Semi-Coherent Riot Commentary

[thessalian]

I did not get much sleep last night, but I must have dozed off because I woke up with my alarm. And then woke up again five minutes after I was supposed to be out the door. I swear, I just closed my eyes for a second... Anyway, it became clear, between the exhaustion and the brewing headache (which is still there, but a little less nasty than it

Comments

[nutmeg3]

Why is it that the sane voices - like yours - never get heard? Oh yeah. Politics. If the Tea Party continues bulling through their noxious agenda, I think our cities are going to blow up soon, too. Our world's quite a mess, and I have no idea how to fix it anymore.

[tithenai]

The people who say that these rioters are politically motivated also have a point.

What I think those people could further say is that rioters don't need to be politically motivated to act out in ways that are symptomatic of political problems.

The footage I've seen makes me ill, not so much because I look at these people and see anger, but because I look at them and see fear -- a fear of the currents in which they're caught up, of the power they possess in the absence of the rule of law, of the escalation of their actions. The more of them there are together, the less agency any individual among them has.

It's just an impression I'm getting from the footage of people mugging the injured and looting homes still on fire. I keep finding myself thinking of what it must be like on those streets thick with looters: what happens when you watch DOZENS of people looting places, not being stopped? More than being robbed, what does the helpless witnessing of that scale of criminality do to a person? How many think, well, that's bad, but as

[thessalian]

What I think those people could further say is that rioters don't need to be politically motivated to act out in ways that are symptomatic of political problems.You've said it better than many in just that sentence. But the problem is that no one wants to hear that. Boris Johnson has actually stricken that entire line of conversation from questions he's going to answer, from the sound

[jedishadowolf]

I hate that all this is going on but you have a very good point. Somehow there needs to be a meeting of the minds to try to find a compromise that will settle the tempers of the rioters while not just handing over the keys to the kingdom, as well as seeing those involved in criminal activity punished. It's a terrible thing to watch play out in the news - I can't imagine what it must be like over there right now. Just want you to know we're thinking of you and hope you stay safe.