I don't often use this blog for topics other than entertainment, but these London riots have shocked our country to the core, myself included.
I've sat and watched on the TV and via Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and chat rooms not only the events playing out, but also the responses of my friends, colleagues, associates and public figures.
I hear calls for the army to be deployed; for water cannons to be used; for curfews to be in place and enforced with lethal efficiency; even for an immediate return of National Service to drum a sense of order and responsibility (and also control) into the minds of our young people.
None of this does anything to address the roots of the problem. I'm certainly not saying that any of what has taken place is acceptible. Burning, looting, violence and robbery is totally abhorrent and needs to end, but few are considering what this is going to cost us all.
The sudden outbreak of rioting is caused by a fundamental disenfranchisement of everyday people in this country. In the upper classes this disenfranchisement manifests when the rich emigrate, or move all of their assets and taxes elsewhere. In the middle (and largely educated) classes, the sense of displacement and injustice can be seen in voting for extremist political groups, massive support for broadcase satire (which has become a platform lambasting every move any public figure makes) This should not be underestimated as it represents a general dissatisfaction with everything around us; in the poorest classes, and those with the poorest education, this disenfranchisement manifests in the only option available: lashing out at everything to hand and grabbing as much for one's self as possible.
What are the causes of this disenfranchisement? Abuse of power. Everytime a council ignores the pleas of local residents and builds an unwanted runway or windfarm. Every time an insurance company uses a technicality to deny a payment to a legitimate claimant. Every time a lawyer uses a loophole or procedural mistake to free a true criminal. Every time the government uses taxpayers money to fund illegal and unwarranted military action abroad to support our addiction to petrol, instead of using that money to find a credible domestic alternative. Every time a banker pushes the poor further into poverty through carelessness only to be rewarded with an annual bonus comprised of a sum of money the like of which most people will never see. Every time a big company with influence is granted permission to take action which damages our planet. Every time jobs are taken away from our own country and moved to cheaper economies elsewhere, only to sell the products back to us at an inflated price we can no longer afford.
All of these things chip away at our sense of hope; our sense of belonging and our sense of justice. People no longer believe that they can be heard by the world around them, inspite of the unparalleled access to communication we now enjoy. We can no longer pretend that the powers that be cannot hear us. They can hear us. They choose to ignore us because it is not in their vested interests to change.
But the response has to be something other than rioting. It simply has to.
When you use force, it has to be met with an equal or greater force in order to stop it and push it back. The authorities want to restore the status quo. By resorting to riots, the people involved are giving the authorities the excuse to use greater power. They are also causing enough outrage among thinking citizens to allow them to do this without complaint. I know several people who would not bat an eyelid if the police or military deployed tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the crowds. We are affording the government the permission to take away our freedoms even further.
The responsibility lies with the rioters. For every building you burn, you endanger our freedoms. For every item you steal, you endanger our freedoms. For every rock you throw, you endanger our freedoms.
This has to stop, before we all become greater victims.
And to the governments, the leaders, the chairman and the shareholders - you have to understand that this outpouring of desperation says one thing and one thing alone. The people of this country are not happy with the way you are managing the direction of our home. These events are caused by the ever-widening gap between rich and poor and it is only the rich that have the power and resources to do anything about the situation.
