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To add to Richard's post from Friedman...it may be worthwhile to also consider the trend of global food and fuel prices. Not only are a lot of people being squeezed on the income side, they also face problems on the cost side.

Can the mass of people involved in the riots develop the skills to compete in the global market? I doubt it. (Here I emphasize the word can. It isn't just a lack of motivation - I suggest they haven't got the needed capability.) But if they cannot be put to work, what does one do with them? Government make-work projects are simply not viable in the present environment.

I see no easy or pleasant solutions. But we've been buying off the rioters since Watts in 1965. Rhetorical question: What happens when we cease to pay protection money to the various disaffected groups?