@Elfinsafety: I normally agree with a lot of what you say, but not this time…
There is a HUGE difference between what is unfolding around England right now, and what happened in Vancouver at the end of the NHL season.
The Vancouver riot:
1)unfolded over the course of 24 hours
2)was widely and immediately condemned by everyone, including the CBC (i.e. there was no bullshit language about ‘protestors’)***See clip below
3)was immediately tackled by a combination of police forces, authorised to do whatever was necessary to stop it
4)withing days, there were apologies pouring into the public sphere via social media sites and the press from the alcohol-fueled students, and others, who participated.
5)the looting aspect was minimal; it was more about vandalism
The London riots:
1)have already gone on FAR FAR LONGER than they would have in Canada
2)have been given ‘fair hearing’ by the BBC in its use of language… as if anything that has unfolded since the shooting was remotely political
3)the political response has been slow and insufficient
4)the participants we have heard from have so far been remorseless; we shall see if there are any words of apology when the dust settles
5)the scale of looting indicates that it is all about materialistic opportunism
Sorry, but I do find the English have a habit of saying that, well, other places have their difficulties too. Of course they do, but I would strongly argue that many of those places are more realistic and effective at dealing with them. Britain has some serious social problems all its own that desperately need to be addressed, and that we are getting some glimpse of over the course of these riots.
Deflecting them by saying that other countries have their problems too is to misunderstand other countries’ issues, and to avoid the issues here.
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plqafS-ex9U[/video]
