Ed,
One very interesting aspect of the affair that is just emerging,
particularly concerning the incidents in London, is that it was
'rioting by invitation'. Local gangs gave 'free passes' to adjacent
gangs to enter their territory for a session of looting and burning.
This was why, in some incidents, there were white gangs rioting
alongside black gangs, normally mutual enemies. It also explains why
two or three leafy middle-class suburbs, with scarcely more than one
or two residential hoodlums of their own, would suddenly find
themselves invaded by hundreds of youngsters they'd never seen before.
This type of invitation was probably the cause of the original riot.
It all started as a peaceful vigil of local people outside Tottenham
police station who wanted some explanation for the police killing of
a local young man at his own home (on the doorstep, I think). Most of
these, it seems, were simply neighbours and friends of the family
and, although angry and disturbed, unlikely to have started the riot
themselves. Anyhow, after four hours, a riot certainly erupted. The
young man concerned was actually the leader of the local gang which
'ruled' the neighbourhood. (Apparently, his own gun, as recovered by
non-police investigators, hadn't been used. From the careful way that
a subsequent police statement had been written, he was probably not
carrying it at the time but was inside the house. In my opinion he
was probably provoked into making some sort of verbal or gestural
challenge which the police 'interpreted' as life-threatening to
themselves. A photo exists of him standing in his doorway making a
gesture with his fingers as boys do when playing cowboys.) Anyhow, it
seems probable that one or two members of his gang, standing in the
vigil crowd, called on others to start trouble.
Keith
At 21:32 09/08/2011, you wrote:
I suspect there are a variety of motives. For some, the people that
started it, protest was a likely motive. Someone was shot after
all, perhaps without much reason. But for the many who feel
dispossesed, who have no jobs and no strong reason to feel a
connection with society and the economy, it was a chance to show
they're there. And there's always the 'turkey phenomenon'. The
excitement of it all can cause nice, ordinary guys to jump up and
down and have fun smashing things.
Ed
----- Original Message -----
From: <mailto:[email protected]>michael gurstein
To: <mailto:[email protected]>'RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME
DISTRIBUTION,EDUCATION'
Sent: Tuesday, August 09, 2011 10:49 AM
Subject: Re: [Futurework] London's burning!
I'm wondering if the assault by the media (Murdoch and the media
cabal) on the left could be the reason that the violence in the UK
has been nihilist rather than having a political focus... If the
(tens? of) thousands involved are simply concerned with looting and
destruction is that preferable to having some specific (and thus
negotiable and cooptable) demands...
I guess the question is whether the UK police/legal/penal system can
handle this in the short run and what the impact of a criminalized
working class is on the UK in the long run.
M
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of D and N
Sent: Tuesday, August 09, 2011 7:39 AM
To: RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION,EDUCATION
Subject: Re: [Futurework] London's burning!
Even a fox will chew off its paw to escape a trap. Can we expect
anything else from a 'base animal'.
Darryl
On 8/9/2011 6:51 AM, Arthur Cordell wrote:
I would think that the rioters also need to have the culture to
organize politically to achieve their goals.
Burning their own homes and neighbourhood is reminiscent of what
happened in Detroit and elsewhere in the US. When the riots were
over the remaining people lived in burned out areas. Period.
arthur
From:
<mailto:[email protected]>[email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Keith Hudson
Sent: Tuesday, August 09, 2011 4:43 AM
To: RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, , EDUCATION
Subject: [Futurework] London's burning!
As riots and fires continue to spring up in many areas of London,
we have already had a spate of politicians and opinion-worthies
telling us that it's evil and criminal and so forth. So far, only
one person of any stature at all has had the courage to come out
with the real reason. He is Lord Harris, who founded the
nation-wide Carpetright shops as a young man. He says: "Rioters need jobs".
Quite right. But unfortunately these thousands of young people will
never have jobs. They didn't even have them in the pre-2008 years.
The present episode of fires will no doubt burn themselves out (the
pun was unavoidable I'm afraid!), but the London rioters have
already shown the Greek rioters just what can be done if they try
harder. After all, we are a much more advanced country than Greece.
Keith
Keith Hudson, Saltford, England
<http://allisstatus.wordpress.com/2011/08/>http://allisstatus.wordpress.com/2011/08/
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Keith Hudson, Saltford, England http://allisstatus.wordpress.com/2011/08/
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