During the past week, the country has experienced a growing deluge of rioting, looting, nihilism and civil unrest heretofore unprecedented in this generation of English youth.
It began several days ago, stemming from the peaceful protest of the family of a young black Londoner, who had been shot dead by police in unclear circumstances. This was just a spark in catalyzing a great fallout of youthful rebellion, violence and anarchy on city streets.
There are a good few key factors contributing to these troubling scenes played out before us. Here are three:
Disillusionment
There is a crippling recession. People feel helpless. Employment rates are disparaging. People are angry at politicians –they seem to get away with so much.
Respect for authority feels pointless. People are fed up with all sorts.
-Look at societal history- bad government and economic misery always leads to social unrest.
The age old, universal angst of youth
In this kind of mass movement of people, there is also a perverse sense of camaraderie. Adolescents are collecting side by side for a –albeit negative- common cause.
These are things commonly sought after in human nature, no matter the walk of life. If it were only poverty and working-class disillusionment that made us act out, you wouldn’t have seen middle-class wannabe rebels such as rock star son Otis Ferry publicly displaying anarchic, anti-establishment behaviour in the notorious student protests earlier this year.
Greed and materialism
“Don’t underestimate the desire for a free pair of Nike trainers.”
-Timothy Spall on This Morning in reference to the looting
‘Nuff said.
And basically, if the people at the top were performing their duties with integrity, we people at the bottom wouldn’t be suffocating in such resentment.
Proverbs 29:2: When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.
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