The tragedy of the events of recent days is that those who will pay the heaviest price are those who most need stability and encouragement in local communities ”“ people who run small local businesses, people who need efficient emergency services, people, old or young, with limited mobility….
Gee, he finally said something that was clear, and made sense!
But bland. David Cameron has been more helpfully to the point.
The best editorial which I’ve read in the last few days regarding these recent events was by Theodore Dalrymple http://www.city-journal.org/2011/eon0810td.html
#3 Well it certainly is an A1 rant – whether Theodore Dalrymple’s editorial sheds any light along with all the heat is another matter.
Pageantmaster, I would say that that was restrained for Dr Dalrymple, compared, say, with what he has written in his column in the Spectator.
The language used here in public debate in Britain has sometimes taken me aback – the rioting youths widely described as ‘feral’ for example. There is no doubting the thuggery of many of them, and certainly the display of indifference to others has been horrifying – eg the ease with which the rioters torched buildings. But I have wondered what it feels like to be part of a group of youngsters written off as useless by the rest of society.
Certainly, folks, these events have led us in the UK to a massive introspection, asking questions about family life, schools and values. The self-questioning is good and important. I wish I could feel that it would lead to some metanoia but my suspicion is that the forces of political correctness are too entrenched in the national psyche.
#7 Fr Tee
I think that is right – moreover as far as London is concerned, half of those coming up before the Courts are remarkably under 18. It looks more like the schoolchildren finding something to do in the school holidays than the unemployed or socially excluded, although that may be an element with some of the rioters. It sounds as if rather than ‘come to a party’ or ‘come to a rave’ the kids have been tweeting ‘come to a riot’.
It may not be your thing, but Steve Clifford of the Evangelical Alliance gave an interesting contrast in responding to an atheist, on what Christianity can offer the youngsters here and with some suggestions here
I remain convinced that my analysis of the groups involved in the London riots here is not far off. Moreover since that comment two further bits of information have been forthcoming: firstly it appears that the man shot by Operation Trident [the anti organised crime unit of the police who deal with the London ethinc criminal and drug gangs and Chinese tong extortion and drugs gangs] may well have been a member of one of these gangs, if not a senior founder and leader [see here and here]; and secondly my suspicion that the London gangs had put aside their turf wars to coordinate and organise the riots and in particular to make a point to the Police in response to the killing was rather backed up by a comment by one of the people who works with youngsters Camila Bbatmanghelidjh on BBC Question Time last night when she said that a number of people were telling her that the London gangs had united to organise the actions.
So it looks as if as far as the people involved were concerned there were four groups who came together to produce the London riots:
1. An initial peaceful protest by family and the friends and community of the man killed;
2. Coordinated and organised action from the criminal underworld in London – the London drugs and crime gang ‘elders’ who terrorise local estates and the poorer communities but who are normally not come across by the rest of us, seen in the use of the Blackberry Messenger service and with the use of ‘soldiers’ as organisers and spotters organising the mayhem, and the looting raids.
3. Others in particular local youth who may well be disaffected and seeing life opportunities as receding further from them in terms of work, education and social engagement. There is a cross over with #2 above because it is from this pool from which the gangs recruit. But this group is wider in that others from out of town also responded to the social networking calls on twitter and facebook including a youth worker, students, graduates, a millionaire’s daughter and clearly at least half are those caught are of school age on holiday at the moment looking for something to do.
4. Those who came opportunistically to loot – who may include members of groups #2 and #3.
So it is not an easy picture to categorise. I think two things which come out of it are:
A. Organised Criminals: The London gangs have been emboldened to come out of the sink estates and areas where they normally restrict themselves and their operations into the more middle class areas. This is in some senses a problem which has been underground in London – but now very much in our faces.
B. Disaffected Youth: There is considerable disatisfaction from young, working class youth, who see no future particularly on sink estates, and whose aims are consumerist, particularly in the imported American Gangsta Rap culture which they aspire to without positive role models in the communities other than the criminals and drug dealers who appear to offer a way forward into what they think they want.
Back to what the Archbishop says: I think he is right in some respects. Unfortunately his emphasis remains socialist – to look to Government to give a lead and money. Realistically the money will not come, and the government will not borrow further to fund schemes the ABC might like to see. In the circumstances, I wonder if there might not be an opportunity for the Churches. I was struck by the report of Paul Perkin of St Mark’s Battersea Rise here. The looters stored their swag in his churchyard, seeing it as a ‘safe place’. This is not the use to which we want our church property put, but it does say something about the way the church is seen as positively and with some sense of trust even by the criminals. Perhaps we in the churches have an opportunity to take up the slack in the organisations which are having funding problems in looking after young people, and an opportunity for both mission and to demonstrate God’s love and support in these communities. We have the buildings and the structure in every community, almost without a parallel in the country. We reach everywhere and every sector of society. We have the ability still to be listened to everywhere from the High Street [Main Street] to the legislature. There are a few projects which show what this might look like such as the Archbishop of York’s Youth Trust here.
Rather than as the ABC suggests waiting for the Government to organise and fund the Big Society, we should just take up the challenge and organise it ourselves and treat it as an opportunity to show what Christianity is truly about and why Christ offers an opportunity for a hope and a future.
This really would be a project for ‘churches together.’