Many Reasons, No Excuse
Since these riots started, we have heard many reasons for their cause. First it stemmed from the shooting of a man in Tottenham. Now its about a disaffected youth, joblessness, lack of facilities etc etc. But lets get one thing straight; this violence has absolutely no reasoning behind it. It is illogical. It does not make sense for those who claim lack of opportunity to throw the chance of it away by turning into a criminal. It does not make sense for those who claim to come from deprived neighbourhoods to burn and destroy property to make that neighbourhood worse. It does not make sense for those who claim to have been taken advantage of by the elite to cause potentially irrecoverable damage to small business owners. It does not make sense for parents who claim the system does not help them to not be able to keep the most basic grip on their children.
Are there grievances? Of course. There are numerous issues with urban neighbourhoods, joblessness, education, law and order. But I will not discuss those now. Just like we should be focussing not on psycho-analysis, but instead on reclaiming our streets and cleaning up the mess these criminals have caused. Remember ‘tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime’, well lets focus on the first part for the moment.
Anyone wanting, at this point, to try and think of some bigger picture, some reasoning, that these youths must have some purpose, only need to see this video. I’m not going to try and describe it, because it leaves me lost for words. Except that whilst watching it I find myself wanting to find that castration is now a legal punishment. How can we invest in these people? How difficult is it, after seeing that, to make the argument for spending on education, on training, on youth facilities, for people who would do what those in that video did? I don’t often agree with Dianne Abbott, but I heard her call this ‘recreational looting’, I couldn’t agree more.
I love watching these fools behave as if they are revolutionaries, think that they are tough. Then they cover up their faces. They can’t look people in the eye, they can’t show their faces to the police as they throw bricks at them. Cowards.
They have no point. They are not protesting about anything. Their only reasoning for doing this is for a thrill, is to cause damage, is to out do other mindless idiots in other areas of the city and country, and of course to steal. To think that this is part of my generation, however a small a part, is utterly depressing. The Arab youth rose up and the result was a first step on the road to democracy. People are dying daily in Syria as they clamour for the same. There is a famine in parts of Africa. Other areas of the world are still recovering from devastating natural disasters. And here we have people rioting for mobile phones and trainers. And my generation has had it easy. Yes we have had an enormously disastrous financial crises, and terrorist attacks. But we have not had to live through the cold war, with constant threats of state based nuclear annihilation. We have not had to worry about being drafted to serve in Vietnam, nor having to deal with the blood bath that was World War II, and thereafter being faced with having to rebuild nations after global war and depression. Instead we have lived through a massive growth in technology and we now live in a world where knowledge is at our fingertips. I still have massive faith in my generation, however this is a reminder, as if I needed it, that a small number of idiots can do a whole lot of damage.
We do have problems, but the vast majority of these thugs could care less about actually helping to solve those problems. And all the talk of a lack of representation, feeling alienated from the community and the political system, and that this is what happens in David Cameron’s Britain, is wrong. We can make our political points, and talk about the state of the economy, and that chances of civil unrest is always heightened at times on economic strife. But these thieves and vandals care not about such issues. However you feel, violence is never the answer. We do not live in a third world country, whatever you think of our government, they are not a dictatorship, and regardless of feelings of disgust towards the press from the phone hacking scandal, our media is still free and open. I have experienced first hand that the political system, with all its faults, can still serve as a place for people to come together. It is full of good people who want to solve problems. In this country, the system can work, and violence is never the answer.
I will make a political point however. Those who thought that they could cut front line police without consequence, as Theresa May did, should now have been proved wrong, and made to admit their mistakes. Those who think first responders should have their pay frozen and benefits reduced must not think again. These police officers, fire fighters and paramedics are amazingly brave. I know people who serve in frontline services, and they deserve nothing but our continued support, and for political leaders to offer a full-throated defence of their jobs and pay checks.
As much shame and disgust I have for what we have witnessed, this is overshadowed by the immense pride I take in the response of Londoners. We are already seeing sites like this setup to aid the cleanup operation, and pictures like this and this are heart warming. They remind me of why this is the greatest city on the planet. They prove that the majority of people are good, and the minority of youngsters causing havoc are vastly outnumbered by those willing to respond and indeed stand-up to their thuggery. This city is incredibly resilient. This city will respond. And our system, despite its faults, will show that it does work, and whatever reasoning there maybe for any number of issues, in a democracy, in a nation with a free press, there is never an excuse for violence.
