- pictures via boston.com
if you don't already know, these insane riots started three days ago in Tottenham, in protest of the killing of a 29 year old man by the police force. Tottenham is generally an area populated by people of lower income, and most of the rioters have been referred to as "hooded youths". whilst the catastrophe of the man's death is indeed a tragedy, many opinions have been thrown around saying that the riots were caused by simmering and festering discontent and unhappiness with unemployment levels, rise in living costs, low wages and, for many youths, increased tertiary level school fees. thus the killing of that man was simply the tipping point for many. at this very moment, word has it that the riots have spread from Tottenham, hitting West Bromwich, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham and Bristol.
besides this, Britain, unfortunately, is sort of infamous for breeding youths who are isolated from family life, tending towards violence, engaging in sexual activity at a young age and turning to crime. this article titled 'Britain's Mean Streets' speaks of how Britain on the whole is not a children-comfortable country, where children are immediately treated as adults. on top of that Britain has a meritocratic education system leaving many in the dust, struggling with social mobility upwards.
and yet, the United Kingdom is one of the most developed countries in the world. it has top class financial potential and capability, education systems, living standards and so on. the images coming out of London look like they should come from Syria or Libya or Sudan. but no, they're coming right out of the streets you might've once roamed, or the ones you may even be studying near. that's why it's so awful to realize that there is really no safety and the biggest power is people power. so while we always extol people power as being capable of massive regime change, revolutions and so on, so it is true the other way around, that people power has the ability to drive a first world country into anarchy.
furthermore it's quite disconcerting once you realize the circumstances under which these riots bloomed. populations unhappy with government policies, becoming poorer and more inhibited in life, more youths becoming unemployed without anyone to turn to. is it not a similar picture painted in most developed countries nowadays? the US, Spain, Portugal, Italy, coupled with ongoing financial crises that aren't going to help anyone. and Singapore isn't that far a cry now, is it? the recent elections saw tons of complaints and unhappiness rise from the ground, with more and more people becoming fed up with the PAP. transport costs, HDB costs, school fees; everything is up, up, up. undergraduates find it harder and harder to find jobs upon graduation whilst the asian markets are also suffering from the ricochets of the European markets.
see what i mean? any of these places could become a London. and who's to say when these riots will end? in democratic countries a military crackdown would be inhumane and incur the wrath of many a "righteous" countries. in Burma, perhaps, all it takes is for the tanks to move in and destroy everyone and everything would be over. but you can't do that in London. so therein lies the dilemma. in the meantime, the more the rioters are left to their own devices, i can only see this problem getting bigger and bigger. all we can do is sit tight and pray for some divine intervention, pray that God has it in His cards for everything to be alright again.
