When it comes to establishments clashing with people, I always tend to veer towards the people. Talk to me about the JVP youth insurrections in the 70s and 80s and you will find my sympathies with the youth. Talk to me about university student protests for jobs and my sympathies would be with them. I am all for V for Vendetta style civil unrest given that there is thought behind it and hopefully something worth fighting for.
But these London riots lootings that unfolded in the past few days leaves me with very little sympathy for the rioters/looters. I read this excellently written blog post and while I can't argue against it and in any other scenario I would be very much wholeheartedly in agreement with it, I still can't completely see eye to eye about the "causes".
I am struggling to not sound all right-wing about the affair but to draw parallels between the youth riots in Tahrir Sqaure in June and this is a ludicrous noiton to me. And if people want to sit down and "figure out" why these kids did what they did the question they need to be asking is "why an iPhone? why a flatscreen TV from Currys?" Central to these riots was the looting and burning down of shops and the looting was on the High Street. It was like a giant free-for-all shopping day, with opportunity for arson and playing out your frustrations thrown in! Listening to that infamous recording of those two girls parroting some kind of propaganda about "showing the police we can do what we want" and getting back at "the rich people" seems to have been something they overheard around the corner. The video above where that girl is saying that they're getting their taxes back is no different. It's more like they just joined one big rave and went with the flow of the carnage. It was "free stuff" and "good fun"; a chance to act out their Nintendo/Xbox games in real life.
To lump the entire mob into one would be unfair and I'm sure there must be individuals with their own personal reasons; but then again, how else can you respond to a 'mob' besides collectively? Mob mentality is that of the herd and we must MUST (for the sake of future protests) make a distinction between standing up for something and behaving like cows let loose on the street.
I am struggling to not sound all right-wing about the affair but to draw parallels between the youth riots in Tahrir Sqaure in June and this is a ludicrous noiton to me. And if people want to sit down and "figure out" why these kids did what they did the question they need to be asking is "why an iPhone? why a flatscreen TV from Currys?" Central to these riots was the looting and burning down of shops and the looting was on the High Street. It was like a giant free-for-all shopping day, with opportunity for arson and playing out your frustrations thrown in! Listening to that infamous recording of those two girls parroting some kind of propaganda about "showing the police we can do what we want" and getting back at "the rich people" seems to have been something they overheard around the corner. The video above where that girl is saying that they're getting their taxes back is no different. It's more like they just joined one big rave and went with the flow of the carnage. It was "free stuff" and "good fun"; a chance to act out their Nintendo/Xbox games in real life.
To lump the entire mob into one would be unfair and I'm sure there must be individuals with their own personal reasons; but then again, how else can you respond to a 'mob' besides collectively? Mob mentality is that of the herd and we must MUST (for the sake of future protests) make a distinction between standing up for something and behaving like cows let loose on the street.
If we're to say that this has any connection with the "cuts" and poverty we're just fishing for noble causes and slapping them on as we like. If there is a cause anywhere, I can't help but think it's plain and simple materialism. Blu Ray DVDs, Sat Navs, iPhones, flatscrenn TVs, sneakers from JD, clothes from Miss Selfridges...these were the stuff that was getting looted. It goes right at the heart of the kind of materialist environment kids today (in the West in particular) are growing up in. The celebrity culture, the Keeping up with th Kardashians, the fashion labeles...if we're talking about cause and context let's talk abuot that shall we? Kids are growing up being constantly reminded by popular media that the stuff they have, the brands they surround themselves with are the things that define you. I've noticed this so much in London. Shopping at Lidl or Tesco has its stigma attached, just as much as buying your clothes from Primark. So if we talk about the gap between the have's and the have-nots a different question needs to be asked. What kind of 'having' are we talking about?
A much better blog post on the nuances and implications of the London riots can be read here. I know mine sounds a bit ranty and I come across like a sixty year old lady.
A much better blog post on the nuances and implications of the London riots can be read here. I know mine sounds a bit ranty and I come across like a sixty year old lady.
The good news is things have calmed down. Maybe their parents grounded them or soemthing.
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