Burnin' an' lootin'

I should mention the riots - they are The News at the moment.  I've had a lot of interesting conversations about them over the last couple of days.  We are all trying to reason why - and here are the answers:

1.  It is the school hols, and disaffected young people are bored.
2.  There is always a great deal of anti-police feeling.
3.  We live in a world of widening inequality.
4.  Money/material possessions are too important to people - but it is hard to tell people who have very little that this is the case.
5.  People feel forgotten neglected and marginalised - and this is an opportunity to make people notice them.
6.  Some people are politically motivated - some are just good old fashioned criminals, most are just opportunists/thrill seekers (it beats white-water rafting for sure).
7. This is being done by young men not in education, employment or training - they are pissed off.
8.  People do not feel engaged with their communities - and turn on them when they are angry.
9.  There is no justification for burning private houses.
10.  This is now multi-racial rioting - at last our multi-cultural society has produced a youth which riots together!


Anything the police or the Tories say about anarchist, criminals etc. is just grandstanding.  And also, the police provoked it.  You cannot go around shooting people - even drug dealing gangsters - and expecting everyone will just nod sagely and take no notice.