Despite the violence and chaos appearing to have finally come to an end, the subject matter of the riots and looting in not only London, but across the country, continues to have a dominant place in the headlines. Instead of waking up to find that more windows have been smashed and more victims injured, our attention has been diverted to the questioning of why such extreme rebellion and violence ever happened. Experts, professionals, youth workers and MP’s have all been coming forward to put their answers to the world.
As I’ve been watching the news and browsing the web, there seems such a desperate attempt to try and understand why so many homes, businesses and communities were destroyed, and rightly so. When the trouble began with Tottenham being burnt to ashes, I was under the impression that it was the reaction of a frustrated and hurting society that was dealing with the loss of a local man, with little explanation as to why. Yet, as the events continued, it soon became apparent that some deep, underlying anger had risen to the surface that had been dormant and suppressed for a long time. Now that the volcano had erupted, it wasn’t going to go away without a real bang and now as David Cameron himself said yesterday; it is time to fix this ‘broken society’.
I think it satisfies many to hear that the numbers of arrests made are constantly on the rise every day and this is the first stage of repairing the damage. As time goes on however, there seems to be more and more reasons crawling out the woodwork as to why such violent and disruptive acts were carried out. For me, there is no justifiable excuse as to why such a hideous series of events took place, where family businesses handed down through generations were gone in a flash and homes filled with memories and people’s only possessions were burnt to the ground.
As I watched Sky news the other day, the reporter was interviewing a group of looters, who were explaining the reason why they took such forceful measures. There seemed no remorse, no embarrassment and no guilt amongst them. As I have watched the news over the past week, I have heard answer after answer as to why these actions took place, some saying that the youths who took part feel socially excluded, others stating that we have encouraged a dependency culture where people have come to think that the things in life are free, others have considered racism as an ongoing problem amongst society. I have also listened to people placing the blame on stars and celebrities for influencing the country to be flooded with a materialistic culture and others feel strongly that the breakdown of the traditional family is behind it all.
It saddens me that such excuses are being made as it seems that fewer people are living their lives following the values that I have been brought up on, where irrelevant of your background, your education or your age, you should work hard, live honestly and achieve the best you can. As reporters speak to those involved, who have committed crimes, abused the police force, stolen goods and damaged property, there seems to be this underlying feeling that they are owed something, that society has deprived them of the life that they want to lead. I can easily say that I feel lucky, that I have had a loving family, that I had a good childhood, I worked hard at school, I got into University and now I’m working doing something I love. I understand that things don’t always work out this way for everyone and I’ve still got a long way to go, but if you want something that much you can go and get it- legitimately. This is a word however, that seems to have lost meaning over the past few years as it was pointed out on Sunday Morning Live, with MP’s also having been known to break the rules and help themselves to what isn’t necessarily theirs. If those in charge of the country are living this way, then what example does this set to the rest? In the same way that MP’s were arrested and made to pay back what was owed, looters and rioters should be made to do the same as well as consideration being made for the disruption caused.
Perhaps there a couple of good things to come out of all this, an understanding that there is a need for the restoration of moral values and the need for increased discipline when it comes to crime and disorder and a reassessment of the phrase ‘the best things in life are free’.
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