England riots

[David Smith]

Has anyone here been affected so far by the riots in England?

Some horrendous vandalism going on down there to say the least, and damages that are soon to need paid for by us; the hardworking tax payers. But is this a warning about the consequences of social deprivation, or just oppurtunistic crime by some young thugs mindlessly causing disruption in the false name of police brutality and class divides? What do you think? And how far should the police be able to go to prevent further damages and threats to life.

[my breakfast.]

There does appear to be a certain trend in behaviour with London Police targetting minorities with a rather high regularity. However firing upon your friendly local gangbanger who is waving a gun around is also in some circumstances justified, as I'm sure the US population of this forum would be quick to point out. There have been periods of violence in English cities every decade or so, so it is understandable though shocking that a lot of young people are using as a launch pad for all sorts of violence they feel they would better get away with. Where to point the blame though... Much akin to Lyndon B Johnson's Great Society, here in the UK the move towards benefitting minorities has in some instances resulted in the family unit being rendered obsolete. Why bother with the rigours of parenting when you can be paid off purely for the number of kids you have? London is not a friendly place at the best of the times. Afterall we have been told for decades about how technological advances make our life easier yet traffic snarles, long working hours (for parents of both sexes) and generally the critical mass of humans will result in certain behaviours coming to the fore. Perhaps the Madeleine McCann story highlights a shift in society towards parents entertaining their own needs to a greater extent than before. Teenagers will probably drink if they have seen their parents drink and be drunk, there is no impetus to follow parental rules only semi-adhered to by parents themselves.

I feel sorry for the Police. It doesn't take much for people to complain about living in a Police state the minute they clamp down on anything out the ordinary. Compared to the way the Police dealt with the miner's strikes in the '80s modern "kettling" techniques don't really seem that bad. I see it a lot on the more liberal-leaning students on my Facebook that they post videos of the police being openly taunted into behaving a certain way. However if the police let rioting occur in London they are not doing their job whilst conversely if they were to strike a muslim teenager with a baton there would be a massive inquest and further distrust of the police.

Its amazing also that when you go on certain forums on the internet there is a massive belief forming that the recession is the result of "the powers that be" and that we should be rioting in the streets to show we won't take it. However when the "innit" brigaid in London go to town they get it in the neck. They are truely stupid for shitting in their own nests,trashing local businesses and local employers, but the whistful talk of revolution is one thing and in practice another. A cursory read of the lyrics to The Who's Won't Get Fooled Again brings out everybody's inner rioter but when people take them up on the offer they quickly get it in the neck.

[Keith Jordan]

I do hope they stop soon as it is giving our usually peaceful country a bad image. We usually keep our deep rooted class divides less violent at the national level!

I dont think the people smashing into shops and looting their stock and then setting them on fire is a political protest. Those people doing that are just out for trouble because they suffer from a lack of ambition at the family level. Framing it politically and blaming the current Governments spending cuts (due to Labour's decade long spending spree) seems weak and feeble.

[nosaj]

Well, one of the main stories in the papers today is that the perpetrators are organizing using Blackberrys and the government has asked RIM (Research in Motion) to help them. Well, if you can afford a Blackberry, how poor could you possibly be???!!!!

[pastchristmas]

Well, one of the main stories in the papers today is that the perpetrators are organizing using Blackberrys and the government has asked RIM (Research in Motion) to help them. Well, if you can afford a Blackberry, how poor could you possibly be???!!!!

Damn hipsters.

[my breakfast.]

Still not happening in Scotland...

[thefinalcut]

I absolutely LOVE England and hope the situation gets better soon ! You have the most beautiful country in the world and my dream is to visit The UK some day ! Hugs.

[nosaj]

I had to google this (due tp my breakfast.'s comments above):

"get it in the neck (British & Australian informal)
to be punished or criticized for something that you have done e.g. It always seems to be the chairman of these football clubs who gets it in the neck when the team does badly."

Anyway, one thing to keep in mind is that young people are the least employed in bad economic times - here in Canada I think the general unemployment rate is 7ish %, but for young people it is closer to 20%, and with all the bad news and ever increasing tuition fees, wouldn't you be a little cranky and simply lose it? Especially when you look at your parents and grandparents - in the past you could get away without a degree and get paid a lot for a menial job...these days people with Masters Degrees serve coffee...

[danielcaux]

Hope all these events finally inspire Waters into writing one last album instead of just a Facebook rant! It could be even related to Radio KAOS!

Joking aside, all these riots seem to me more the product of lack of ethics and a taste for vandalism by a certain young population than a fair protest inspired by real social ideals. Watch the current Chile "riots" for an example of the latter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KN96bci-CZE&NR=1

[kingfisher_flashing]

Being a Mum of a 10 year old, I am kind of alarmed at the way children today behave to people of authority, or even just adults for that matter. There is absolutely no element of respect with some kids. You cannot really blame the kids for this though. It begins in the home. These youths rioting obviously come from homes where either the parents don't give a shit as they are too busy entertaining themselves or are too busy trying to earn a living to prop these kids up. The family dynamic is losing it's structure, the patriach/matriach element is being lost. In this country teenagers are roaming the streets at all hours getting up to no good whilst their middle class parents are safely tucked away in their home theatres in their obscene McMansions totally oblivious to the fact that their children could be up to any sort of trouble.
You need a licence to drive, you need to have a certificate to serve food/alcohol, in your country you even need a licence to watch television. But there is still no licence to have children, if you can breed then it happens basically. The way the family unit is heading, rioting will only become worse and more global as more bored, spoilt, emotionally neglected youths find different ways to amuse themselves.

[nosaj]

The family unit? Explain. This is one of the things that keeps coming up in editorials, but I don't buy it.

[snifferdog]

It's a nice simple generalisation to make. What surprised me a bit about the riots was the number of people involved who weren't your typical feral chav. I don't live in the UK so I wasn't personally affected but one of my cousins lives close to one of the flashpoints and went to bed with a packed bag beside the bed and clothes close to hand.

As for what to do next to try and fix the social problems on the ground, now that's the big question.