One of my favorite cities is London. Been there more than anywhere else, and always stop by if I am going somewhere past that.
I can't say how upset I am. These are not just riots. They are people running around, destroying and attacking and looting.
The scary thing is that the police seem incapable of doing anything. As is the case here, they know if they use too much force, the are in deep trouble.
Too little force has its effect also.
There have been poor in many countries in many times, but no one rioted in NYC in 1939 or 10,000 other places.
For me, it is the natural end of the combination of an entitlement mentality combined with class envy (riorters are shouting they can get rich people), combined with the knowledge that if they burn a store they will get a whole 2 months in jail. Other factors feed in.
I have said it 100 times. I love going to Europe, but Europe is dying. Unless they get their act together - one way or another -my neice will never see the Europe I saw.
The saddest thing is that this is the stuff that makes people go to terrible strong men who will crack down.
Exactly where are they haveing massive riots in the streets in the U.S.?
There have been a few in history if you want to go back 20 years to the last or 40 to the one before. But even those were small compared to what's happening now in London.
Cincinnati 2001 is the last I can remember. I'm refering to the mentality of those who participate in a riot.
We both lived there at same time, so you know what I'm talking about.
You also neglected to mention the U.S urban riots of mid to late 60's.
Do your above sentiments apply to those riots as well ?
Such as: we legitimately took some shit from Europeans for years over our lousy race relations. They got awfully high and mighty about it. But now you can see many of the British rioters are non-white. And France, Germany and most of the rest of Europe are plagued by a muslim underclass that threatens their security. Payback's a bitch, ain't it? I'm sorry they have these troubles but there is part of me that's laughing. As for the US, well, you may not like Obama now but we did elect him. Can you imagine the Brits or the Frenchies electing a muslim or non white?
You can always go back in history. Yes, it was 20 years ago. But even that seems smaller to me. I was in L.A.
It didn't last as long, it was more confined, and it was not as violent.
Also, it was confined to a smaller area.
Or at least it didn't seem as bad living through it.
I wasn't in LA then but watched it all on TV and my impression is it was much bigger, longer and violent than you recall. I remember days of footage of looting and burning, mobs roaming the streets. Also, the terrible footage of some poor white guy who unknowingly drove his semi through the area, was pulled from his rig and beaten to a pulp by a mob. He barely survived. I don't recall what the other casualties were.
Phil seems to be "sanitizing" it a bit. Got quite ugly, w/ violent riots taking place in "wide scattered pockets" throughout the city. Curfews were in effect for a week, with stores shuttering early. The guy you were referring to was a truck driver named Reginald Denny.
A VERY ugly stain in L.A. history.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=327J3ISiVOU
This is why I'm arming up.
2 words, Reginald Denny.
There is a movie coming out called "Attack the Block" about a bunch of English punks like the ones in that clip who mug people, etc. Then aliens (from space) attack their neighborhood and those punks become the heroes and fight off the aliens. It's really bad timing for this movie.
Protests have broken out all across the UK. Protests are also going on in Israel, Spain, Greece, Portugal, the Philippines, Syria, and even China.
I keep saying that every nation is 3 meals away from revolution. Every nation has the responsibility to create an atmosphere to allow their own citizens to live. It's not much to ask to just be able to put food on the table.
When states and economies become too dysfunctional to deliver this, then it is the right of these people to alter or abolish the existing government. Not because I say so, or because the US was founded on such prinicples, but because it is a universal reality in all societies.
When you shove people against a wall, you better expect a reaction. When you shove them against a wall violently, you better damn well expect a violent reaction.
If the London police had split some heads on the first night, the escalation would have been minimal.
You can't control bad dogs with a feather.
If they had split some heads on the first night,
the escalation would have been minimal.
You can't control bad dogs with a feather.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/44081731#44078933
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/44081731#44070537
The protestors in London burning buildings
and looting should be shot in the knees.
That will slow down the looting and arson.
Link below, Korean shop keepers protecting their business from looters in L.A. riots.
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=3be_1237333767
China, or Syria and the snotnosed thugs stealing stereos in London.
Spain, Greece, Portugal are just spoiled nannystaters who think the world owes them a living.
That you like protests in Syria and China, but you don't like them elsewhere? Is it because protests elsewhere target capitalists?
When spoiled capitalists deny a standard of living to "snotnosed thugs", then they're break the windows of your nice capitalist store, steal everything not nailed down, and set it on fire. If the capitalists didn't want their stores burnt down, then they shouldn't have wrecked the economy. My only regret is that I couldn't pass them a gallon of gasoline.
