Curious how the increased probability of one ticking time bomb exploding shifts the media’s attention to other, long ignored ‘landmines’.
The ‘centerpiece’ (the eminent collapse of the EU) has drawn renewed interest in the consequences of such an event.
But as more details of the crimes emerge, the picture has become infinitely more complicated, and confusing. In some of the more shocking cases, the crimes seemed to be rooted in nothing more than split-second decisions made by normally orderly people seduced by the disorder around them.
An aspiring social worker, Natasha Reid, 24, turned herself in after stealing a $500 television. Nicolas Robinson, a young engineering student who had never been in trouble with the law, grabbed bottles of water because, his lawyer said, he was thirsty.
The 11-year-old, the youngest looter arrested, stole a trash can.
At several of the riots last week, those perpetrating the violence had no ready explanation for their behavior. One young man, kicking trash cans into the street, shrugged when asked why. And the atmosphere in Hackney’s Pembury Road low-income housing projects was sometimes one of adrenaline-driven glee. Looters whooped as they stripped a convenience store bare, yards from the police.
Even some Londoners who had initially condemned the riotous behavior joined in.
Bystanders had watched in shock as rioters lined up against police officers on Tottenham’s main street last weekend, setting fires and looting. The mood shifted dramatically, though, after officers moved in, dogs barking and horses charging. One man, suddenly emboldened, grabbed a box of pears from outside a convenience store. A woman carried off an armful of coconuts. Another man, seemingly conflicted, sprinted, then turned back briefly to snatch a crate of bottled water.
Funny how the murder of a young man by police (the original ‘trigger event’) has ‘disappeared’ from the media’s search for scapegoats.
No irony should be lost on the fact that the violence has been ‘centered’ in Tottenham, where the incident took place (and police continue to ‘stonewall’.)
Here we get the opportunity to ‘peek in the mirror’ because the same pent up frustrations driving UK unrest have been building up here in the US as well.
Humans are notorious ‘opportunists’, the ‘inexplicable’ behavior that ‘baffles’ the so called ‘experts’ is in fact perfectly ‘normal’!
Upon reflection, our entire legal system is designed to deal with precisely this animalistic trait.
Which explains why we don’t have a sustainable social model.
Our legal system is more concerned with ferreting out who got where first rather than what is best for the majority.
After all, it IS a game of survival and the more that survive, the better our collective chances are.
But no, ‘competition’ has been enshrined as such an ‘universal good’ that the ‘consequences’ of Social Darwinism have been completely, er, ‘dismissed’.
And when you ignore social Darwinism, riots like the ones in London are the ‘net result‘…and perfectly ‘foreseeable’.
So it is with stupendous irony that one of the world’s leading cheerleaders for Globalization has blessed us this day with the “Theory of Everything”
What’s going on here?
There are multiple and different reasons for these explosions, but to the extent they might have a common denominator I think it can be found in one of the slogans of Israel’s middle-class uprising: “We are fighting for an accessible future.” Across the world, a lot of middle- and lower-middle-class people now feel that the “future” is out of their grasp, and they are letting their leaders know it.
Why now? It starts with the fact that globalization and the information technology revolution have gone to a whole new level. Thanks to cloud computing, robotics, 3G wireless connectivity, Skype, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Twitter, the iPad, and cheap Internet-enabled smartphones, the world has gone from connected to hyper-connected.
This is the single most important trend in the world today. And it is a critical reason why, to get into the middle class now, you have to study harder, work smarter and adapt quicker than ever before. All this technology and globalization are eliminating more and more “routine” work — the sort of work that once sustained a lot of middle-class lifestyles.
Once again we see an astonishing ‘failure to think this through’ mentality being displayed here.
‘Fallacy number one’ is the cheaper there, in reality, CANNOT EXIST, it is the result of currency manipulation that has unbalanced the entire global economy.
So how is ‘studying harder’ going to help you compete for a job that will only exist in limited/select geo-political region?
What of the losers in this competition?
I detest idiocy and I truly detest pseudo intellectuals who don’t have a fucking clue!
Being a noted ’conservative’ certainly doesn’t help in either department…
Is the ‘chaff’ left in these man-made ’economic deserts’ just supposed to wither and die?
Can you say ’high hopes’ (or good fucking luck with that!)
No, ‘London’s Burning’ is much more likely to be the ‘rule’ rather than the exception…but this was totally foreseeable too
Buckle up good citizen, we’re in for a hell of a ride…and considering what’s waiting on the other end, it’s going to be one hell of a fight.
Thanks for letting me inside your head,
Gegner
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