Hard to believe the pictures on the BBC of riots in London, and beyond.
The first impressions is that this is not any genuine political protest and for commnentators like Nina Power in The Guardian to give legitimacy to the mindless thugs and opportunists engaged in this action is appalling. It’s good to read that most of the comments to her piece are strongly critical of her position.
Of course, it speaks of deep underlying social problems but divisions between haves and have nots are not new.
What is new is the means of communication between gangs and individuals out for kicks. “Word of mouth” now means Twitter, Facebook and texting which speeds up the escalation of the violence.
There is no logic to these actions as these rioters are essentially destroying the communities they live in.
All deeply sickening and very sad.
Link: Is Technology To Blame (BBC)
“All deeply sickening and very sad.” you said it. And yes – have iPhone, will riot – it seems. On tonight’s footage, we can clearly see various scoundrels filming their filthy deeds with the unmistakably huge screen of the iPhone4. I can’t afford one, tragically – perhaps I’ll go and loot one. We could say “Babylon’s Burning” – unfortunately there is no Almighty to smite the ratbags these days. Thanks for the opportunity to rant.