by Aaron Colter
Hang on, before getting bent out of shape over the title, let me first explain that I’m not condoning or approving the haphazard looting of small businesses in England. The reason I like the London Riots this week, however, is two fold.
For starters, seeing pictures of people with their brooms held highly in the air is about as British as I can imagine as an American. Shit, it’s damn near Mary fucking Poppins. It’s also inspiring.
The fact that people will come together to clean up their community following the events earlier this week is a positive thing, despite the circumstances that lead to the effort. I sincerely hope people get to know one another better, speak with local shop owners, and don’t forget how important working together as a neighborhood can be, even when there’s not a disaster to overcome.
Second, I hope the riots in England teach us all something – society has to change or it will destroy itself.
Like in Los Angeles in 1992, the riots in England quickly became more about the opportunity to cause chaos than they were about race relations. But, and this is key, the riots were about race on some level, just like they were about economic status as well.
Although David Cameron is hypocrite and a reactionary idiot –– that’s right Mr. Cameron, I’m calling you a fucking idiot here in the good ol’ US of A where I can’t be slapped with a libel suit –– he is correct when he says the country, and the world, has a morality problem.
Unfortunately, David Cameron is not making the problem of morality any better. In fact, he’s making it worse. Nearly 2,000 people have been arrested across England for the riots, and many of them are receiving ludicrously harsh sentences in order for the government to fain control and accountability.
It’s not working.
I highly doubt any of the looters who got away respect the British government anymore now simply because the courts are going after children, especially one famous 12-year old who ran into a convenience store and stole a bottle of wine during the mess, or the 19-year old student who stole a violin, and is now spending the next four months in prison.
Do you have any idea what four months in prison will do to that student, who, above all other things, stole a fucking violin? That kid, instead of being put on a probation, road clean up, or –– here’s a novel idea –– required music training for kids at poorer schools, will now have to adjust to being a member of society all over again when he gets out of jail. If he’s lucky he’ll get to return to school, since finding a job in an already demolished job market will be all but impossible.
Congratulations, England. You’re perpetuating a system that led you to the riots in the first place –– treating the youth like criminals.
My view of all of this is skewed American, but hopefully I can explain just how this notion of societal branding can affect the consciousness of an entire generation.
When we see judges in cahoots with private prisons, when we see whistleblowers prosecuted more harshly than rapists, when we see politicians forcibly take our money and use it to pay their friends, when we see bankers getting millions while homes are taken away, when we see soldiers killing innocent civilians in our name, when we see the rich receive lighter sentences than the poor, when we’re treated like gangsters for enjoying graffiti or hip-hop, when we’re treated like drug addicts for smoking weed, dropping acid or snorting cocaine, when we’re treated like thieves for downloading music, when we’re treated like perverts for being gay, when we’re treated like freaks for having tattoos, when we see, nearly every goddamn week, another police officer in another city using force to the point of another citizen’s death –– when we see all this, how the fuck are we suppose to respect authority? How the fuck are we supposed to believe in a society that seemingly doesn’t want us to be a part of it?
Governments and societies around the world have conditioned the next generation to feel like criminals, and yet, they’re surprised when we lash out in a criminal manner.
I realize that I’m writing far too much for what is appropriate for a blog post. So, let me say a couple things before leaving you to ponder what the future holds.
One: I do believe society can evolve to be a better, more exclusive, more respectful environment for everyone, and that if we can all work together, our limitations as humans are potentially zero.
Two: Here’s a commercial some of you have probably seen. And as the questions pop up in the video below, think to yourself, “Yeah, I guess some of us would.”
Top ‘broom’ image via @Lawcol888
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