English Riots

In the months and years to come will we look back on this month of August and wonder if this was when the rot set in. In those few days when young people in cities all across the UK turned feral and came out to loot, steal, riot, kill. Was that the month when the normally restrained and concencious English society finally started to crumble.

No, because despite the over reporting, the hype, the wall to wall coverage in the media, and online, nothing much has changed. For 99.9% of people in this country nothing happened, their streets where not destroyed, their shops where not looted their young people did not throw stones at the police, or try to run them over in stolen cars. 

A few people in a few cities where affected, but in the usual British way, we can't cope, people seem to think that civil society is in melt down. The Government are talking about giving the police the right to impose curfews with out reference to the public, they are forcing the courts to impose draconian sentences on first time offenders, and I suspect they would like to hang a few looters from lamp posts to show the rest of us this Govt is not to be messed with.

What this hysterical reaction does is allow the powers that be to quickly enact powers of oppression the next time there is a small civil disturbance, and we will all go along with it saying oh yes remember the August riots, we can't let that happen again.

Bring on the curfews, bring on the ID cards, take known trouble makers off the streets. Arrest political disenters, ban all protests. We may say ah well he was a trouble maker he deserved to be arrested, she wrote to the papers protesting, so she deserved to be arrested, they organised a demonstation so they deserved to be arrested. 

Just remember in a society that allows its Govt to impose draconian laws they will eventually come for us too.