THE THIN VENEER

The veneer of civilization is perilously thin. I was living in Montreal during the 1969 policemen and firemen’s strike. It lasted only sixteen hours but that was long enough for things to unravel. For the first half day, drivers observed traffic light signals, then they started to go through orange lights, and pretty soon they were disregarding red lights altogether. That was only the beginning. According to the CBC, which called it a night of terror: “At first, the strike’s impact was limited to more bank robberies than normal. But as night fell, a taxi drivers’ union seized upon the police absence to violently protest a competitor’s exclusive right to airport  . . . Shattered shop windows and a trail of broken glass are evidence of looting that erupted in the downtown core. With no one to stop them, students and separatists joined the rampage.” Looting was widespread; a provincial policeman was shot and killed. (Those calling for defunding the police should study the Montreal example.) Another example. The New York City 1977 blackout started in the evening and lasted all night and most of the following day. The result was extensive lawlessness, looting, and arson. Thirty five blocks of Broadway were destroyed. More than five hundred police officers were injured and almost four thousand looters were arrested. The cost of damages was estimated to be more than a billion dollars in present-day dollars.