The scenes on the television, the noises in the street, fear fills most, but those few, those idiotic few, have found something else, a new found lust for destruction, for theft and anarchy. This is not 1981, this is 2011. Under a year until this proud country plays host to the top athletes and invites the world to join us for the greatest spectacle in the world... the 2012 Olympic Games.
Some may blame this on the death of one man from London. Mr Duggan, a father of four, was shot in Ferry Lane, Tottenham, north London, on Thursday, as officers attempted to make an arrest. There may be no evidence to suggest Mr. Duggan opened fire on the officers, but a gun was found on the scene. What was to come next could not have been predicted... Some of the worst scenes Britain has seen for many years.
Since Saturday England has been plagued by the complete devastation of buildings, looting of stock and the abuse of the police force. Starting in London that terrible night, we have seen shops burnt to the ground, once of course everything in there had been stolen, and groups of hundreds if not thousands of young people uprising against the people we put our faith in every day to protect us and our streets.
But where exactly were the police? It is clear to see that the situation was not handled as well as it could have and should have been. Many people have been interviewed and quoted as saying that they rang for the police, in desperate need of assistance, and, sadly, their calls were not answered. Youths left to their on devices, youths that without a doubt should not have been out at such times of the night as 3a.m when the riots were still going on.
So what or who is to blame? Were the police too trigger happy, were the police too slow to react to the uprising we are still seeing 4 days later? Are these just a collection of Britain's scum? Are we seeing an eventual reaction to the financial turmoil we see the world's economy in? Well if not the answer, I do know one thing... This may be the beginning of a sad and sorry end to society as we know it.
Wolverhampton, West Bromwich, Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester, and several areas of London sit in devastation and turmoil. Society is in a downward spiral and as the economy fails, and the government fail to act accordingly, there is one outlet, one service that has thrived, and sadly it has thrived in the worst way... Social networking has provided a way for the scum of Britain to get in touch and coordinate attacks and riots. On the 9th of August 2011 perhaps the saddest and most disgraceful Facebook request was published... One sad, pathetic, horrific person organised for people to meet at 5pm at Salford Shopping Centre in Manchester to 'Steal Things'. A sad day for us all I think you'll agree.
What is this answer? How do we fight this issue? How can you stop this when there are people, men and women, aged everything between 7 and 47 ignoring every social norm, all respect for people around them and joining together to fight against the very people who are here to keep you safe? Plastic Bullets has been tipped as the best answer. But if this was America we wouldn't just see riot police trying to calm things down, the Army would be in, the real bullets would be out, and lives, however sad it may be, would be lost... But our police force are not allowed to do this. Bring out the water cannon? Not a chance says Theresa May.
The 6,000 brave men and women in the police force who were battling the crowds up until today, has now been raised to 16,000 police officers on the streets to try and nip this in the bud as soon as possible. To the Police Officers who are risking their lives to stop this nightmare, I commend you, you are brave, and brilliant, but you are too late. The government's decision to delay this move, to not decide upon this until the 4th day, has let down those tax paying, honest citizens of Britain who have seen their homes destroyed and work places looted. Mr. Cameron you have let us down. Bring in what Army forces we haven't shipped out to fight yet, bring in the water cannons and plastic bullets, bring in an early curfew, bring in trucheons and tear gas, where is our Zero Tolerance to gang crime now?
111 of those brave officers who have put themselves in danger in the line of duty have been injured, people have been stabbed, shot, killed, and what is happening? Not a lot!
In this social networking world, our imperfect society has come undone. A faltering economy, a lack of opportunity for young people, and friction between the police and gangs around London have all been quoted as reasons for this nightmare, but I have some facts to add, some home truths that, thanks to this horrific time have been made aware;
- What are the parents of these youths doing? Children being allowed, some maybe encouraged to go out and join the madness, by parents who will probably sit on benefits, drinking their sorry lives away.
- The government has failed to react in a strong manner to combat the obvious uprising. The coalition has once more let us down in our times of need.
- The youth crime culture that has haunted our streets since the birth of the 'chav' has not been dealt with.
These sorry truths are now haunting us, and this, without a shadow of a doubt, needs to stop. These are not riots, this is not a reaction to the death of Mr. Duggan on Thursday. This is not Brixton Riots. This is the thuggish, yob, youth culture rising up, from their low IQ, Jeremy Kyle, Strong Cider, no qualification lives, and taking what is not theirs. People's livelihoods they have worked for. People's homes they have earned. People's history and future gone within days of sheer idiocy and anarchy.
A few right steps have been taken to stop this devastation; fast-track courts have been opened to see the criminals put to justice. Plastic Bullets are being given to the brave police who's numbers are gladly being increased to stem this mayhem.
This has been a sad time for our society. We no longer stand as a proud country, but a country ashamed of the people we see around us acting in such a shameful way.
Thanks to Twitter, Facebook and BlackBerry Messenger, this has surely become the biggest organised crime case in history.
My fellow educated people, let us all come together, as the scum has, but instead of destroying people's lives, let us join together to correct all the wrongs of these sad people.
The Army would be in the streets if this was Egypt, or Lybia, not America.
ReplyDeleteYou shouldn't worry too much about recovering : France has seen similar scenes of destruction in 2005, and it has recovered quite fast, but we should ask ourselves, what disease are those riots the symptoms of?
Those who commit these crimes will be punished, at least some of them, and the "honnest tax payers" whose shops were burnt to the ground will be reimbursed by their insurances, and life will go on.
But History won't be the same, and people will always have in the back of their heads the thought that they aren't safe.
And this is how the extreme right wins elections all over europe, surfing on the wave of "insecurity", real or imagined.
Even if the rioters' ideologies (if they have any) are far from the far right they help them win votes with every single shop or car they burn. Because their victims will turn to those who face their problems. And by creating the problem the create the false solution that is the extreme right.
And I hope that those who are caught will be severly punished, and that those who dream of a more fair, a more just society can express their opinions and beliefs without giving way to hatred and violence.
May England recover from its wounds and soon forget (not forgive) what happened during those terrible nights.
With unemployment rife and the situation not looking to get better anytime soon it was an inevitability rather than a unfortunate occurrence. The Mark Duggan incident provided the catalyst, but it could have been anything. The majority of people who are taking part and doing so to get stuff for free, or just for the sake of being destructive. The main problem is that the people taking part, mainly young adults and teenagers don't believe that they will be held accountable and see it as an easy crime. If the police had used a firmer hand when the first signs of disturbances became clear then I doubt it would have escalated this far, and quickly prosecuting those that have been arrested will also act as a deterrent to others thinking of doing the same, although whether sentencing to set an example is okay is a whole other argument,
ReplyDeleteEither way, the violence seemed to have subsided last night so if this is the end of it will be a relatively quick recovery and to be honest most of the country has not been affected. We'll have to wait and see.
I don't know if the people involved have any ideology. I don't know what their own personal reasons are for rioting like this. Maybe the don't even know. But I don't think it is too much of a stretch of the imagination to make a connection between the burning images we are seeing and the failure to support the youth. Any support that young people had under Labour has been ripped out from under them by the tories. EMA has been taken away from kids that can't afford to get into school everyday. For many the lack of bus fare is probably just one in a million problems that they have to face. Taking away one of the only things that made their lives run a bit smoother does not make a motivated person full of social conscience. University is now a completely unattainable dream for most people. Don't get me wrong I think it's disgusting that these people are burning down people's homes and independent businesses, taking away lively hoods from families. But I can't help thinking this is one of the prices we pay for leaving people behind. Uneducated, unsupported, how are people supposed to find a connection to society. I would speculate that many of the people involved in these riots have special needs- ADHD, dyslexia. Many teenagers these days can't get a statement because the extra funding they need costs too much. So again these people are left without any support. This government shut down every single connexions centre and now teenagers who used this support network as a connection to society, as a way to find a job, to look into alternatives to college etc. have nowhere to turn. That's just a few examples of how the right (and I would include the Labour party under Blair and Brown in that) are failing young people.
ReplyDeletePeople ask 'what about the parents?' but these rioters will often be children of children. People who had kids young, who themselves were failed by the system. Parents with little education, who have little opportunity to overcome the problems life throws at them.
Public spending, education and job creation. That is the only way out of the mess that the greedy leaders have made of this world. I hope these are the growing pains of a civilised society because we cannot go on with such a huge disparity in the division of wealth.