Mobs are unlike any human entity. Any person involved to a certain extent gives up personal reason for the collective reason of the mob, in a sense adopting the consciousness that is portrayed by the whole. People normally incapable of wrong or horrendous acts become able to commit them when backed by a mob and its thriving energy, pushing and pulling people often times down the wrong path. This is what happened earlier this year in a South African slum. While this mob in South Africa had its own energy and misaligned sense of justice, if you look at any mob, riot, or large group of enraged or energized group of people, they are all capable of acts not normally perpetrated by single individuals. This mob in South Africa was out for justice. The night before, as is normal in those slums, items were stolen from various shacks and two people were killed in the process. The next day, people gathered, eager to find the perpetrators, and one young boy of fifteen, claimed to know where to find the criminals. (Police presence in the slums is essentially non-existent). With more and more people gathering by the minute, swelling eventually to over a hundred, they set out to find those men that had robbed and killed 2 people. Winding their way through the narrow paths, they crossed a marshy area to an adjacent slum where the young boy claimed the criminals lived. The boy pointed to a locked trailer and shack claiming it was the home of the criminals and mob readily tore it apart and set it ablaze. After walking hours through the hot sun, however, this was not enough to quell the mob, not enough "justice" had been done, so they moved on. They found another, small store, claimed by some other women to be the place where the criminals hung out in front of. The boy once again led the way and the shop was ripped to shreds, looted, and once again set ablaze. For some reason though, with two buildings demolished and on fire, the mob was still not satisfied, if anything, they were more enraged than before not having found the men who committed the crimes.
Milling about the second fire set to the store, the mob was searching, looking for anyone suspicious to take out their vengeance on. At that point, a young man came walking out of an alleyway, dressed nicely, talking on his cellphone. He was immediately questioned by the mob and once they found out that he was not South African, but Zimbabwean (where many criminals are suspected to be from), they grabbed his cell phone, and started shoving him around. Some demanded that he jump into the burning building. A few who knew the man, shouted out his innocence, but these voices were drowned out by those demanding immediate vengeance. For a few seconds, this man, Farai, broke free and made a run for it, but didn't make it far before being grabbed again. At this point, the mob lost all sense of control and beat the man. They used anything and everything available from their feet and fists to long wooden planks and concrete blocks. The horrific incident was partly taped by a local and in that video, you could see the slow killing of this man. He was kicked in the groin, beaten in the head with a plank, and in one instance had a concrete block thrown at his head by a young, teenage girl. The police, a scant presence, arrive when Farai is breathing his last few breaths and nothing at that point can be done.
Such is the mentality of a mob. People get caught up in the energy of a mob, their often times misaligned sense of right and wrong, and will go along with whatever the mob deems just. This does not just go for mobs seeking justice for wrong perpetrated against certain individuals, but also for inviduals that join riots or mobs just seeking to release energy. If you take a look at any riot, which often starts as a peaceful protest, there are many instances where they turn violent resulting in cars being flipped, stores being looted, fires being started and police being attacked. Many times the violence is started by one or two individuals and is collectively picked up by the mob. While the instance in South Africa is unfortunately the worst example of mob violence and is also unfortunately a regular occurence in that country, mob mentality is universal. All it takes is a few individuals, malevolent in nature, to start a mob in the wrong direction and incite perpetration of illegal and often horrific acts. The worst part about mobs are, they often times find the closest person or object to take out their anger and energy on regardless of whether or not that person is innocent or guilty. Regardless of whether a person is innocent or guilty, mob justice is perhaps the worst form of justice. It often times goes overboard and is relentless in nature. There is no clear mind in a mob to say "enough" or to stop the violence that begins. It only ends when a person is killed or a the police finally get involved. Sometimes, even police involvement is not enough to quell a riotous mob, but sometimes incites even worse anger and violence among them.
So what do we do about mobs? Stay away from them simple enough. We see mobs even here, especially in CT where spring weekend and concerts sometimes lead to cars being flipped over, fires being lit, trash being strewn around, but luckily, usually don't end in a death or injuries. Mobs alone are reason enough for a police presence. Without police, anarchy ensues, and justice is taken into the hands of individuals. Individuals often times get it wrong, whether alone or part of a mob. People, mobs and invididuals, especially victims of a crime, are filled with a sense of vengeance and a need to find those responsible. They will go through whatever means necessary to find someone they feel is guilty of the crime and exert their vengeance. It could be off of a rumor by a friend or just intuition, but often times, they are wrong, and the person attacked in vengeance is innocence. As much as we don't like the police sometimes, there is a definite need for them in order to sustain any civilized society. If only there was more police presence in that slum in South Africa, maybe an innocent man with a wife and child would still be alive today, able to spend time with his family including three brothers. Today, let us hope for increased civility in society, especially in developing nations where police presence is enforced in some areas and not in others.
No comments:
Post a Comment