I predict a riot!!!

[Blue Peter]

Killing people is not a smart way to prevent crime. Fortunately even our government has more sense.

Except when it goes abroad,


Peter.

[Little John]

The rioters in London will of course be largely thieving fuckwits. Their rioting isn't a protest against an inequitous system that robs them of the capacity to look after themselves through work and is beginning even to rob them of the capacity to live a small and shitty life on benefits all in the context of a global banking/political elite who continue to line their pockets even in the depths of this economic crisis.

However, the reason they're rioting is because of an inequitous system that robs them of the capacity to look after themselves through work and is beginning even to rob them of the capacity to live a small and shitty life on benefits all in the context of a small, global banking/political elite who continue to line their pockets even in the depths of this economic crisis.

Inequity, resentment, hopelesness, frustration, anger = riots.

And it's going to get a lot worse.

The riots need to be brought under control, that's for sure.

However, the real battle is sorting out the reasons for them. And I mean the real reasons

Not the usual bullshit about how its all just a bunch of scumbags and there is nothing else to think about. It's not bullshit that they are scumbags, of course. They certainly are. But there is sure as hell is a lot more to it than just that. Also, not the usual bullshit from the other side about how the nasty government hasn't built enough playgrounds and community centres either.

* A society that places individualism, consumerism and the gratification of the self above all else, including family and community ties. Randianism personified, in other words.

* A society that has overseen a form of intergenerational theft from the young to the old, largely on the back of unsustainable debt-based growth. The reason it's unsustainable is because the future promises of economci growth on which those debts are based cannot now be delivered due to resource depletion. The most crucial resource of all being energy.

* A society, in the context of all of the above, that provides no economic route by which a given section of it has any viable means of achieving those unsustainable, unreachable consumerist goals. All in the context of an elite who are frankly taking the piss.

* A specific section of society (let's just be honest and call it what it is- a specific section of black culture) that seems to have suffered most in terms of the breakdown of those societal bonds coupled with a particularly low educational achievement which further exacerbates their economic problems.

All of the above was inevitably going to lead to this shit we are now seeing.

However, as the economics of life get worse, you can be sure that these riots won't just be limited to idiot black kids with a whole load of anger and no real focus.

There usually basically two groups in society that behave badly . Either those who have so much power and so much surplus that they have nothing to be afraid of (bankers et al). Or, those who have so little power and fucka ll surplus that they feel they have nothing to lose (the cuttent rioters et al).

If the more politically switched on middle start getting ideas then that's hen things start to get really interesting.....

[clv101]

Good points ^.

[DominicJ]

Yep, the cemetaries were emptying last night as dead people took part.....
So shooting rioters wouldnt stop them rioting.....


Steve
Except the rioters are numericaly small.
The vast majority of citizens did not go out last night and rob the local corner shop.
They are they people who are going to suffer most.
Its nothing to me to drive 20 miles to Tesco, hell, they come to me.
My elderly carless neighbour is f***ed if the local mini mart closes though.

How many in London rely on their local shops?
Local Shops that are now burnt out?
How many will next week shop on Tesco direct?
How many will stop shopping on Tesco direct when the shops rebuilt?
Dont expect these shopping parades to reopen.

There are massive problems in the UK.
But first and formost, the UK has a vast underclass that believes it should be given what it wants and is prepared to use violence if its demands are not met.

Should we take benefits from people who accept low paying jobs?
No.
But that dopesnt help us with people who have never had a job.

Do you think the drug dealer who started all of this would have taken a job cleaning cars for £5.65 an hour if he could still keep his housing benefit?

[featherstick]

Nice one Steve.

[PS_RalphW]

Typical.
I go away for five days to a camp promoting peace and multicultural understanding for 2500 Uk and international young people, out of phone signal and with flat batteries in my radio, and I return to interethnic riots and a collapsing stock market.

This reminds me of when I went on a coach trip with my parents to rural Scotland, only to discover that riots had broken out in Brixton, Toxteth, and many other cities back in the early 80s.

We had trouble at the camp too. Some little oik vandalised the loos two days in a row.

[Mean Mr Mustard]

Dom,

None of which detracts from Steve's excellent big picture summary.

[Mean Mr Mustard]

Typical.
I go away for five days to a camp promoting peace and multicultural understanding for 2500 Uk and international young people, out of phone signal and with flat batteries in my radio, and I return to interethnic riots and a collapsing stock market.

You won't see any trouble in Cambridge. The youth there are debt slaves, too busy studying hard to cause bother.

[Blue Peter]

But first and formost, the UK has a vast underclass that believes it should be given what it wants and is prepared to use violence if its demands are not met.

I didn't think that this thread was about the bankers, is it...Oh!

It has a "vast underclass" because the jobs traditionally done by such people have been exported to China et al.. And it believes that it should be given <a relatively small amount of> money because it is legally entitled to such money - more over, said money was a "bribe" to keep these, suddenly jobless, people sweet and to prevent too great inequalities growing in our country. And now the bribe monies are starting to be taken away. Not surprisingly, the people are not happy about it,


Peter.

[Ludwig]

You won't see any trouble in Cambridge. The youth there are debt slaves, too busy studying hard to cause bother.

You'd be surprised. Cambridge has its share of social/affordable housing, and I for one prefer not to be in the city centre on Friday and Saturday nights.

[DominicJ]

Peter
Get a new job.

The jobs that these people "traditionaly" did, were tradition for 150 years tops, before that, they "traditionaly" did another job, until that was made irrelevent, I dont see your arguement.

I'm not stopping you paying someone to assemble tat.

[Little John]

It's nice to see at least one London shop keeper has managed to maintain a sense of humour in all of this shit. He left a note on his shop door the other night with the following message written on it:


"Due to the imminent collpase of civilisation, we regret to announce that this shop will be closing at 6pm this evening"

[biffvernon]

I go away for five days to a camp promoting peace and multicultural understanding for 2500

Good to see somebody's taking the long view.


Nice posts, Steve, the long one and the short one.

[Mean Mr Mustard]

A Waterstones employee was quoted as saying they would stay open in the hope that people would learn from reading some newly stolen books.

He's assumed da Boyz is literate, innit. Kna wot I mean?

[UndercoverElephant]

* A specific section of society (let's just be honest and call it what it is- a specific section of black culture) that seems to have suffered most in terms of the breakdown of those societal bonds coupled with a particularly low educational achievement which further exacerbates their economic problems.

In some places the "black culture" has been adopted by the local natives. A lot of those people rioting in Croydon were white, not black, but they are a specific section of white culture which has taken on black ways of behaving - and even speaking. They respect black gang/gun culture, and imitate it. Most of them also don't live in Croydon but in an enormous, stinking shit-hole of a council estate half way between Croydon and Biggin Hill which goes by the name of "New Addington." For a lot of people who grow up there, their primary goal in life is to get out of New Addington. Only criminals could be happy there.