The government of Greece passed their proposed austerity measures leading, unsurprisingly, to some rather nasty rioting:
Demonstrators set buildings ablaze and fireballs lit up the night sky in Greece’s capital on Sunday amid widespread rioting before a historic parliamentary vote on harsh austerity measures designed to prevent the country from going bankrupt.
The clashes erupted after more than 100,000 protesters marched to the parliament to rally against the drastic cuts, which will ax one in five civil service jobs and slash the minimum wage by more than a fifth.
At least 10 buildings were on fire, including a movie theater, bank and cafeteria, and looters smashed dozens of shops in the worst riot damage in years. Dozens of police officers and at least 37 protesters were injured, and more than 20 suspected rioters were detained.
This is what we refer to as an “OH SHIT!” situation. Basically these are situations where things have deteriorated to such a degree as to make escape not only desirable but necessary. Many gun bloggers talk about the importance of having a bug out bag (also known as a bailout bag or a get the fuck out of town bag). A bug out bag is simply a bag that contains enough supplies to keep you going for 72 hours or so.
When the topic of bug out bags comes up people often scoff and claim the person talking about it is paranoid. Paranoids are just people with all the facts. Bug out bags are made for situations like those happening in Athens now. Who wants to be hanging around a city full of angry rioters burning down buildings? Nobody but the rioters. Having an escape plan is always a good idea because you never know when things are going to deteriorate to a point that makes sticking around dangerous.