When something unexpected or unusual happens; something unexpected and unusual happens: people who previously did not seem to have any particular opinion on the matter at hand, whatever that may be, decide that it’s time they voiced their opinions. The last time it happened was during the shock rise in popularity of the Lib Dems during the campaign for the 2010 elections: suddenly, tens of my previously thought to be apathetic friends at once became my Tory, Liberal or Labour friends, at once prompting a series of heated Facebook debates. Back then I was surprised and, on occasion, fairly shocked by the views that some of my friends expressed; that being said, the altogether theoretical and idealist nature of the discussions we had meant that I never took any of what they said too seriously. This time it’s a different matter altogether.
For quite some time now I’ve had the feeling that things were about to, as they say, “kick off” in the UK. After all, the reaction to austerity measures across the world has generally been to take to the streets; why should Britain be any different? As much as the ruling class would like to believe, the infamous British anecdote of “keep calm and carry on” doesn’t seem to particularly apply any longer, and it turns out that this country’s middle and lower classes aren’t content with sitting back with a cup of tea, putting the cricket on and patiently waiting for things to blow over, as I suspect the coalition hoped, the former engaging in mass protests and the latter in the recent country-wide riots.
The result: once again the politically-minded Facebook statuses are erupting all over my news feed. From well thought-out statements and reasoning, to general cries of distress, and onwards further to the careless slurrings of those who I suppose have been appalled into cyber vomiting the first thought that comes into their heads; in times like these, most people have something to say.
What has worried me is that the issues being discussed this time are pertinent and real and extremely important, yet the following kinds of comments seem to be most prevalent:
“No more f***ing about now england and putting the civil liberties of mindless hooligans first but grow some balls and send the armed forces in to sort this any way possible.”
“Someone explain to me: why are police not allowed to carry guns in the UK?! At least paintball the arseholes in the face- that'll stop them!”
I understand that the scenes unfolding before us this week are distressing and appalling but, even so, for so many people to be spurred to say so many truly stupid things demonstrates a complete lack of understanding for the issues at hand. The phenomenon goes beyond just status updates. As of right now (13/08/11 at 1317) an e-petition stating that “Convicted London rioters should loose all benefits” has reached 182,332 signatories; that’s almost double the amount needed to obtain a hearing in parliament. I’d like to point out that the above spelling mistake, which you might have noticed, is actually genuine and on the petition. I personally think that people who can’t spell should loose their benefits.
Although I can sympathise that people aren’t particularly happy with their taxes going towards supporting people who take to the streets looting and burning public property, there is no stretch of the imagination that could possibly foresee a measure like this being able to benefit the situation in any way. At the end of the day, the rioters that have been arrested and found guilty will be charged for their crimes and suffer the consequences that any citizen of this country would suffer if found similarly culpable. Depending on the severity of their offence they will either be put on a community sentence or, if more severe, be sent to prison - at which point, I’d like to point out, they would lose their benefits anyway. So why single out the rioters for extra punishment?
In all the footage that I have watched of rioters explaining their actions there is one theme that runs throughout; indeed, this theme is systemic in almost all criminal activity, as evidenced by a number of studies. Thanks to the economic crisis and general attitude of our social culture, people at the bottom of the pile have been left feeling disrespected and ignored, as if they are no longer part of society. This, I expect, is why they feel they can operate outside of society’s constraints by engaging in criminal activity; whether that be petty theft, murder, rioting or whatever. The mere existence of this e-petition and sheer amount of signees is evidence of the destructive attitude we have of this country’s poor and disadvantaged. Meanwhile, the poor are forced to live in a consumerist culture, where advertising and pop fashion tells us we must own and do certain things to make life worthwhile, whilst being incapable to participate in said culture, due to their lack of skills and education. Perhaps this would explain why one of the main targets of looting were designer shoe shops?
So, by removing rioters’ benefits, what are we achieving? Is it a form of ‘tough love’ which will force them to “get off their arses” and find a job? No: there simply aren’t enough jobs out there for people from their background, anyway. Is it a means of discouraging them to commit similar acts again? No: if anything, removing what little money they receive as it is would force them to commit more and worse crimes. Is it an ultra-conservative, unthinking, knee-jerk reaction by a section of society who are wholly dispassionate for just how difficult it is to live in poverty in this country, which would only serve to further isolate an already insular section of society and ultimately exacerbate the current situation? Yes: and although the topic will be discussed in parliament, I have at least a modicum of faith left in the commons that I doubt any legislation will come from it.
But if this is not the solution, then what is? This is an extremely difficult question that I shall not even attempt to answer in this post. Suffice it to say that more thought should be paid to rehabilitating this section of society than further punishing it. Although rioting is disgusting, unacceptable and - as many are saying - a social disease and, as stated previously in this blog, we should be focussing more on treating the cause of this illness, rather than just treating the symptoms; and poorly at that. Axing these benefits would be the sociological equivalent of blood-letting. How about we try a more 21st century treatment?
