Riots...

[fajrdrako]

" ... Just last night, all over London places are aflame and some guy - some photographer - got a lovely picture of a rioter and he's standing there full of indignation with a stolen tape deck in either hand and he's irate. He says, 'I'm doing this because they call us criminals.' And so when people come out with that in real life, I hardly ever

Comments

[abrakadabrah]

LOL on number two Elizabeth - or, as they say - epic fail.

Did you forget the 12 years of Labor government that only just ended - 3 consecutive terms for Tony Blair.

[fajrdrako]

Nope, didn't forget it at all. I rather thought it made my point!

[abrakadabrah]

I rather thought it made my point!

Well, I suppose it made your point then, but I can't see how your point has anything to do with the riots. The way you feel about the UK gov't doesn't really reflect what was going on with the rioters. This wasn't a riot about some left wing cause.

[fajrdrako]

No, it seemed to have no really coherent cause at all, which is why I found it interesting. I didn't mean that it was in any way politically motivated, but that government inattention (or, worse, the offering and then rescinding of various social policies) may have made marginalized people more restless than usual.

As a sidebar:

[dewline]

Interesting blog with insights into the local legal processes at play here:

http://thelawwestofealingbroadway.blogspot.com/

One of my UK acquaintances on LJ pointed it out to me in passing re: proposed evictions from housing for those convicted in connection with the riots.

Re: As a sidebar:

[fajrdrako]

Sounds to me as if this might have a domino effect, which may or may not be a good thing in the long run. If I were the law, I'm not sure how I'd treat it, and it will be interesting to see what they do.

Punishing the innocent is clearly not the way to go.

(It looks more and more to me like a scenario out of a Ben Aaronovitch novel. Perhaps one of the nastier river gods is behind it.)

As to the causes...

[dewline]

...I suspect these are contributing factors in some, but not all, of the cases we're discussing here. Each of them deserves a thread all its own.

Re: As to the causes...

[fajrdrako]

I don't pretend to have all the answers, even if there are answers to be had.

I think we are living in interesting times.