Panic On The Streets Of London

It all started with the police shooting a black male by the name of Mark Duggan who was shot dead In Tottenham after allegedly firing at police. It has since come to light that although he had a gun concealed in his sock it was in his sock and he did not actually fire at our country’s finest at all. What’s more the bullet that was found imbedded in the police radio was in fact a police issue bullet and not at all from Mr Duggan’s pistol. Now we should remember that he was actually in possession of a firearm and therefore I feel it’s fair to assume that he was no angel, but does that mean he deserved to be murdered by the authorities or should they have arrested him and dealt with him through the proper channels? Should we now bring back hanging and capital punishment or is this simply abuse of police power? There are many questions that have been raised and have led to the subsequent rioting that followed. Let’s not forget that only a few months ago the eighties reggae star Smiley Culture was allowed, whilst in police custody, to enter his kitchen, unattended, where he allegedly took his own life by stabbing himself through the heart with a large kitchen knife! Again this raises many unanswered questions of the potential foul play or complete incompetence on the part of our authorities.

The police failed Mr Duggan’s family for not having the decency, courtesy or humanity to speak to them personally about the event that led to his death, instead allowing them to find out from the newspapers; that is a disgrace and shows a complete lack of compassion or understanding

A shop over hundred years old has been burned to the ground, people have been carjacked, there have been countless muggings and damage to people’s cars and homes and looting on a grand scale; this I cannot condone at all as I am a complete advocator of non violence, care and compassion for society and my fellow man. The burning, looting and destruction of high street stores on the other hand I am more sympathetic to; they bank in tax free havens on the other side of the world and reap astronomical profits from the British economy and ultimately the very same people that have to pick up the slack in terms of tax (Tax Avoidance by Vodafone: £6 Billion.... Tax avoidance in 2010 by richest people in UK: £7 Billion). It’s completely immoral and unbelievable that our government actively promotes unethical business practices and offers tax breaks and other incentives to big businesses whilst penalising the poor at every turn.

The banks and the whole financial sector has a lot to answer for and should take on the burden of some of our countries financial problems that they created and become accountable for the whole mess instead of unscrupulously and immorally handing out grotesque bonuses to their top employees. They propelled us all into this financial nightmare back in 2007 and us the tax payer bailed them all out like good ragged trousered philanthropists.
They told us that they never saw it coming but that bubble had been brewing for some time before it eventually erupted and you can bet your life there were a lot of brokers and hedge fund managers betting on it and making huge profits whilst the rest of us quietly suffered and just ignorantly accepted it.

Since then our government’s answer has been to increase our National Insurance by two percent, increase VAT by two and a half percent, make major cuts to the public services(many that disproportionately affect the young), create mass unemployment, indiscriminately stop genuine benefit claims, go to war with Libya (Tax spent on Libyan intervention: £1 Billion), which is costing money that could cut the deficit and lives that should not be lost, after all they do have oil and we’ll probably get a lot of the rebuilding contracts so maybe it’s seen as a long term investment? They’re also busy stealthily selling off the NHS and have completely lost touch with the common man. On top of that the price of oil has risen, so has gas, food, clothing and public transport, interest rates are at an all time low. We’ve also just been caught in the middle of the whole ‘News of the World’ phone hacking scandal too, which stretches as far as the government and top ranking police officials who have been enjoying regular bribes. On top of all of that the markets have just taken another major dip, due to the financial problems in the United States, and doubtlessly to a small handful of broker’s huge profits. So is is it any wonder the people have been driven to the point of madness in the face of such corruption and lack of faith in the people who ultimately control our lives?

As I said previously I do not condone threatening or violent behaviour of any sort but I can recognise and empathise with the underlying form and political agenda of these events; actions speak louder than words. It’s unfortunate that this event has been hijacked by opportunist and mindless thugs but then who can blame them when they are born into a world that promotes greed? We live in a system of class division, a system that actively rewards greed and encourages unnecessary consumerism, a world where flashy products are flaunted through the media. Is it any wonder these kids want the latest gadgets that they’re told they must have but can’t possibly afford, we can’t blame the youth as it is all our responsibility to teach them and inspire them; all of us parents, teachers, politicians and adults in general. We live in a world where proper education is for the elite few who can afford it. I read a great quote recently from a well respected judge, he said”Justice is like the Ritz, anyone can go there as long as they can afford it”, food for thought perhaps. Is it any wonder so many people feel neglected and forgotten about?

The police, under these extreme circumstances, were granted permission to use water cannons and rubber bullets; will these privileges ever be revoked? I doubt it but only time will tell. David Cameron said "you will feel the full force of the law" that was the same David Cameron who recently cut thirty five thousand police jobs.

If this had happened in a Middle Eastern, oil rich country would it be hailed as a revolution by western leaders? Let’s remind ourselves of all the looting after the fall of Baghdad? You know, the looting we actually helped with by destroying what little infrastructure there was in the name of "freedom" and the war on terror(Tax money spent in Iraqi conflict: £4.5 billion). Ironically, Colonel Gadaffi ‘s regime announced that it no longer recognised the British government due to the current ‘revolution’ taking place in our country. I am by no means a Gadaffi sympathiser but I couldn’t help but have a sneaky chuckle at the irony of the comment.

Maybe we should first turn the water cannons on the bankers and financial sector(Tax payers bill for banking crisis: £131 Billion) seeing as they’ve been busy looting our pensions, savings and the world’s economy for the last four years and their looting will take years and an astronomical amount of the tax payers money to put right!

I don’t agree with rioting but I do understand how it’s come to be; the poor can’t take it no more and the youth are just products of their environment. I have snippets of the late Bob Marley’s lyrics playing through my head ‘No chains around my feet but I’m not free, still I am bound here in captivity’, those words ring true in these hard times of uncertainty.

Our Prime minister complains of the tax payers money that the riots have cost whilst simultaneously locking a first time offender, opportunist up for looting £3.50 worth of mineral water from Lidl; a sentence which usually would’ve been a mere caution but has now been detained in custody for six months which will cost the tax payer approximately £25000 – good response! The media has focused solely on the mindless thuggery of the current situation and has swept the underlying root cause conveniently under the political carpet so that the good placid, mindless masses are conditioned to see in black and white but as any free thinker knows, life is all about the grey areas and therefore one should never be too quick to judge! If this is the only voice that the youth have, then we as a society have failed them completely and that is inexcusable.