Every crime doesn't need a reasoning. This is just opportunistic as it usually is when mobs suddenly get out of control.
Colonialism has a lot to do with it because one reason why London is so diverse is many people from former colonies are there and many of those don't feel fully integrated into UK society. Consider things like Sunday Bloody Sunday where police cracked down hard only to have things get more out of control as a population that felt alienated from the police / military rose up. The UK doesn't want to see something like that happen in the London. You might but its not like riots still don't happen in the US. On a related note when I was in Belfast I was talking to a cop and remarked about how calm they were in regard to dealing with drunks, where in America you would see them using the tazer much quicker (FYI cops in Northern Ireland carry guns and tazers unlike London). He said that he had trained with US cops and the US cops said the same thing but he and most UK cops didn't think that way. Their view is to take a lighter hand to earn public trust.
Here's an article about the causes of the riots. While some of it sounds like hooligans taking advantage of the situation it also sounds like there are some long simmering issues too. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/08/07/7292281-the-sad-truth-behind-london-riot LONDON -- As political and social protests grip the Middle East, are growing in Europe and a riot exploded in north London this weekend, here's a sad truth, expressed by a Londoner when asked by a television reporter: Is rioting the correct way to express your discontent? "Yes," said the young man. "You wouldn't be talking to me now if we didn't riot, would you?" The TV reporter from Britain's ITV had no response. So the young man pressed his advantage. "Two months ago we marched to Scotland Yard, more than 2,000 of us, all blacks, and it was peaceful and calm and you know what? Not a word in the press. Last night a bit of rioting and looting and look around you." Eavesdropping from among the onlookers, I looked around. A dozen TV crews and newspaper reporters interviewing the young men everywhere. The truth is that discontent has been simmering among Britain's urban poor for years, and few have paid attention. Social activists say one out of two children in Tottenham live in poverty. It's one of the poorest areas of Britain. Britain's worst riots in decades took place here in 1985. A policeman was hacked to death. After these riots, the same young man pointed out, "They built us a swimming pool." Poverty, joblessness cycle Police and local leaders in Tottenham made real progress in improving community relations in the intervening years and that's true about all of Britain. The best way to prevent crime, the theory goes, is to improve the lot of the people, then they won't need to commit crimes. But caught in a poverty and joblessness cycle, young people in many British urban areas have little hope of a better life. So when a local 29-year-old father, described by police as a gangster, was shot dead by an officer, the response came quickly. Mark Duggan was killed Thursday. On Saturday night about 50 relatives and friends protested outside the Tottenham police station. Local young men, almost all with their heads covered by hoods -- known here as "hoodies" -- took advantage to indulge themselves in a favorite sport: cursing the police. This quickly escalated into a night of hurling rocks, bottles (Jack Daniels, one young man told me -- "we broke into the liquor store, drank the Jack Daniels and threw the bottles at the cops"), burning two patrol cars, torching buildings, smashing shop windows and carting off hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of phones, cameras and clothes. The looting and rioting had nothing at all to do with the killing of Mark Duggan. That was the spark. The bonfire had been prepared by years of neglect, fueled by the anger of young men with no stake in the system, angry at everybody and quick to exploit fury at the killing of a local man, even if he did allegedly fire at the police officer first. So now the question people in Tottenham are asking is: Will the government pay attention to the social issues underlying the anger? And a wider question is: Would anyone care at all if there had not been violence?
No, I am not implying anything other than the fact that race is one of many factors to be considered. People seem to either think that race plays no role in anything or is the only factor.
I find myself conflicted when reading these articles. Is rioting the way to go? I don't think so, I really believe that its just an excuse for violence and looting. These angry young men who don't have a stake in the system probably feel a bit of entitlement. Life isn't fair sometimes but there isn't a reason for people to take it out on other people who have been dealt a better hand, or worked their butts off to get what they have now. If they want to protest then they should go ahead and organize, but doing this won't better their lives further down the line. What's really sad is I read somewhere a quote from one of the rioters who is a self described anarchist who said he wanted to redistribute the wealth by looting. I never understood anarchists or kids these days that think they are anarchists or are allured by it. We are all humans and imperfect, and therefore our governments are imperfect. And that Mark Duggan case. He should never have put himself in that situation in the first place. Live fast die young if what the police are alleging is true. I feel bad for the riot police officers, they're being put in a bad position.
It could be because that article was horrible. First, it implies that any attention is good attention... when in reality, the rioters are only getting attention now because they are acting like idiots. Second, it insinuates that out of rioting should come government "help" to the rioters. This line was particularly laughable... Britain's worst riots in decades took place here in 1985. A policeman was hacked to death. After these riots, the same young man pointed out, "They built us a swimming pool." No ****... an honest man was beaten to death, what did you expect, social reform? Rioting clearly has it's place - sometimes it is necessary to promote "good" over "evil" - see some of the Middle East rioting. Here, it's doing no good. It may ultimately and inherently based on a sincere and desperate plea to improve a certain population base's economic situation, but it is very very difficult to see any meaningfully positive impact coming out of it, all while countless damage is being done to person and property.
Blame the police or government over their. I think the people can riot all they want when the police hold a man down and execute him with a bullet to the head. Even more problems when the cops are white and the victim black. Looks like tension had been building up for a while now. Hopefully they go V for Vendtta style, because most any government isnt working for the betterment of its citizens
Daft chavs running around in their expensive trainers must be chuffed, reinforcing whatever brilliant idea they have of themselves right about now. Not unexpected from them, doing exactly what it says on the tin, so to speak, innit? Seriously though, whatever social dialogue or change that could have resulted from the initial incident is totally overrun by what's going on now.
