London Riots

History buffs will know 

that both the U.S.A. and Australia 

started off as a British penal colonies.

There was a huge amount of poverty in England during the the latter part of the 18th Century.  The poor had little or no access to social support and the work houses were full.  Crime was rampant.  Public hangings were common and drew many spectators.  The jails were full to bursting point forcing the authorities to use the old hulks of ships anchored in the river Thames to hold the overflow of prisoners.

The primary/elementary students I taught were always amazed by the seemingly small offences that resulted in transportation...stealing a loaf of bread, picking a handkerchief from someone's pocket...  However, many of those chosen, by the judges of the day, as suitable for transportation were actually up on a number of charges.  If they had been found guilty of more serious crimes they would have been hanged or imprisoned for a long time.  By finding them guilty of the more minor charges they could then be transported to the colonies.  Often their age, sex and background played a more important part in this decision than the crime/s they had committed.  

In a nutshell, 

transportation was a way 

of ridding London/Britain 

of its poor underclass.

Later on the Irish potato famine, which resulted in the deaths of over one million people and the emmigration of approximately two million to Great Britain, the U.S., Canada and Australia, was blamed on the blight that destroyed the potato crop ... the peasants' main food source. (Wikipedia)

However, the famine can also be explained as the culmination of a social, political and economic catastrophe caused by British policy which reduced the amount of land available for feeding the Irish which then stimulated the demand for Irish political independence. (New World Encyclopedia)  

Who was most affected 

by the potato crop failure?  

The rural poor.

Then there is Hitler.  What enabled him to convince the Germans that he had all the answers?  Well he was a charismatic, some say hypnotic, speaker.  But his German audiences were ripe for his oratory following years of hyper-inflation (the price of an egg increased 30 million times in just 10 years).  Economic upheaval generally breeds political upheaval, and Germany in the 1920s was no exception. (Hitler's rise to power)  

In the 1930s support for Hitler 

mushroomed and consisted mainly of 

the lower middle class 

and the peasantry 

who feared an 
economic depression.

  Let's not even begin to discuss the French Revolution.

And so now to London, today.  

Are we sensing a pattern yet?

Many factors are at work in Britain, and many western economies, that mean there is a huge and growing gap between the 'haves' and 'have nots'. 

There is an excellent article on Sky News that outlines the possible causes for the British riots citing: demographics, youth unemployment (600,000 people under 25...that is 25%), inter-generational poverty, education levels and failure (although they also have the highest rate of graduate unemployment), inequality (in inner London 20% of the population have 60% of the income), racism, combined with the recent austerity cuts.

And don't forget, these economically poor youths are also existing in a consumer society and are bombarded with messages proclaiming happiness can be found in the latest designer shoes or electronic gadget.  No wonder they are feeling locked out and disenfranchised.  

Is it surprising that a multitude of factors 

and inequality can build resentment and anger?

Or that some spark like a police shooting

can set of something like these riots?

At what stage does a riot
become an uprising?

So, surprise, surprise,  history repeats itself!  The underclasses grow, become disillusioned and angry, act out and are called criminal.  I am not condoning what happened and a lot of what happened was clearly unlawful.

However, a four year prison sentence for two stupid young men who posted messages on Facebook to incite a riot (which did not eventuate) is, I think, a bit of a knee jerk reaction.  The harsh penalties being handed out do not address the causes of the unrest or make any attempt to redress the disadvantage at its roots.

The architects of the Global Financial Crisis mostly walked away from the wreckage they caused...not many of them felt the hand of the law!  And of the banks here in Australia who were supported and bailed out by the taxpayers' dollars and are now unashamedly making huge profits.  One rule for the rich and another for the poor?

Half of Europe is reeling under financial troubles. Globally the share markets are unstable and we are being warned of the possibility of another Global Financial Crisis.  Australia is only surviving because we are digging, pumping and gouging the heart out of the land and shipping it overseas.  I wonder how long it will take for our governments to realise that reducing everything to a monetary bottom line and trying to spend our way out of trouble doesn't work any more...if it ever did.

Maybe the judiciary in England 

should consider reinstating 

transportation as a deterrent.

Or if the poor could catch a fishing boat and make it to Christmas Island they could apply to Australia for  refugee status on economic and political grounds. 

Now there is an interesting scenario...
I wonder if they would be welcomed?