Category: News and Views
I'm surprised this topic has not already been created.
Probably all of you have heard by now about the riots that are going on in the UK. They started in London after the police shot a black young man. apparently the fact that a white policeman shot a black guy upset the young black people and they started riotting in London. It then spread to other areas in London, and then to other cities such as birmingham and Leeds. then the Manchester city centre was totally trashed. Riots have even started in our neighbouring town, gloucester, where there were 16000 policemen on the street.
I heard a quote on the radio that in Manchester, if the riots keep going, there will be no city left. This is scary.
Let this please not be a debate whether praying helps or not, but praying seems to be the only thing we can do at the moment.
I saw a news program in which a member of parliament and the news reporter were arguing about the cause of all this. The MP believed that the cutting of funding for youth and the closing of many youth centres did not help the situation.
Anyways, communities are being trashed, shops luted and some buildings were set on fire. I'm scared and worried, and angry, and I just hope and pray that the riots will settle down soon.
Yeah; I've heard about it and it does sound scary. I was shocked to hear that even little kids were participating. It seems like the rioters are just randomly stealing, destroying property, and hurting people for no reason, and if there is a reason, (which seems to be way past the initial one), it's just crazy what people would do to others just to make whatever point they're trying to make. Just the seeming randomness of the destruction and violence, seems frightening to me. I really feel bad for all the people directly affected by this, and for those who could easily become targets of whatever the rioters decide to do to them. I'm also happy though to know that there was a calm at some point, and I hope and pray that the riots will end soon as well.
I have friends throughout England, one of whose families lives next to Croyden in South London. What might have started as frustration over austerity measures has turned into nothing but criminal thuggery. I couldn't blame PM Cameron at all if he brought in the military, but I realize that there's almost no chance of that or else the U.K. would be met with derision for turning troops on civilians by Syria and Libya. I really, really do hope this ends soon, but I fear that this kind of phenomenon will ultimately spread to the USA, where we also have lots and lots of guns...
Well. I heard now that there is a calm due to wet weather and a lot of police on the streets. They have arrested hundreds of people who were taking part in the riots. I sure hope it will calm down totally.
I heard an interesting interview on the radio this morning where a British reporter was interviewing some teenage boys who have been participating in the riots. They simply don't care if they get arrested because they have the attitude it would be their first offense and not hurt their future. They seem to believed that they have every right to loot and steal because they are not actually the ones who started the rioting.
Unfortunately, this sort of thing has also happened in the U.S. A riot starts for a specific reason (Rodney King, anyone?), and then hundreds and even thousands of other people join in who don't give a damn about the original reason for the riots but who just want to loot and steal and engage in vandalism and violence.
Yep, this is sad.
Luckily they have a strong police presence in gloucester now and they will keep it that way for a while. Also police can now tell gangs of two people or more to leave the gloucester area for 24 hours. We should have peace now, I pray anyways.
I have been keeping up with the reports on these riots, and the sheer criminality that has occurred is appalling. I have been praying for people who have been harmed and lost property due to this violence, and I will also pray for the criminals.
From interviews, it sounds like many of these people had the attitude that they could do whatever they wanted and wouldn't get caught.
I am glad the criminals are being caught and convicted, but as someone pointed out to PM Cameron, there are many of these criminals who do not fear the justice system.
What I can't believe is the age of some of these criminals. The youngest was an eleven-year-old. I agree that more youth centers should be established, and perhaps some curfew legislation should be passed. But the real problem is parents. Why is it okay for their children to be out late and they have no idea where they are or what they're doing?
Hopefully, the increased number of police and the convicting of rioters will cause this rioting to dissipate.
yeah, as far as the minors go, where are the parents? They are responsible to a certain degree at least.
The funniest thing is all the people going on about the rioters being poor even though one was studying to be a lawyer, one was studying to be a dance teacher, one was an aspiring musician, one was the daughter of a millionaire, one was hoping to become a social worker, one was a youth worker, one was a police officer, one was a classroom assistant, one was a cook, one was a model, etc.
There are no excuses for this. It is pure criminality, and the consequences must be severe.
Humans s u c k suck.
Artificial intelligence would not riot.
There, now that I just upset the all-natural community, this is not unique to England and the U.S. but people start doing this whenever a riot begins: seems to be contagious.
On the other side, though, you also have people out providing assistance, usually thanklessly and without recognition. The same social networks which have been criticized for their roles in the riots were also instrumental in the clean-up and providing assistance.
If Maybury had a riot, all the "nice folk" (in Shakespeare's day 'nice' meant mentally impaired) would be out looting too. Provided they could do it incognito or semi-incognito.
Reread Lord of the Flies, kiddies: Note how empowered the boys felt when they could mask up and become something else, terrorizing the island. The Nice Folk of Academia should really be studying these incidents if they want to understand just how it is humans will behave with no trappings. There is no sauvage Noville if I have spelled that correctly.
Senior, your post was the best: Ms. Librarian can wield a pipe and break into a window / get herself some new clothes under the (im)proper circumstances.
Its important to remember there is a distinct difference between rioters and looters. The rioters are mostly disaffected yuths with no real prospects, whilst the looters are just very selfish people out for whatever they can get.
I feel that there is a very serious underlying problem in the UK right now, with a growing group of youngsters who can't get a job, can't afford University or any kind of post 16 education since the government decided to stop Education Maintanence Allowance which helps poor kids pay for stuff like travel to and from college etc.
In recent cuts, local authorities have also decided to close many hundreds of yuth clubs and other services, so these kids don't have anywhere to go or anything to do. For example, in a town called Newbury not far from me, the local authorities have closed 3 out of the 5 yuth centres, and even ordered mobile yuth club vans to be sold off.
Basically, these young people take the view that as society doesn't appear to care about them, why should they care about society? They are no longer team players, they are out for themselves and whatever they can get.
I believe that the solution is to reopen all yuth services immediately, and to bring back national service as soon as possible. National service would become law for anyone from age 16 to age 21 who does not have a full time job or a place on an educational programme.
The choice would be either to serve one year with the armed forces or emergency services, or 2 years in service to the community, perhaps working with yuth services etc.
National service would catch anyone without a job or college education plan, so these kids would no longer feel that they had no options. Very often people aged 16 to 21 are simply not ready for the big wide world really. They can't deal with the sad fact that once they leave school at 16, there's no one looking out for them anymore.
College students have lecturers and student welfare teams to look after them, and workers are part of a team and have a boss and rules governing how they conduct themselves in their workplace. But what to the poor unemployed have in the way of support? What do they have to help them stay on the strait and narrow? Basically nothing and no one, sadly not even their parents!
So enter National Service. National service would provide a stable environment for youngsters who still need guidance. It would enable them to contribute in a posative way to society, and give them an experience they can be proud of. It would provide them with many new experiences that might stimulate their personal ambitions and imaginations, so that when they complete their service period, they have true direction. Those who serve with the army may very well want to stay or may go on to get careers in related industries or services. Those who serve with emergency services may decide to stay on etc.
At this point in our current situation, I can't see any other viable option, other than the swift reintroduction of a National Service scheme.
Matt
senior, I couldn't agree more. very well said.
National Service or some such would be a boon for the U.S., I think. But you would have a ton of idealistic and fundamentalist types freaking out over the notion. And by fundamentalist, I don't mean any particular persuasion of it they're all a bunch of loons.
I think that with regards to the riots, one has to consider the fact that this society - here I'm not speaking particularly about the UK or America, has become far too focused on the rights of the individual, thereby doing away with responsibility to society. The Uk has free public education, free healthcare, subsidised housing. You may feel free to debate the quality of any of those services ad nausium, however the fact remains that they exist. However, the legally enshrined right to said education or healthcare does not seem to bring with it a responsibility not to destroy the society who provided them. Millions of pounds have been spent quoshing these riots, a bigger debt to be placed on an already overbalanced system. I know that what started these events was a police shooting, later determined to be suspect on the part of the officer, who did fire first. That said though, protest and making a statement about police procedure isn't done by breaking the windows of private shops and homes in ones own comunities. I'm reminded of a line from a song I rather like: "everyone who looks younger than me, makes me check for my walet and my phone and my key, we're all tired of being tired out, always on the look out." It is true, it seems that too many young people do not have any sense of obligation, perhaps sense of direction regarding their society. We spent so much time saying be who you are and we seemed to skimp on the message, do right by others. So when these things happen, I would ask everyone not to shake their heads in confusion at a group of misbegotten thugs, because they weren't. Start looking inward on a community level and figure out what the hell is going on and don't expect the government to do it for you. I could go on at length but I fear I am bloviating, so I'll end it there.
Me
to guitargod1, your assuming these minors even have parents.
And as for people believing they will not be caught, there is a simple answer to that idiology. during mass protests as riots, due to the shere number of people involved, the damage that is being perpetrated is due to individuals believing they can remain annonomis, and that their actions will go unnoticed or be washed up with the rest.