The result of a nation’s youth without opportunity, fractured classes and apathetic politics.
Some weeks have passed since various English cities mindlessly descended in to a chaotic dystopia. Events not dissimilar to shattered fictional visions of our future littered headlines, as disgruntled youth failed to find a voice for any cause and resorted to the old ‘ultraviolence’.
As a journalist in my infancy, I’m acutely aware that I should be nothing more than an observer. But finding myself twiddling thumbs in New Street station, distancing my feelings and thoughts became all the more intolerable. Be it strong underlying reasons or opportunist thievery, I was tormented by the sense that the economic classes, having been cast aside, had frustrations not to dissimilar to people I know or have grown up with.
In fact the next night saw rioting reach my own home town of Wolverhampton. I’ve lived in Wolves for the majority of my life and, while I can’t fully claim to belong to the demographic most notably affected - I can try and attach my own understanding of events.
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| Riot police storm Wolverhampton city streets. |
I’m proud to be a ‘Yam Yam’ (One originating from Wolverhampton). So when the rioting left the confines of the Big Smoke, and reached my small corner of the Black Country - I naturally wondered, what makes people so disenchanted, to the extent that they see it fit to vent their frustrations upon their own communities?
What’s the Problem?
In the dazed stupor of morning, there was a sense of inevitability toward the violence that preceded it the night before.
What’s the Problem?
In the dazed stupor of morning, there was a sense of inevitability toward the violence that preceded it the night before.
Riot police trooped back into their vans and hooded vandals skulked off in the light of dawn. Shop owners powerless to protect, stood solemn faced, neglected.
The true lingering feeling though, was an unnerving one. No one seemed surprised.
I again visited Birmingham, a couple of days after the last night of rioting there. The streets strewn with boarded up windows, the only indication of the mayhem two nights before. The feelings of discontent remained though.
I spoke to a man aged 25, who had, perhaps unwittingly, got involved during the rioting. I shall call him Richard for the purposes of this article.
Richard, although from a poor area of Birmingham, is well spoken and has a decent education. He is however, out of work and looted during the unrest.
“We [The Unemployed] are not cared about. There is no opportunity and we’re just left, invisible. We live in a world where it’s important to look good, have nice things. The culture makes it difficult to get on in life.
To be honest, I never went out that night with the intention to start anything. I’m out of work, my friends are out of work. We have built up anger, anger at the government, I’m not happy in life. The police were just standing there and we thought ‘Why not?’
The police didn’t do much at all, but people were angry at them. I know they're just doing a job, but they are a symbol of the government. The government is at fault and they represent that. I can understand why people started attacking them.”
“I don’t regret getting involved.” At this point Richard carefully slid his hand into his pocket, pulling out an expensive looking watch. “I daren't wear it, I do feel bad for stealing, but I guess I got away with it. At the time I was thinking it might make things change, bring some attention to people like us, people struggling. I know it was wrong, but the government is just gonna throw people in prison. That’s no solution; the problem is a much deeper one.”
An arcane rebellion of youth disillusioned with the state, its combatants using the likes of twitter to coordinate opportune thievery.
A perverted, shallow mirroring of uprisings orchestrated elsewhere in the world?
Although the English riots did descend into chaos, I don’t believe that it can be entirely attributed to wanting the latest pair of Nike trainers or giving the old bill a good kicking. The problem, like ‘Richard’ said; is a much deeper one.
The death of Mark Duggan, whether he did, or didn’t shoot first, has been dealt with clumsily by the MET. No one can contest that this was the initial spark to set London ablaze.
A young black man was shot and killed by police, and although initially thought of as race riots similar to that of Broadwater farm in the eighties, this was not the case. Tottenham’s MP David Lammy also moved to dispel any notion of race being a contributing factor, even if some far right politicians would still like you to believe it.
The true lingering feeling though, was an unnerving one. No one seemed surprised.
I again visited Birmingham, a couple of days after the last night of rioting there. The streets strewn with boarded up windows, the only indication of the mayhem two nights before. The feelings of discontent remained though.
I spoke to a man aged 25, who had, perhaps unwittingly, got involved during the rioting. I shall call him Richard for the purposes of this article.
Richard, although from a poor area of Birmingham, is well spoken and has a decent education. He is however, out of work and looted during the unrest.
“We [The Unemployed] are not cared about. There is no opportunity and we’re just left, invisible. We live in a world where it’s important to look good, have nice things. The culture makes it difficult to get on in life.
To be honest, I never went out that night with the intention to start anything. I’m out of work, my friends are out of work. We have built up anger, anger at the government, I’m not happy in life. The police were just standing there and we thought ‘Why not?’
The police didn’t do much at all, but people were angry at them. I know they're just doing a job, but they are a symbol of the government. The government is at fault and they represent that. I can understand why people started attacking them.”
“I don’t regret getting involved.” At this point Richard carefully slid his hand into his pocket, pulling out an expensive looking watch. “I daren't wear it, I do feel bad for stealing, but I guess I got away with it. At the time I was thinking it might make things change, bring some attention to people like us, people struggling. I know it was wrong, but the government is just gonna throw people in prison. That’s no solution; the problem is a much deeper one.”
An arcane rebellion of youth disillusioned with the state, its combatants using the likes of twitter to coordinate opportune thievery.
A perverted, shallow mirroring of uprisings orchestrated elsewhere in the world?
Although the English riots did descend into chaos, I don’t believe that it can be entirely attributed to wanting the latest pair of Nike trainers or giving the old bill a good kicking. The problem, like ‘Richard’ said; is a much deeper one.
The death of Mark Duggan, whether he did, or didn’t shoot first, has been dealt with clumsily by the MET. No one can contest that this was the initial spark to set London ablaze.
A young black man was shot and killed by police, and although initially thought of as race riots similar to that of Broadwater farm in the eighties, this was not the case. Tottenham’s MP David Lammy also moved to dispel any notion of race being a contributing factor, even if some far right politicians would still like you to believe it.
Today, communities affected by rioting, London, Birmingham, Manchester are all incredibly diverse, with a great spectrum of ethnicity and culture.
The riots spread, almost as fast as the fires raging in Tottenham’s streets, the cause, unemployment and cuts? Competition for work is high and opportunities are not. But that’s an easy conclusion as to why young people have laid waste to their own cities in visceral frustration.
It’s no coincidence that England has seen the worst civil unrest in decades amongst a backdrop of a freefalling global economy. Capitalism is failing; there is a widening gap between life chances and the wages of the wealthy and the poor. In 2010 the 1,000 richest people had a combined fortune £333.5 billion, which had risen by 30% since 2009.
It’s become a vicious circle, over spending, over borrowing, and the fostering desire for goods. Consumerism was embodied in the looting. An electrical store on a humble street corner of Wolverhampton is a much easier target to smash up and pilfer from when you can’t afford that LCD T.V or that Xbox and any poorly paid jobs there are already taken.
The riots spread, almost as fast as the fires raging in Tottenham’s streets, the cause, unemployment and cuts? Competition for work is high and opportunities are not. But that’s an easy conclusion as to why young people have laid waste to their own cities in visceral frustration.
It’s no coincidence that England has seen the worst civil unrest in decades amongst a backdrop of a freefalling global economy. Capitalism is failing; there is a widening gap between life chances and the wages of the wealthy and the poor. In 2010 the 1,000 richest people had a combined fortune £333.5 billion, which had risen by 30% since 2009.
It’s become a vicious circle, over spending, over borrowing, and the fostering desire for goods. Consumerism was embodied in the looting. An electrical store on a humble street corner of Wolverhampton is a much easier target to smash up and pilfer from when you can’t afford that LCD T.V or that Xbox and any poorly paid jobs there are already taken.
Just as Richard said, we belong to a culture where what you wear and what you own, characterise the person you are, an erogenous message which our society feeds off and fully endorses.
Looted: Sunitek electrical store in Wolverhampton.
Then there are the city bankers who screwed up the economy; they receive bail outs and grotesque bonuses. Government protects the interests of the fat cats and corporations it’s in bed with, rather than those of the people it serves to protect.
Political Apathy
When David Cameron finally came back from holiday, saying that behaviour was ‘sick’, ‘unacceptable’ and that the rioters would ‘feel the full force of the law’, there was nothing original. In fact it was almost a carbon copy of what he offered up in statement during the aftermath of the student demonstrations last November. The comments were empty and neglectful, an easy answer to a complicated problem.
Long gone is the PM’s gimmicky slogan of ‘hug a hoody’, now he just wants to throw them all in jail - This all coming from a man who spent his youth regularly smashing up private property, just for a laugh.
Is it any wonder that some young people are disillusioned with politics and have a complete disregard for authority? There is no vested time or interest in them, neither is there enough effort in finding a proper solution to the problems we find ourselves in. Cuts may balance the books, but at what social cost? If there are no jobs and no means to develop skills, we will continue to live in a fractured nation.
In an age of austerity, our government can ill afford to ignore those who are lacking in work, opportunity and motivation...
Political Apathy
When David Cameron finally came back from holiday, saying that behaviour was ‘sick’, ‘unacceptable’ and that the rioters would ‘feel the full force of the law’, there was nothing original. In fact it was almost a carbon copy of what he offered up in statement during the aftermath of the student demonstrations last November. The comments were empty and neglectful, an easy answer to a complicated problem.
Long gone is the PM’s gimmicky slogan of ‘hug a hoody’, now he just wants to throw them all in jail - This all coming from a man who spent his youth regularly smashing up private property, just for a laugh.
Is it any wonder that some young people are disillusioned with politics and have a complete disregard for authority? There is no vested time or interest in them, neither is there enough effort in finding a proper solution to the problems we find ourselves in. Cuts may balance the books, but at what social cost? If there are no jobs and no means to develop skills, we will continue to live in a fractured nation.
In an age of austerity, our government can ill afford to ignore those who are lacking in work, opportunity and motivation...
