Another fascinating item cribbed in its entirety from acb:

“A criminologist attempts to explain why Adelaide has so many bizarre murders. Allan Perry, a criminologist from Adelaide University, claims that the Snowtown killings and other crimes are symptomatic of a malignant subculture that exists in South Australia, and that Adelaide is a social hothouse that breeds psychopathic killers:

‘We’re seeing a sub-culture which has arisen out of family breakdown, economic deprivation, drug and alcohol abuse, unemployment,’ Mr Perry said.

That could also explain the Adelaide tradition of breaking into the zoo and mutilating the animals.”

When you think about it, it makes sense that variations in social conditions would propel locales at differing rates toward the dystopian future. I’m sure American readers can think of examples closer to home.