nashark said:
SilvaLining said:
Even though all the violence is completely awful and cannot be justified, it does not mean that the underlying causes of tension can't be discussed or examined. To simply label this entire thing as the actions of some thugs looking for an excuse to go robbing without looking at the socio-economic reasons why they have this bleak, nihilistic mentality would be catastrophic.
I tried that last night but I might as well have been holidaying in Italy.
I don't think people are actually capable of seeing past "kids on the rob".
Nashark, I replied to your post last night with a lengthy-ish post that you didn't reply to.
We come, I think, from a similar stance politically, but comparing this situation to political protests or even riots of the past (Brixton, Moss Side, Toxteth, Oldham, Bradford, etc) is really an insult to those involved in the previous issue and the severity of what had driven them to that in those instances.
This is not motivated by any significant people. They have no aims. They have no stance or demands. They are not protesting about the treatment of a certain section of community.
You might remember some of the riots mentioned above. Correct me if I'm wrong but you saw angry people from certain, identifiable areas of communities involved in them.
What you saw last night was not angry people with a cause. It was not a certain section of the community. It was scrotes and criminals from a broad section of communities taking advantage of the knowledge that the police could not cope.
Where was the rhetoric? Where was the graffiti? Where were the demands? Where were the statement making targets for violence?
They weren't there because they were not in the mind of anyone involved.
It is opportunistic. And motivated by nothing other than personal greed and the desire to break stuff. Something that you must remember from when you were that age is quite easy to engender in many excitable, easily influenced teenagers. Without needing a motive.
As I keep saying, we all know that any enlightened society must address issues that churn out people who have the propensity to be involved in such nonsense. But please don't insult people who fought (literally in many cases) against certain injustices in the past with what you saw last night. It undermines issues that I, and I suspect you, support and have backed in the past and will in the future.
I could say a lot more, but I'm all typed out here.
This is the most pointless and criminal civil unrest I can recall (and I've justified a lot in the past). If they had issues about cuts, social justice and opportunity I might find myself joining them. It is not that enlightened though. It is the first time that I can recall that a Western nation has fallen victim to such widespread pure lawlessness from a group of teenagers and criminals that have no 'issue' or genuine reason (one that is known to they themselves at least) to fight for something.
