Sunday Summary

The rioting in Britain has settled down, now, which affords us an opportunity to examine some possible underlying causes of the event.  From a historical perspective, this needs to be done, for it allows us the opportunity to understand the zeitgeist from which such violence and destructive behavior springs.  Knowing that, we may be further able to address possible remedies, as well as possible methods of prevention.

Sometimes riots are quite clear-cut in their causes.  Anyone who was anywhere around Los Angeles in the spring of 1992, when local African-Americans rioted after 3 LAPD officers were acquitted of charges of police brutality of Rodney King, understood that L.A. blacks were lashing out at what they considered the racial and social injustices in their neighborhoods.  It was indeed brutal.  53 people were killed.  Thousands more were injured. 

However, the causes of the rioting in England aren't so clear.  Though it started in Tottenham, North London, after an organized protest against the the shooting death of Mark Duggan by Metropolitan Police Service officers, thanks to light-speed communication like Twitter, the violence quickly spread to other parts of London, then to cities farther north of London.  That Mark Duggan was a black man is irrelevant, as the rioters consisted of people of all colors.

Wikipedia summarizes that "commentators have attributed the causes of the riots to factors including high poverty and unemployment, the growing gap between rich and poor, gang culture, and the lowest social mobility in the developed world."  But, could the riots be due to merely socioeconomic factors?  Or, as it was posited earlier in this blog, was it just England's disaffected youth having their say?

In an insightful online article in England's Financial Times, Gautam Malkani compares and contrasts the underlying psychology of the violence of the riots to that fictionalized in Anthony Burgess' A Clockwork Orange.  In it, he suggests that, not unlike Alex and his "droogs," rioters were "revel[ing] in demonic violence to stave off the demon of boredom," as "many rioters in London and other cities were laughing as they looted. [...] Like football hooliganism, the violence was recreational--a day out in a Nietzschean theme park."

Malkani also suggests that consumerism may have played a role in the looting.  "In place of the traditionally anti-capitalist stance of previous youth counter-cultures came reports of rioters in low-end fashion retailers, engaged in the new practice of 'trying before you loot.'  This form of extreme consumerism meant that, by the end of the week, the biggest bogeyman was our culture of rampant materialism and instant gratification."

With that, it appears that we have at last discovered the apparent causes of last week's violence and destruction in Britain:  socioeconomic disaffection augmented by consumerism run amok.  Almost makes one long for the simpler days of race riots.  Almost.