I blame this whole thing partially on years and years of constant exposure to popular media portrayals of fame, fortune, glamour and celebrity with no associated effort, making young people think that they're entitled to grow into those archetypes.
When those youths begin to understand that the larger society won't just take them and idolize them, they gather around their own social power structures, where they feel they can make a difference and get the respect that they're entitled to - gangs and cliques. They also reject all outside authority, for fear of invalidating their illusory sense of self-iimportance.
If they want to blame something for their misfortune, they can just point their fingers at the government - after all, it's not like it is going to talk back. It's easier than going back to square one and actually working hard for the things you want - who does that on TV, anyway?
Combine all of this with the constant bombardment of advertisements, appealing to consumer urges and establishing certain goods as inherently associated with a successful life, and you have a recipe for widespread looting, criminality and senseless anarchy - the gasoline on the ground.
All that was needed was a lit match to fall down and serve as a pretext for letting loose this pack of dogs, looking to fulfill their base needs at the cost of a society they don't respect or even acknowledge.
