radiojake wrote:I've been thinking about this a little - The main difference I can see from these recent riots compared to other riots in history (from what I've been able to gather, obviously I wasn't present at any) is the distinct lack of reasoning behind the riots, short of acquiring and looting consumer goods. We've had race riots with particular communities fighting for more access to economic oppurtunity, but this riot didn't seem to have any of that - Infact, it's almost as if our consumer culture has something to do with it. We are bombarded with messages through advertising that tell us success if measure through consumer goods - Plasma TVs, Laptops, igadgets, designer clothing, etc, etc (all useless shit) - If there wasn't such emphasis on this consumer lifestyle, would people have looted the things that they are otherwise unable to attain?
All I know is if I happened to be involved in these riots, I would not have been stealing any Plasmas, but I sure as hell would have been smashing them to pieces - Over-consumption is the death-knell for our culture.
Just something I've been thinking about -
Anyone following the news would have heard this theory presented several times - even the x-factor has been blamed and it's not unlikely that consumer culture was, and is, a huge part of the problem.
People have come to expect something for nothing or in the case of x-factor, overnight success and fortune for a few nights 'work'. They see images of people enjoying a lifestyle they want to have despite the fact that it misrepresents the majority of society. It's all comes down to hunger for that which they do not have and being lured into a belief that they have every right to get it, and get it with minimal effort.
The violence and aggression that came along with the looting was frightening and the lack of humanity shown unbelievable. But, that aside, the parrells drawn between the theft during the riots and the governmen'ts underhandedness and expenses abuse are all too easy to see. An easy buck is something not only the poorer side of town wants.
There is no excuse for what happened, in my mind, and the perpetrators are the absolute dreggs of Britain...lowest of the low...but when you look at those supposedly setting an example, it can only be cause for more despair. And by example I mean both governmental and parental.
Thuggery has not been effectively responded to for too long...it's taken this large scale riot to get it talked about it, and who knows if anything good will actually come out of it...
But on a positive note, I still love Britain: for all the lawless and disgusting animals it has, there are many more decent people with proper values and morals - people who know right from wrong and forge ahead with whatever tools they have to make the best life they can for themselves and their children. People who can watch television without being hypnotised by it. And people who don't look to their government for everything.
