Panic on the streets of London..

[The Curmudgeon]

And how.

In case you missed it, there's a bit of a scrap happening around the streets of England right now. It started off as a local outrage over a young man being shot dead by police (turns out he was packing heat, after all). Cue mass looting, fighting, fires.. the whole lot.

But it hasn't stopped. If anything, it's worse than ever. The fighting has now broken out all over England, and the original "cause" is long forgotten. It's now just.. fighting. And fighting. And fighting. Oh, and setting fire to shit and robbing, as well.

There have been people arrested for trying to start up their own gangs to join the riot on Facebook and Twitter, and no-one knows when this fucking insanity is going to end. Buildings, homes, shops - all burned to the ground for no reason at all.

People are blaming the government. People are blaming black and Asian families (which is bullshit). People are blaming lack of education. Whatever it is, it's happening everywhere.

Want some depressing viewing? Check this out, and this is during the day after the initial violence from the following few days. This is still happening all over England.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=MP-td3C55Yc

Holy shit.

[trashcanman]

Man, you guys are volatile. If we did that every time a cop shot an unarmed minority in apparent cold blood, there'd be nothing left. Must be all the video games.
www.craveonline.com/gaming/articles/172277-le-sigh-london-riots-blamed-on-video-games

[insert facepalm pic of your choice]

So is Britain suffering from the kind of crippling unemployment that we are over here? There's got to be an underlying cause causing people to want an excuse to lash out. Then again, people all over burn down their own cities over fucking sporting events so maybe there's just no sense trying to rationalize.

[The Curmudgeon]

See, it's tempting to get all philosophical about all of this, about WHY these people are suddenly "smashing the state."

Except they're not. You want to attack big business? You want to lash out at the government? OK. Why attack a bakers? Why smash up local shops? Why burn down independent record labels, causing MILLIONS of damage to labels who are already buckling under thanks to illegal downloads and the Cowell's of this world?

In short, it maybe started off as raging against the machine in some people's eyes, but the hundreds of people who followed had NO idea why they were even doing it. One girl who was interviewed was obviously trying to parrot back some of the anti-establishment rhetoric she'd heard in an attempt to excuse herself, and she tried to talk about the government.. except she didn't even know what political party was in power. Right on, sister!

It was morons, thugs and scum breaking shit and stealing shit. And nothing more.

[trashcanman]

Ain't that about a bitch. In the words of the Dead Kennedys, "tomorrow you're homeless, tonight it's a blast..."