Reading The Riots: A Vain And Futile Exercise For The LSE and Guardian’s Elite Social Therapists
WHY did people riot in August? Why did people in London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Nottingham, Manchester and Salford smash things up and steal stuff? It was any number of reasons. The LSE and the Guardian have interviewed 270 people involved in the riots and found that 90% of them were upset by the police.
Yep. Only 90%. You’d think all looters for whom the event was a less organised version of The Black Friday sales would all be pretty much anti-police. The Force will take heart.
The point of the LSE and Guardian’s exercise, called Reading The Riots, seems unclear. The tagline declares: “Investigating England’s summer of disorder“. But this is no police job. We know who dunnit. We know the police are liars. We know Mark Duggan is dead. We know who went out on the rob. We saw their faces. Well, we saw the faces of the looters not bright enough to cover their mushes with scarves. No. This is about the elite – big media, academics, police and politicians scrapping over who should take the blame and who gets glory of being right.
The LSE and Guardian aim to be the authority on all things riots. It’s pathetic and desperate.The revolution will not be live blogged. The report’s writers and staff have more in common with the justice system that locks up Facebook baddies and the police who in their ridiculous post-riot purge on villains pulled on helmets and smashed in doors looking for stolen denims and sportswear in orchestrated-for-media plays on toughness.
Let’s just hope that the result of this exercise in futility doesn’t lead to the elite dictating to communities what they should do, sending in professional carers and experts to teach them about local unity, hope and social responsibility – the social therapists’ very presence undermining what the pretend to strive for….
When all else fails, laugh:
Posted: 5th, December 2011 | In: Key Posts, Reviews Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
