Could Anarchy Happen Instantly?

My wife and I are watching The Rookie, a television show about a 40-ish-year-old man who started a new career as a police officer in Los Angeles. Ignoring some of the recent woke plot lines and understanding that every episode is clearly a fictional over-exaggeration, we recently watched an episode in season 7 about an April Fool’s joke that turned into instant citywide anarchy.

I’ll try not to spoil anything, but the premise is that because of something that was clearly supposed to be an April Fool’s Day joke, the criminal elements of the city ran with it and chaos ensued. Again, I know it’s dramatized for television, but it did get me to wonder if the “9 meals away from anarchy” rule is outdated.

Why?

Because of social media.

For instance, if word spreads that something is horribly wrong, something more than just shipments of food or medications being shut down, would people instantly hit the streets in panic?

Although I would think that knowing food shipments, as an easy example, should get people to the streets rather quickly, there is a buffer in the system that would probably cause most people to not panic, at least, not until it becomes obvious grocery store shelves are bare and not getting refilled anytime soon. Same goes for almost everything else I can think of including, believe it or not, nationwide power outages.

So, what would cause people to panic instantly?

How about an EMP or nuclear event, say, on the other side of the country? While scary and highly problematic, I doubt people would hit the streets. I suspect most will hunker down in this scenario. Granted, people will need to come out at some point for food and other resources, so it would be a delayed response.

Like I said earlier, not even a nationwide power outage would cause people to “hit the streets” because, as I see it, people would be in shock. I’d imagine most people wouldn’t be able to wrap their minds around what’s going on, and as a result, wouldn’t be rioting. In fact, something so devastating is more likely to cause folks to rally together, though only for a short while.

Perhaps the only two scenarios I can see where people “instantly” hit the streets with little regard for the law include:

1. An unprecedented economic crisis where prices of everything people need doubles overnight and continues to rise in real time. I’m not ever sure that something like what Venezuela experienced in recent years counts.
2. A political crisis to where a Designated Survivor scenario occurs; it’s another television show where most of the federal government gets wiped out in one go. This would have to be much more than a high-profile assassination AND obviously the “other side’s fault,” or a massive group of people wouldn’t be out and up in arms.

Of the two, my vote is on economic collapse because this affects almost everyone in much the same way and at the same time. Politics can be ignored, to a point, but prices rising and goods becoming scarce in real time cannot.

How could this be possible?

Well, Walmart, as an example, is implementing “digital shelf labels,” which isn’t the same as “dynamic” or “surge” pricing, but problematic enough. In essence, digital labels allows retailers to update prices in real time, or something akin to it. Imagine standing in front a dozen eggs and watching the price tick up with each passing moment. Or a pound of beef. Or a bunch of broccoli. You get the idea.

With the use of digital pricing becoming a reality, don’t be surprised when the price of everything you need becomes more expensive with each passing day, particularly as inflation continues to rise. At some point the powers that be won’t be able to keep a lid on it. Of course, I thought that day would’ve come by now, but it hasn’t … so maybe I don’t really know a damn thing.

Worse still, if our adversaries finally choose economic warfare as their greatest leverage point, it’s you and I who will literally pay the price. And I think that digital price tags will play a role, whether we like the idea or not.

What do you think? Is there another scenario I’m missing that would cause people to instantly riot?