In 2007, the Pew Research Center published a report titled A Nation of “Haves” and “Have-Nots”? The sub-heading reads, “Far more Americans now see their country as sharply divided along economic lines.” In 2023, it appears that this perception hasn’t changed much, especially in the city of Philadelphia. There is so much I love about my city, a city rich in beauty and culture, that also takes pride in its grit and edginess. So when people who live here engage in vandalism and looting, I feel it personally.

After a peaceful protest regarding the dismissal of charges against a Philadelphia police officer’s killing of an individual at a car stop, a social media influencer incited a night of looting in center city Philadelphia and beyond. https://www.inquirer.com/ 

That same night, just before the looting, I was on my way to a theater performance when the busdriver announced that he had to detour because of a protest at City Hall. I made my way to the theater on time and saw a wonderful production. 

Later that night when the Uber driver dropped us off, two blocks away from where Tuesday night’s rampage took place, there was no evidence of it. Once home, I turned on the news and learned 1) the Phillies clinched a place in the playoffs (YAY!) and 2) stores on Walnut Street had been broken into and looters left a path of destruction and disarray. 

Walking my dog along Walnut Street on Wednesday morning, the sidewalk was cleaned up and activity was pretty much back to normal. However, the aftermath was on people’s minds. They peered into the entrance of the Apple Store, usually a wide open glass wall, now curtained off by two large swathes of black and white.  At the pet store on 17th, a young woman customer, who lives across from the Apple Store, said she heard a loud rumbling with yelling; she watched from her window as the looters barreled over Walnut from the Footlocker to the Apple Store. The store clerk said she’d checked the store camera and could see some of it. She talked about the spread of the looting up to Aramingo Avenue near where her godfather lives. When something extraordinary happens, it’s natural to reflect and to want to talk about it. Where was I? What was I doing when? 

Outside of the ransacked stores there were news reporters seeking person-on-the-street reactions. The Lululemon store was dark. Looking closer I saw that clothing was strewn all over the floor and two young black men were posted as sentries sat on the mounds of merchandise. These young men could be around the same age as the looters. I chatted for a bit with my friend’s daughter, a 6ABC news reporter who was stationed outside Lululemon. A passer-by wanted to talk to her but she deflected him deftly. She said this happens all the time. Everybody has an opinion, and I’m sure she knows how to choose whose opinions would be newsworthy.

But, for the most part, all was back to normal: people on their phones rushed to their destinations amidst dog walkers, joggers, gym rats, parents or nannies with strollers, Hare Krishna chanters danced at the northeast corner of Rittenhouse Square and a man with mismatched shoes and socks shouted obscenities at them from across the street. 

I am writing about it in an effort to process and understand why an explosion of destruction often follows the expression of feelings of injustice and loss. In the news and on social media, the looting got more coverage than the protest. Opinions vary widely. Why feel sorry for the Apple Store? But, what about the retail workers losing pay? What a blow to small businesses in the city still trying to recover from the pandemic. It’s not safe anywhere in the city! I’m moving to the suburbs! 

To my mind the most comprehensive well-considered opinion is Larry Platt’s piece in The Citizen. Platt takes a broader view and reminds us that incidents like this are part of a much larger problem.

But let’s widen our lens even further. There’s plenty of evidence . . . that civic disorder is viral in nature. Citizenship is, after all, a social compact. We live together voluntarily, and when messages get sent time and again that our once agreed-upon rules no longer apply, or that they only apply to some, we know what happens: The compact breaks. We get anarchy. We get nihilism. We get streets that feel unsafe, even if crime rates are coming down.

LARRY PLATT
SEP. 29, 2023

To that I will add my opinion. I think the culture of acquiring and accumulating “stuff” that stokes our feelings of status has much to do with it. People want stuff. They want clothing and shoes, computers and phones, jewelry, shiny showy stuff, the stuff that says high social status, smacks of power and respect. Whether it is earned or stolen doesn’t matter. It fills up the feelings of emptiness and staves off feelings of resentment. Maybe, for a little while. The harm is obvious, moreso for the businesses like Nat’s Beauty Supply whose owner saved for years to open and hopes to continue (link to the gofundme). It does nothing for the injustice and grief suffered by those who lose a child, a sibling or a friend to mayhem and gun violence.