Alasdair Roberts bemoans the extraordinary powers American police departments have available to disrupt mass protest:
One might not worry about the decline of crowd politics. After all, we still have the voting booth. At the same time, social media seem to give us the capacity to create “virtual crowds” in cyberspace, with none of the disorderliness created by actual crowds in city streets. But these are imperfect substitutes for mass protest, which retains its distinctive capacity to crystallize discontent with the status quo, and thus to create opportunities for substantial change in government policy. When we tame the crowd, we diminish the country’s capacity to respond creatively to economic and social crises.
(Photo: A protester sits in the street in defiance of police orders near the Occupy Portland encampment November 13, 2011 in Portland, Oregon. Portland police reclaimed the two parks in which occupiers had been camping. By Natalie Behring/Getty Images.)
The Dish 
