Semi-Coherent Riot Commentary
Aug. 9th, 2011 01:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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 was at 8ish this morning), there was no way I was making it into work today.
Finally checking the news, I see why there were all the sirens last night. Maybe why there are still sirens today, for all I know (because believe you me, there are still sirens). And the helicopters, which are still buzzing my neighbourhood. You have to sort of aggregate the pictures from the Telegraph, the Guardian and the BBC to get a clear picture, but my end of Southeast London was not exactly a safe place last night. I don't like seeing pictures of places I go shopping sometimes destroyed by looters.
At the end of the day, I don't condone their actions. How can I, who hasn't slept well in two nights because of being kept up by sirens and low-flying helicopters? What I would say, though, is that there is still more to this than mindless thugs. Fine, teenagers are not very articulate (and let's be fair, most of them do appear to be teenagers) but one thing's abundantly clear - they're pissed off. Teenagers act out when they're pissed off. Their future's been taken away a piece at a time. What do they really think they've got to lose? They may not be able to articulate it, but the feeling is certainly there. Keep in mind that I am still blaming them. But I am also blaming the forces that shaped them - parents, society, government - and I don't see why the two directions of blame ought to be mutually exclusive. If we just slap these rioters down without changing anything, all we'll end up with is martial law and yet more people pissed off and ready to explode. If that happens, the vicious cycle continues.
What worries me most is the fact that it's not going to stop unless something big happens. If it was just teens being thugs, they'd probably have got bored by now. But now they're tasting something they never have before - power, of a sort - and they don't want to give it up. The police can't cope and the next step is probably military, because I don't see this stopping on its own. After that ... well, I don't know what happens after that. I do know that it'd be irresponsible to let this run its course because I have no idea where it'd end, but I have no wish to see the army on the streets.
So, the rundown:
- The people who say that these rioters are just mindlessly criminal thugs have a point.
- The people who say that these rioters are politically motivated also have a point.
- Things need to change on both sides to prevent a recurrence.
- Government needs to pay attention to people before the brickbats and firebombs come out.
- People need to stick to kettle-dodging and making the police look stupid in ways that don't destroy their communities.
- I want to go home to Canada.
Ugh. I'd go get more sleep if it wouldn't screw over my sleep patterns entirely...
Finally checking the news, I see why there were all the sirens last night. Maybe why there are still sirens today, for all I know (because believe you me, there are still sirens). And the helicopters, which are still buzzing my neighbourhood. You have to sort of aggregate the pictures from the Telegraph, the Guardian and the BBC to get a clear picture, but my end of Southeast London was not exactly a safe place last night. I don't like seeing pictures of places I go shopping sometimes destroyed by looters.
At the end of the day, I don't condone their actions. How can I, who hasn't slept well in two nights because of being kept up by sirens and low-flying helicopters? What I would say, though, is that there is still more to this than mindless thugs. Fine, teenagers are not very articulate (and let's be fair, most of them do appear to be teenagers) but one thing's abundantly clear - they're pissed off. Teenagers act out when they're pissed off. Their future's been taken away a piece at a time. What do they really think they've got to lose? They may not be able to articulate it, but the feeling is certainly there. Keep in mind that I am still blaming them. But I am also blaming the forces that shaped them - parents, society, government - and I don't see why the two directions of blame ought to be mutually exclusive. If we just slap these rioters down without changing anything, all we'll end up with is martial law and yet more people pissed off and ready to explode. If that happens, the vicious cycle continues.
What worries me most is the fact that it's not going to stop unless something big happens. If it was just teens being thugs, they'd probably have got bored by now. But now they're tasting something they never have before - power, of a sort - and they don't want to give it up. The police can't cope and the next step is probably military, because I don't see this stopping on its own. After that ... well, I don't know what happens after that. I do know that it'd be irresponsible to let this run its course because I have no idea where it'd end, but I have no wish to see the army on the streets.
So, the rundown:
- The people who say that these rioters are just mindlessly criminal thugs have a point.
- The people who say that these rioters are politically motivated also have a point.
- Things need to change on both sides to prevent a recurrence.
- Government needs to pay attention to people before the brickbats and firebombs come out.
- People need to stick to kettle-dodging and making the police look stupid in ways that don't destroy their communities.
- I want to go home to Canada.
Ugh. I'd go get more sleep if it wouldn't screw over my sleep patterns entirely...