Right now i'm watching tv pictures as a historical building in the town of Croydon l know well, a building which l stood across from as l waited for a bus to go home after work in an area where l spent most of my time for eight years is of my life is now on fire.
I am so upset by this but could see this happening. The really sad thing is that this has been forseen and is not really that much of a surprise.
In 1980 and 1981 we had riots in London, Liverpool, Leeds, Bristol, and Birmingham. It was due to a mix of austerity measures from the Thatcher government, disaffected angry youths and heavy-handed tactics of racist police who's use of the S.U.S Laws to deliberately target young black males. This led to changes in the laws regarding arrest by police and a lot of paperwork they have to go through, but
Right now parts of London where most of the disaffected live, areas such as Hackney, Lewisham, Peckham, Brixton and Tottenham have been looted and were on fire. The really scary thing is that a lot of this had been organised via mobile and social networks.
This started on Saturday after the protest about a police shooting of a man called Mark Duggan. People were upset with the shooting but the rioting was unneccessary but not surprising as things have been brewing for months.
The areas of the original riots are areas most affected by cuts to services. Young people have seen their benefits cut, they have seen this conservative government remove funds they need to get to school and college, they have seen a 75% cut in services which were used to find them employment and they have been treated with disregard and contempt both by government and by a media who has written most of them off. But that was three nights ago.
Since then we have had opportunists destroying the livelihoods of hard working people in the area they live. Real small businesses and peoples houses have been destroyed and those people have lost everything. The people who have done this don't care because they have nothing in their lives be it parents or authority figures who they really respect.
They cannot respect the police.
They may not follow things closely but they do know that the police had been taking money from newspapers and that the top two policemen in London have resigned. They know the police think of them as scum and they think the same of the police. This is the police who got away with killing an unarmed man in an underground station after lying about it, who have been seen on video assualting people and getting away with it and on thursday shot and killed another member of the public. They know that the IPCC (the Independent Police Complaints Committee) is a toothless useless group and the CPS (Crown Prosecution Service) have been seen to be reluctant to prosecute police for their crimes. What reason would they have for respecting that?
They cannot respect the politicians.
Local MP's can try their best but the people who made the decision to cut their services, to call them layabouts, and restrict their chances to change their circumstances have no link to the community they live in. They have seen politicians sent to prison for claiming expenses. They have a conservative government and the cabinet consists mainly of millionaires who's main policy is to enrich their banker backers in the city and give tax breaks to their friends which is paid for on the backs of the poor. Why would they respect them?
They don't respect their teachers. A few years back l had to be dragged off of a kid who's dad l knew as he was swearing at a teacher who had been a major influence on me in school. I knew the pub where his dad drank and we have mutual friends who to their best to keep us apart. I was very angry and to his face in front of friends l called him a useless See You Next Tuesday and his idiot son was going the same way. He had no respect for teachers when we were in school and had passed on the lessons to his son. Therre are teachers who are there to teach and their are kids who are there to learn but sadly there is an element who are there to disrupt. Some through bad parenting but others who feel that the rules do not apply to them. Teachers cannot deal with kids the way they used to. I'm not calling for a return to corporal punishment but the stuff they get away with now restricts teachers froma actually teaching.
I'm now hearing that another area where l worked called Clapham Junction had been demolished. I have just watched as a place l worked in for 4 years has been looted but luckily not set on fire. A friend has just phoned and said that the area where we live the Mobile Phone shop, Boots (a famous pharmacutical company) and McDonalds have been attacked and may be on fire. His cousin who visited here last year from the US just rang him and told him he had seen the news and they were talking about the riots.
Just went out to see. My area is full of bars and restaurants. All but one is closed. Amazingly across the road from the mobile phone shop is a mini casino with thousands in cash. It had no security grill and just one door with a lock. Shows the mentality of those who are looting. Phones and sneakers is all they care for.
Okay now i'm babbling a bit. It's down to a worry l never thought l had. Places l have worked have been broken into and looted. Friends l have made over the years now have no job to go to tomorrow. Customers that l built a longstanding relationship with are now living in something that resembles a war zone, some of whom would have lost everything they own, destroyed by an uncaring mob. I work in the flagship store of the largest electrical retail company in the country and learnt that the store was targeted for attack. Someone tipped off one of my co-workers and he passed on the info to the manager and the police were called but l am worried about tomorrow.
What started as a protest about a police killing has changed rapidly into violence from a section of society which has been abandoned by this current conservative government because they don't pay into their coffers or have the wealth to order them to do what is best for them. These incidents are still going on and it's now 1am UK time.
Will it stop? Not at any time soon from what l can see. People are hurting and see nothing to stop them trying to get what they want. There moral compass is pretty fucked up if it is still there at all. Buildings and cars are on fire and riots are now starting in other parts of the country. Questions will be asked and fingers will be pointed communities will be suspicious of each other the capital city of the country which will hold the Olympics next year is now in parts looking like it did in 1941.
and for that l ahve tears in my eyes.
11:59 PM PT: Wow. Proud to make the rec list but very sad that it's for this reason. I have very good friends in many of the areas looted who are now out of a job, the worst possible thing at the moment. Our company is not doing well right now but is doing better than some. I am on holiday this week but l really am scared to see what I'm going back to.
Tue Aug 09, 2011 at 12:59 AM PT: Urgh!! Just had a horrible realisation!!
That complete arsehole Beckkk will try to use this as part of his "look out for the scary Muslims, they're trying to convert us all by the sword" campaign he was trying a few months ago. Can only make a depressing day worse.