Sudhir Venkatesh looks at our public anger over recent events and finds it wanting. He wants to see us get out on the streets and hold public meetings. Maybe then, he hopes, our disgust will suddenly erupt into violence:

Before blogs and radio call-in shows, people joined forces and turned to the streets as their most effective means of expression; a unified, angry crowd was often sufficient to win concessions from employers and governments. And so most rebellions of the 20th century were over bread-and-butter issues like unsafe work conditions, wages and high prices for basic commodities. Even “race riots” were usually motivated by competition between ethnic groups over access to jobs and housing subsidies.

But some outbreaks of lawlessness were also indicators of strong, shared sentiments and were driven by a sense of higher purpose. For example, in 1919 Chicago, black soldiers returned home from World War I to find segregated ghettos, white-dominated unions and racist government practices. Many joined their neighbors who battled white youth and police officers in the streets. They had fought an enemy overseas; now it was their moral duty to fight injustice at home.

This will, of course, promote a more equal, more humane society by forcing our leaders to respond. Look at the major improvements in civil rights that the 1919 Chicago riots brought on.

Consider the lasting improvements to society that the protests and riots of the 1960's and 1970's produced.

Besides Sudhir has tenure at Columbia and I imagine that he will enjoy watching the unrest, from a safe distance, after that he can write a book about it.