Thing is, if it happens in those cities (which, IMHO deserve what they get) there won’t be enough manpower to impose martial law elsewhere.
That elsewhere, assuming that the emphasis is on mitigating the risk of cities going up in flames and mass rioting, will be the suburbs and rural areas.
How do you control a population of sheep? By removing the rams.
The sequence of events runs like this:
* The entitlements stop, and the urban kraals begin to burn;
* The mayhem spills out into the immediate suburbs, where most of the sheep live;
* The sheep cry out for The Won to save them, willing to pay any price for safety;
* Martial law descends upon the cities (JUST the cities), and the mayhem gets clamped down;
* But the FEAR remains, and the regime says that, all you have to do to keep your homes and your food, is turn in your neighbors;
* And a reign of terror begins, where all the regime has to do is round up the "evil white racist teabaggers" who the sheep eagerly turn in, thus doing the regime's work for them.
Economy Of Force, is what it's called in the service. Why go hunting rams, when the sheep will gladly turn them in for a working EBT card and a bottle of Evian?