I think it’s about time that I wrote a post about the riots that have happened this week in London, Manchester, Birmingham and Nottingham. (6th - 10th Aug 2011)
First of all, what happened in London obviously should not have happened but Manchester, Birmingham and Nottingham should be ashamed of themselves. There was no need what so ever for events to occur in those places. It could have all been contained in London and the rest of the country could have looked down and commented on how ridicules it all was but no, everyone else has to jump on the bandwagon and get a piece of the action.
I woke up Sunday morning to find riots had happened in London as people were protesting because of the fatal shooting of Mark Duggan on the 4th August. A protest, which I think was pointless on many levels and just showed the people of Tottenham as thugs. People need to be reminded that he was an alleged crack cocaine dealer, a member of a gang, and was said to be carrying a converted blank-firing handgun that had been converted to fire live rounds. Now a lot of people are going on and on about how he shouldn’t be dead and shouldn’t have been shot at but to be honest, no one should be shot at but if you read the evidence I can understand why he was. If I was a police officer and there was a man that I knew had a gun and there was a high chance that he was going to use it on me, I would shoot. Simple as. As a police officer that it what you are trained to do. You do what is needed as long as you can back it up with evidence to say 'yeah I did it and this is why'. And that is all that needs to be said about that because the events that followed in the week have nothing to do with that.
the riots that follow on from this have nothing what so ever in connection with Duggan’s death, people had forgotten about it, it wasn’t on the people minds as they stood in the middle of JJB deciding if they should rob ADIDAS or NIKE trainers.
It has been said a lot that everyone was rioting across England because the 'youths don’t have a voice'. This may be true, but starting riots isn’t the way to go around being heard, we have seen this with the student riots, nothing came on them, just made students look like idiots.
I watched a program on Sky 'Why are they rioting' which was the biggest load of crap I’ve watched in a while. They had a youth support worker from London claiming that people were rioting for reason such as:
• Feeling like they don’t have a future in today’s society
• They distrust adults with authority
• They are all stereotyped
• Don’t have a voice in today’s UK
After all of this will anyone want to listen to them? And no, they don’t have a future in today’s society and they have no one else to blame but themselves. If I never put the effort in with my GCSES, never went to college or university then I wouldn’t have a future either, not everything is like benefits, you don’t just get life on a plate.
It was also said that they think that people are growing up, especially males, without a role model in their lives, fatherless homes and chaotic families are the cause to all this bad behavior. Again, what a load of rubbish! I grew up with a lot of friends that lived with mum and either didn’t see dad at all or saw him once a month and I can safely say that not a single one of them was out starting riots. They have all made something of their lives - been to college, university, have full time jobs and support themselves. Now don’t get me wrong, there is the odd toeragg that I went to school with that hasn’t worked a day in their lives and has 3 kids but even then, not a single riot happened in my home town.
What’s to blame for all of the riots - a materialistic society! People just want want and want. Nothing is ever enough. People are complaining that they don’t get enough in benefits and can’t find work. I finished university and 2 weeks later I have 16hr a week job selling suitcases. It isn’t the best job but money is money and I can guarantee that there are jobs out there but people are too picky and won’t do 'dirty jobs' like cleaning. People need to remember that they are not entitled to benefits; they are given them because our government is better than other countries and pays for them to sit in their 4 bedroomed houses, eating sausages rolls from Gregs watching Jeremy Kyle while the rest of us work 9-5 earning our keep. I think the government should take away their benefits and teach them what it’s like to live off nothing. If they think they don’t get enough for free there is only one thing for it, get of your lazy bone-idle ass and get a job.
I’ve mentioned my views on this to a few people and once or twice I’ve got 'but you were a tax doing student for 3 years, you are just as bad' I would like to clear up once and for all it’s not the same. I worked part time all the time I was university and I have not once said 'its ok, I don’t need to repay my uni fees back I can make sure I earn under 15grand a year and its ok'. My main aim in life if to be earning enough to pay back what I borrowed because then I know I have done myself proud and made something of my life.
Overall I don’t think people that don’t contribute to the country should be able to have a valid opinion on what happens and what they get. I think it should be the tax payers, the working, the educated and the people that make something of themselves that should have a voice. At the end of the day, they are the people that pay for the lowlife scummy uneducated people that riot, rob and burn down businesses.
