It's happening now in Greece

Bea,

I'm not planning to go to Greece in the near future, but I've been watching the situation on BBC and other networks. I suspect things will subside in a few days, once they've "vented their anger". I gather that part of the problem is "self styled anarchists" who use any excuse to start a riot.

Greece may be on my list for next year, so hopefully they get this sorted.

I'm sure as heck NOT condoning senseless violence and bloodshed or what the English call "hooliganism...BUT a scandal-ridden government, a terrible economy, a long history (in this case thousands of years) of the right to demonstrate in public, and a disillusioned population of adolescents--whether on the streets of Chicago, LA, Paris, London, Roma OR Athens--lacks only a spark to ignite. And as always, a few radicals or demagogues provide the match, and away we go. Helpful to keep in mind that sometimes "these people" has been us in the US, too. Hopefully it will all calm down soon without any more harm.

I have my suspicions that there's a certain level of organization to the whole thing. A local riot is one thing, but when riots break out simultaneously in several cities... somebody is either pulling the strings or egging the rioters on to their own purposes, or a combination of both. Yes, sometimes all it takes is one "spark" to "ignite" a riot, but when the rioting becomes this widespread... I somehow doubt this is all just a spontaneous outbreak of youth anger.

To add to my previous post, I have no problem with citizens conducting peaceful demonstrations for whatever reason. That's supposedly a "right" in a democratic society, isn't it?

However, I agree with the previous post that some individuals seem to be "fanning the flames" to achieve their own purposes. Overturning cars, smashing store windows and burning private property belonging to people that had nothing whatsoever to do with the original incident is quite simply criminal behaviour and should be dealt with as such. I suspect that a lot of the "protestors" don't realize that they're being manipulated.

Ken,

I am pro demonstations as well, but I am against the ones where blood and flames are involved.

As I read on AOL.com they are expecting riots in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Greece. We leave in 4 days and will be in 3/5 countries. I am hoping this will subside before we get there.

Laura- you probably have nothing to worry about, as long as the rioters don't target the transport infrastructure. Political rioting like this tends to occur over a fairly restricted area. I was in Brussels once during a riot of some nature or another, and if it wasn't reported on TV, I would not have known otherwise. Just watch the news while you're there (BBC, CNN World, France 24, DW, etc.) for updates. If anything does happen, you'll know what areas to avoid.