Everything you both wrote also describes perfectly the situation here in the UK, where we genuinely do have a continuation of the dreadful Thatcher years.
"...while society sleeps in an uninterested apathetic coma" - That's the same here too unfortunately. Considering the way this government is deliberately impoverishing everyone whilst blatantly stuffing their pockets it should be enough to cause rioting or even civil war, unfortunately the population is too busy watching Eastenders and Big Brother on TV instead. So long as nobody's pointing guns at them the British public will happily suck up the propaganda and accept mistreatment from corrupt governments indefinitely.
Anyway, I'll say no more about it because this could easily turn into a several page long rant if I get started.
Where's the ask/bid walls to discuss when I would like to get back on topic? I haven't seen one for a few days now
i must say the 2011 riots in London felt like a sign. reminded me of the riots every year in the banlieus of paris.
it was the first time i saw the dark side of social networking resulting in massive violent flashmobs.
2011 riots were fuelled by opportunists tempted by free stuff. There was no ideology behind them. I watched these riots with utter disgust. It's a shame they did not roll out the army.
from what i remember it started with a policeman shooting a possible dealer from a streetgang, then some demonstrations followed and triggered by the usual suspects (probably members of streetgangs) the brew started to boil over.
I know that there was no ideology behind it, that's why i used the term "violent flashmob". (sounds perhaps a bit off, but i though a lot of kids organized themselves via networks)
I saw the coverage of kids robbing wounded people instead of helping and middleclass kids stealing stuff they could have bought in the first place. (afterwards they couldn't even explain why they did it)
totally disconnected human group behaviour without any sign of social aim. (despite citizens building vigilant groups for security because of the lack of police forces)
To a certain point though it's an indicator for the spread of the gap between rich and poor and that tension sometimes channels these break-outs.
I'm not sure though if army with life ammunition would have been a good strategy for inner security. (ok I admit, german point of view here, government has a huge amount of police riot forces at hand)
edit: 2nd OT....i should go to bed now
You're right, although these riots were carried out by stupid kids in a stupid way they are indicative of the underlying anger of the whole population, there will very likely be more riots, but this time by adults with genuine grievances and who are completely desperate due to the way this corrupt government is deliberately and greedily impoverishing everyone. They're blatantly stealing the wealth of the country and people really can't take much more, it's been quiet so far but there is so much anger and desperation thanks to this government that if it all kicks off again it won't be just a bunch of bored opportunistic kids robbing the shops for a new pair of trainers, it will most likely be the worst civil insurrection that this country has seen since the civil war. I wouldn't be surprised (or upset) if assassinating politicians comes back into fashion either.
The only thing that's prevented this from already having started is the Tory/BBC/Murdoch press propaganda machine working overtime to keep everyone blaming each other (the poor, the unemployed, immigrants, etc) rather than the government and their banker/corporate cronies who are the real criminals. If enough people see though the propaganda then this government could find themselves in real physical danger, which is just what they deserve.
Personally I don't want rioting in the streets of course, I just want them to go away but obviously they're not going to, so only time wil tell how this is going to pan out. The government had better hope that people keep staying at home, in front of the telly rather than taking to the streets as would be entirely understandable and justifiable. The trouble with most riots is that people smash up the place that they live in, they rarely seem to target those who actually deserve it.
I knew things would get bad when this lot became the government but I didn't think it could be any worse than under Thatcher, how wrong I was, it's much worse by far. Cameron makes that evil old witch look like Mother Theresa
Damn, I said I wasn't going to rant about our corrupt government, now I have, they just annoy me so much that it's difficult not to. Obviously I didn't go bed when I said I would last time, I really should do now because I have to get up again in three hours to get my daughter to school - either that or maybe I should just have another coffee...
Still no walls to discuss, Gox is getting boring, I wonder how long that's going to last? Often it suddenly gets very dramatic when it's been quiet for a while. (usually when I'm not looking)