The sadness I feel at watching London burn is immense.
Surprisingly so because I’ve worked and spent large periods of time in my home country’s capital. I’ve seen bombings, carnage and chaos rip through this magnificent city to the point where it has almost become normal to see such things. I’ve even worked on projects in government formed as a result of London’s troubles yet this recent episode of violence and mayhem has disturbed me more than most.
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| Photo credit: Flickr Creative Commons ian_fromblighty |
I’m relieved to be away from the wanton destruction and lawlessness spreading through the UK, safe in my beachside haven on the Northern Beaches of Sydney. But even Sydney hasn’t always been a safe place and this is what I find equally distressing.
As I watch the influx of videos, pictures and narrative from the UK, I remember having seen this thuggery before, in cities you’d never think would experience such criminality, and two places I have called, and now call, home.
Officials reported that dozens of people were injured, most were being treated for tear gas or pepper spray exposure, but that there were several major traumas, a number of stabbing victims, and a serious head injury or two. This was not the Vancouver I knew and loved. I was ashamed and amazed that such a thing could happen in this beautiful setting.
What then started as a peaceful gathering on the morning of 11 December to protest against a recent spate of violence against local people quickly turned into an alcohol-fuelled rampage through the local area and was followed by retaliatory riots thereafter. Watching the events unfold from my home at that time in Ottawa, I didn’t recognise this racist, ugly side to Sydney that I would come to know more intimately over the days that followed.
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| Photo credit: Flickr Creative Commons rommy ghaly |
As the riots in London broke out, a Canadian acquaintance commented that the Vancouver (and Sydney) riots were in no way similar to events taking place in London. She argued it was like comparing apples to oranges, that the Vancouver riot was isolated, intense, but a one-off, and something which shouldn’t be placed in the same league as the UK riots.
Have you witnessed recent events in London and the UK? Were you there when the riots in Sydney and/or Vancouver broke out?
Hi Russell, violence is violence no matter who the perpetrator. What worries me about the British riots is the number of people willing to make excuses for the thugs. We are told they are marginalised, mis-understood, deprived. The truth is, when you look at the big picture, they have access to education, welfare and healthcare. They have an affluent lifestyle compared to many in the world. No-one there is trying to convey a political message. Greed and an immaturity borne of never having to take responsibility for themselves are the culprits.
It’s so frustrating to watch criminals destroy innocent people’s possessions, homes, offices and lives en masse. Chilean students have been on strike for 2 months now and are protesting for change to the education system, and protests that are in their majority peaceful are always marred by people who use the occasion as an excuse to throw rocks at the police or destroy a building, and over the past week or so it’s been getting worse. If your problem is the “the man” or the government or the police, why do you think that makes it ok to burn someone’s car?
Hi Expatlogue (Aisha) – I tend to agree with you. I’m unsure what the message of the rioters is? It’s just not clear and simply looks like opportunistic thieving and violence based on the knowledge that the police haven’t been able to respond effectively elsewhere.
I saw an interesting BBC news report in which two young girls explained why they were rioting. They justified it on the basis of striking back at the rich and ‘getting them back’. The thing is, they’re looting your average UK shop owner who isn’t likely rich and is likely to be their current or future employer. It just doesn’t add up, does it?
Hi Emily – I had no idea of the extent of the protests in Chile so thanks for pointing that out. There always seems to be that hidden element within the ranks of innocent protesters that are hellbent on causing destruction and this seems to have been part of the ‘spark’ that turned a Tottenham protest into a country-wide rampage.
Watching the images, I also cannot fathom how burning a local person’s car helps your cause. But I think that’s the problem. There is no cause. This is just wanton vandalism and criminality with no apparent motivation or justification, if ever there could be one in such a situation.
Interesting to see how this will all play out…
Hey Russell! Its quite horrific seeing the images and hearing the stories on the internet and tv. I think the thing is the worst is that the rioters are just going nuts and destroying property of the working class — not those whom they are trying to fight against — the rich, upper class etc. So dumb.
Like in Vancouver — it was all over a hockey game! A GAME! So dumb.
And then there was the G20 riots in Toronto in 2010… it was an absolute embarrassment to watch on TV. It was terrible to think that just a mere 30-40km from where I was, all that crap was going down, needless violence and hatred and negativity. So dumb.
It’s all just so damn stupid. People need to grow the fuck up and either do something productive with their lives (like getting a job, or going to school, or heck, even just picking up a book or traveling) and get over themselves. GAH! endrant.
Hmmm I have misfeelings with the comments. First let me say that some of the events happened 50m from were I live. However, words like horrific, war, scary…etc couldn’t be less inappropriate: it looks ridiculous to talk about what I witnessed.
First if you look at pictures, you see that with plenty of them you have passer-by, local residents watching and taking pictures. Is it like a show? People who are talking about war don’t know what they are talking about.
Riots? not even that… looting and opportunism yes. But not even vandalism (of course in a crowed you have always some mad individuals – those are the dangerous): in my area they targeted electronic and clothes/shoes. Waitrose, Lidl, M&S, Waterstone’s were untouched. Nothing on the stationary shops either.
Without trying to find excuses (there is none) one have to ask why it happens: I think that when you are constantly talking about traders, banks (HSBC make £9b profit, but lay out 30k staff), millions, billions on TV and that you hear that they cut your social services, your local libraries, your schools, your parents are unemployed and the State is making redundant 500 000 people, it does not help…
Hey Mellyboo – love your comments and emotion. So true. The more I watch, the more I understand it’s blatant opportunism on the part of a low level of society who have nothing to lose and have no respect for anything or anyone. There’s no message or target, which is why working class people seem to be bearing the brunt of the attacks.
Glad you remined me about Toronto. I had completely forgotten about the G20 riots there. And remember Seattle? Although that at least had messages of anarchy and corporate greed behind the protests.
Hi Easyexpat – welcome to In Search of a Life Less Ordinary! Great to have you commenting here.
I did watch some of the images on the news last night showing several rioters/looters raiding a shop whilst everyday people went about their business around them. I then wondered if the violence was perhaps sporadic and dispersed rather than the sense we’re getting here in Australia that it is organised, in large numbers, and spreading mass terror across the city. Perhaps we’re not seeing the full picture from over here?
It’s a shame the looters didn’t target Waterstones (large chain of bookshops). Perhaps they would have learned a thing or two?
As always Russ, you hit the nail on the head…….In the immortal words of the carpenters….what the UK needs now is indiscriminate police beatings..this is what happens when do-gooder liberals stop the smacking of children = RESULT, youths don’t care!!!!…DISCUSS
Hey Anonymous – no need to be shy 🙂
That’s a brave opinion to be putting out there but there’s certainly something to be said about the fact that police that have become politically weakened and UK society has been taught to increasingly show disrespect.
I thought these riots may have been about a lack of police numbers on the street but it appears to have been more about a lack of strong-armed tactics and political will over the past twenty years to give police the powers they need to put an end to these incidents the minute they happen.
Add in the appalling attitude of the youths on the street and you’ve got a recipe for disaster… ss evidenced over the past week. I think I’m staying put, for now.
Russell V J Ward> As I said before and elsewhere:
– yes, the police was not prepared for those riots (there is no anti-riot force, more or less only normal bobby with a helmet and coat protection given to him). Apparently only 4000 are trained against rioting.
– yes, a bigger number and more efficient police (they came with anti-riot trucks 5 hours after the event in my area!) would have probably be enough.
– it’s not proven that weapons (according to a poll, 30% though the police should have had live bullets! against 15 year old stealing shoes ? For god sake who is the most dangerous? Scary – and not because of the rioters!) would have been more efficient. In most of the riot, more visible police force would have prevented the things.
– the Prime Minister blamed social networks, Twitter, Facebook and Blackberry for the events. So last year when it happened in North Africa it was great but if it is in England it is bad? (and BTW, as he was on holiday he should ask me: most of the ones I saw were just talking on the mobiles – quicker).
– restriction hitting poor and middle class where news and TV show that rich people are left without much trouble is not helping. Is anybody thinking that it’s fair that 6 months ago it was only the library/youth room located in the most deprived of my area that the Council wanted to close ? That 2 months ago, the council wanted to ask for an entrance fee for the play ground used by children who don’t have a chance to go on holiday ? It’s not an excuse, but I bet you that in 5 or 10 years analysts will explain the events with that context. Politicians who say that the economy has nothing to do with that are irresponsible.
Hi EasyExpat – Thanks for providing such comprehensive commentary on your views about the London riots.
I agree with you on your points, particularly given that I’ve worked in my day jobs with police here in Australia and overseas in Canada. My current and former colleagues all seem to agree that police powers have been so reduced in the past 10-20 years in the UK that they were never going to be able to deal with this nature of criminality – and the images seen over here proved that.
The economy must be a major factor too. The ‘abandoned’ underclass need to be addressed in any future solution to what, for me, has been a most confusing couple of days in England. It still amazes me that it happened, that it wasn’t quickly resolved, and that people have now gone back to their everyday business as if nothing really happened.
Quite bizarre.
Hi Russell, I’ve written about my reaction to the London riots on my blog. Suffice to say I find it very distressing. I have been (almost) evacuated because of riots previously in my life and yet somehow because you don’t expect it in London, and because there was no tangible cause, it seems more frightening this time. I worry whether I’ve made the right decision to remain here for the next few years, if this is the kind of unpredictable underbelly of society. I fear the sense of entitlement here is far greater than any other country I’ve lived in, and the idealisation of the celebrity materialistic lifestyle is astonishing. Having said all of that there are so many wonderful things about London and Britain, it is very sad to see this huge PR disaster for this great country.
Hi Vix, I’m off to your blog for a look-see then. Thanks for commenting over here.
You’ve hit the nail on the head when you talk about the ‘unpredictable underbelly’ – that’s the sense of it we get from here. It reminded me of those Friday nights out on the town in my younger days, unsure of when the next fight might start, watching your back the whole time, a real sense of unease. I get that sense when I see the passers-by walking down the street, with looters in the distance.
I guess we all make a home away from home in search of a nicer lifestyle, an interesting way of life, a feeling of adventure. I think I’m currently struggling with the notion of an eventual return to the UK if it means me feeling less safe and worried that these things may break out again and that I may struggle to protect my family. Maybe that’s an over-exaggeration on my part. My home country will remain a wonderful place in my mind.
I just wish I could click my fingers and remove these ever increasing bad elements of society that seem to remain there just under the surface.