"Some of his other explanations are decidedly more troubling. Populations that once rioted have now joined the “consumer republic,” in which more people are able to buy material symbols of the good life, if not the good life itself. Authorities have ramped up their surveillance and control tactics – along with the country’s prison population – which puts a damper on organizing in the first place. And Katz points in particular to a general de-politicization in American life that undercuts communities’ likelihood for civil action. It’s not that our urban problems have gone away (while they remain in Athens, London and Paris). But some of the capacity to fight them has."