealing candy from convenience stores. They’re going to realize they can rob homes, jewelry stores, banks…you name it.

It may be six months from now. It may be a year from now. But it will happen. It has to. Wait until the first smart criminal sends out a tweet, letting two thousand young men know they can have all the women they want. “Beach party tomorrow!” Once they’ve had a little success with jeans and electronics, they’ll want something more exciting.

Thank God conservatives have guns, because otherwise, we would surely be high on the to-do list. Generations of American kids have been told that their poverty was caused not by irresponsibility, but by the selfishness of people who didn’t want to share the wealth. Now many of them believe it, with a jihadist intensity. They would glory in our persecution. It would seem heroic to them. They would shoot video and put it on Youtube. “Here I am punching @ Hannity wife LULZ.” I wouldn’t be surprised if we see mob attacks on conservative celebrities who don’t have government protection. It would be very easy for a mob to get to a Rush Limbaugh or a Sarah Palin before anyone could respond.

Buy guns. Buy ammunition. Consider security cameras and motion detectors. Do it now, while the sleeping giant is still yawning and rubbing his eyes. If you’re conservative, there is a good chance you’re already set, but some will procrastinate.

Maybe our governments will find a way to cope. Maybe the National Guard will suffice, or maybe there will be increased surveillance and further corruption of our civil liberties. But I would not count on it. They do so many things badly.

I don’t think I’m overreacting. I may be a couple of years early, but unless criminals are even dumber than they think they are, they’ll figure this out eventually. And because our economy is tanking, their motivation–frustration, envy, and bigotry–will increase with time.

Man, am I ready. It’s crazy how I prepared so well, for something I never expected.