Riots in the UK
Aug 10th 2011, 4:54 pm
#46
SUPER MODERATOR
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 88,023
Re: Riots in the UK
Yeah I know that but the OP insinuated that riots in the UK would spark off riots over here. I wondered why she thought that.
Aug 10th 2011, 5:38 pm
#47
BE Site Lead
Joined: Aug 2004
Location: MA, USA
Posts: 92,170
Re: Riots in the UK
The real reason the riots kicked off...
Aug 10th 2011, 5:53 pm
#48
Peace onion
Joined: Jul 2006
Location: Denver
Posts: 5,686
Re: Riots in the UK
Despite being a left-winger, this guy nails it. Brilliant.
http://www.spiked-online.com/index.p...article/10970/
http://www.spiked-online.com/index.p...article/10970/
Aug 10th 2011, 6:22 pm
#49
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Joined: Apr 2011
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Re: Riots in the UK
Aug 10th 2011, 6:25 pm
#50
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Joined: Apr 2011
Location: Maine
Posts: 1,204
Re: Riots in the UK
Despite being a left-winger, this guy nails it. Brilliant.
http://www.spiked-online.com/index.p...article/10970/
http://www.spiked-online.com/index.p...article/10970/
Aug 10th 2011, 7:35 pm
#52
Unmitigated Gall
Joined: Dec 2006
Location: it's still too dark to tell
Posts: 16,162
Re: Riots in the UK
You will never see that level of destruction here.
TV: "And we'll be right back with...
Rioter: *Runs out the door, down the street, throws a rock in the general direction of the local 7-11, flips off a police car he sees speeding down the street a block over, runs back home, panting, falls in his laz-e-boy just as...
TV: "Welcome back to America's got Talent!"
TV: "And we'll be right back with...
Rioter: *Runs out the door, down the street, throws a rock in the general direction of the local 7-11, flips off a police car he sees speeding down the street a block over, runs back home, panting, falls in his laz-e-boy just as...
TV: "Welcome back to America's got Talent!"
Aug 10th 2011, 8:07 pm
#55
Heading for Poppyland
Joined: Jul 2007
Location: North Norfolk and northern New York State
Posts: 14,545
Re: Riots in the UK
:sneaky
Brendan O'Neill may have been a left-winger once but he sure isn't now. He wants to blame the welfare state for the riots and a supposed break down in traditional social bonds. Completely unconvincing.
Despite being a left-winger, this guy nails it. Brilliant.
http://www.spiked-online.com/index.p...article/10970/
http://www.spiked-online.com/index.p...article/10970/
Aug 10th 2011, 8:09 pm
#56
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: Jan 2010
Location: Tampa, Fl
Posts: 54
Re: Riots in the UK
I don't think it's that simple. While I'm sure many of the rioters are just using this as an excuse to riot and loot and cause mischief, there are other factors at play here.
I'm not condoning the rioters actions, but it was pretty obvious something like this was coming. Perceived cuts in the welfare state, unemployment, racial tensions, growing gap between the richest and poorest incomes, liberal education policies which have failed the kids, producing a generation of under-educated, unskilled people dependent on government hand-outs.
Let's look at the problem with the Met. It appears the police killed Duggan when he was not a threat and then tried to cover it up. Yes, the guy was not a choirboy, but that does not merit police execution.
The police are the largest armed gang operating in the UK, have a monopoly on force, and they act with impunity. I can cite numerous examples where they abuse their power and there are no repercussions. Corruption, blatant cover-ups etc. from Jean Charles de Menezes, Ian Tomlinson/Simon Harwood, the custody sergeant who threw the lady headfirst onto the concrete. I could go on and on.
You know me and you know that I think Britain became a police state a while back. I sympathize with blacks in London after they get stopped and searched time after time, living under constant surveillance. This would make me angry too.
I agree that destroying your own neighborhood is sheer idiocy, and I feel for the people who have lost their livelihoods and their homes. The same thing happened in LA, where the predominantly black population destroyed its own infrastructure. It's crazy.
Britain is still obsessed with class. Typical newspaper article will include the following - blah blah, said Mr Area Man in his 350,000 pound detached house with a Jaguar and a "4x4" parked in the driveway.
And a lot of British people are envious or resentful of others' success.
As an example, listen to these geniuses:
"Showing the rich people we can do what we want"
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14458424
I'm not condoning the rioters actions, but it was pretty obvious something like this was coming. Perceived cuts in the welfare state, unemployment, racial tensions, growing gap between the richest and poorest incomes, liberal education policies which have failed the kids, producing a generation of under-educated, unskilled people dependent on government hand-outs.
Let's look at the problem with the Met. It appears the police killed Duggan when he was not a threat and then tried to cover it up. Yes, the guy was not a choirboy, but that does not merit police execution.
The police are the largest armed gang operating in the UK, have a monopoly on force, and they act with impunity. I can cite numerous examples where they abuse their power and there are no repercussions. Corruption, blatant cover-ups etc. from Jean Charles de Menezes, Ian Tomlinson/Simon Harwood, the custody sergeant who threw the lady headfirst onto the concrete. I could go on and on.
You know me and you know that I think Britain became a police state a while back. I sympathize with blacks in London after they get stopped and searched time after time, living under constant surveillance. This would make me angry too.
I agree that destroying your own neighborhood is sheer idiocy, and I feel for the people who have lost their livelihoods and their homes. The same thing happened in LA, where the predominantly black population destroyed its own infrastructure. It's crazy.
Britain is still obsessed with class. Typical newspaper article will include the following - blah blah, said Mr Area Man in his 350,000 pound detached house with a Jaguar and a "4x4" parked in the driveway.
And a lot of British people are envious or resentful of others' success.
As an example, listen to these geniuses:
"Showing the rich people we can do what we want"
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14458424
Aug 10th 2011, 8:45 pm
#57
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Jan 2006
Location: San Francisco
Posts: 12,865
Re: Riots in the UK
It's a fair enough hypothesis but he does little to back it up in that article. I thought it was very poorly argued.
Aug 10th 2011, 9:22 pm
#59
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Joined: Apr 2004
Location: CHELTENHAM, Gloucestershire, England
Posts: 1,494
Re: Riots in the UK
22:20 hours BST Wednesday 10/08/11
All quiet on the Western Front. Latest police reports from across England* indicate no incidents of civil disorder or criminal activity on anything like the scale of the past few nights whatsoever, anywhere in the UK. Hopefully the war is over, but meanwhile the courts in London are operating day and night 24/7 dealing with all the cases of arrest bought before them by the police. One such case involved a man of 30, caught looting from a damaged shop, and who turned out to be employed at a primary school in London - not sure yet whether or not he is a teacher. Hopefully not!
*Only England has been affected by all these troubles. Even down to attractive places like Gloucester, but it seems that there is a substantial immigrant/ethnic (mostly Asian but also Afro Caribbean) population there.
All quiet on the Western Front. Latest police reports from across England* indicate no incidents of civil disorder or criminal activity on anything like the scale of the past few nights whatsoever, anywhere in the UK. Hopefully the war is over, but meanwhile the courts in London are operating day and night 24/7 dealing with all the cases of arrest bought before them by the police. One such case involved a man of 30, caught looting from a damaged shop, and who turned out to be employed at a primary school in London - not sure yet whether or not he is a teacher. Hopefully not!
*Only England has been affected by all these troubles. Even down to attractive places like Gloucester, but it seems that there is a substantial immigrant/ethnic (mostly Asian but also Afro Caribbean) population there.
Aug 10th 2011, 10:10 pm
#60
Daft.. not Stoopid
Joined: May 2011
Location: Memphis TN
Posts: 514
Re: Riots in the UK
Sorry just looked at your age ... you might not remember the upside down prams(Citreons)
Last edited by lyonsden1193; Aug 10th 2011 at 10:12 pm. Reason: added text