Disturbing: The eerie similarities between #OWS and flash mobs
Fox News reports on the latest instance of flash mob thuggery, this time at another 7-Eleven in Maryland:
This flash mob is practicing thievery in numbers.
A group of 50 people were caught on tape as they flooded into a 7-Eleven in Silver Spring, Md., this past weekend and casually pilfered from the shelves as if they didn’t have a care in the world.
The group, comprised mostly of teens and young adults, walked into the convenience store and stole various snacks and drinks just after 11 p.m. on Saturday, according to Montgomery County Police Department officials investigating the incident.
Surveillance video posted on YouTube by the department shows the suspects walking up and down the aisles of the convenience store and grabbing snacks, then placing the food in their pockets.
When cops arrived at the scene, the flash mob scattered, running from the store. Six stragglers were found later with items that they could not prove they paid for, according to police.
Investigators believe that the large group had come from a birthday party in the area.
A similar incident happened in August at another 7-Eleven in nearby Germantown, where 30 youths walked into the store late at night and plucked items off the shelves as if they were shopping. Some were even savvy enough to cover their faces with their shirts to protect their identities from cameras.
In reading this, I was struck by the number of similarities between flash mobs and the Occupy Wall Street movement:
- Their obvious entitlement mentality. It’s ok to take by force the property of others, because it’s “owed” to you as a “victim” of society. For Occupiers, this includes bank lobbies, the front yards of “the enemy”, abandoned homes/property, and – of course – your tax dollars.
- Their willingness to use obnoxiousness and/or violence to get what they want. How often have we seen this in the bigger“Occupy” cities like Oakland, Seattle, Portland, and NYC?
- Along with that, the preying on of those perceived as weak. In the case of Occupiers, it’s women, the homeless, and the handicapped – among others.
- The mind-blowing lack of any real sense of personal responsibility. Occupiers, for example, believe that “Occupying” foreclosed homes is imperative, because it’s “the bank’s” fault the homeowner either knowingly took on a mortgage they couldn’t handle, or couldn’t pay after a job loss. They also believe that college students should not have to pay back student loans they signed on for, and that instead you and I should foot the bill.
- The willingness to cover their faces in the act of defying city laws and ordinances in order to “occupy” and “protest.” We see this most often with Occupiers who wear bandana face coverings and Guy Fawkes masks. They’ll tell you it’s to ward off the so-called “chemical agents” used by their local PD, but that’s only part of the reason. The other part is to make it harder for police to find them and arrest them in the event they are “wanted” by the authorities for breaking the law.
- Can’t get what you want on an individual basis? Mob rule is most definitely in order in both flash mobs and Occupy communes.
That’s all I’ve got so far, but I’m sure there’s more. Anyone else?