London riots

[AppleQueso]

The important thing to remember is that ultimate responsibility for wide spread social unrest lies on the government. This is why we have a government, to prevent this kind of thing from happening.

You have to ask yourself, why do these people feel so poorly about their country that they're willing to tear it down?

For my part, I think if the UK hadn't spent the last 30 years (just like the US) living beyond it's means (borrowing money to give to the rich), only to pass an austerity package (which only hurts the poor), we wouldn't be seeing these riots.

Now I'm not saying that these are protests. These are riots. But riots are a predictable consequence of bad governance. People don't riot when they feel that they have a stake in their country.

That's assuming that the rioters are actually politically motivated...

[Hatta]

No it doesn't really. Clearly these people are acting out of greed and, well, blood lust. What I'm saying is that these base motivations are caused by political realities.

Popo does have a point though.

[MrPopo]

No it doesn't really. Clearly these people are acting out of greed and, well, blood lust. What I'm saying is that these base motivations are caused by political realities.

Popo does have a point though.

Maybe to put it a little better, the political situation in a country affects the overall contentedness of the citizens. The more content the citizens are the less likely a riot is to break out. But humans are predictable in their unpredictability, and in any large gathering a small event can cause it to spiral out of control into a riot. If everyone was in the town square for a Zeppelin reunion tour to kick off the "We love the government" festival that was unanimously voted on by the populace you can still end up with a riot with the right events. Mob dynamics are scary.

[OldSchool_Boy]

You obviously haven't been in a major city when their local sports team won the championship.

Saw this and was just
http://www.complex.com/city-guide/2011/ ... ondon-riot

What assholes

[YoshiEgg25]

You obviously haven't been in a major city when their local sports team won the championship.

Or lost.

[J T]

You obviously haven't been in a major city when their local sports team won the championship.

Or lost.

[MrEco]

*faith in humanity steadily dropping*

[MrPopo]

*faith in humanity steadily dropping*

You must not have been on the internet long if you still have faith in humanity.

[Hatta]

Saw this and was just
http://www.complex.com/city-guide/2011/ ... ondon-riot

What assholes

After seeing a bunch of well dressed men crash the world economy, and not just get away with it but profit from it, nothing much shocks me anymore.

[BananaXX]

It's illegal for a civilian to own a gun in the UK, so I doubt the police have many excuses to even pull out there own guns let alone fire them.

I was wondering every time I saw the riot on BBC World News how come no shop keepers fought back to protect their business. You've answered that thanks.