2011 The year of discontent in the Western world?

[lxskllr]

Bunch of dickheads. "Yea! I'm gonna revolt!" as he turns around, and kicks his cat :^S

If you're gonna revolt, do it right. Pro tip... Business owners likely aren't the enemy....

[EricHill78]

That's the one thing about living in the city. My wife and I live in a home that cost us 90K. It has 3 bedrooms, a garage, and a sizable back yard. My mother-in-law lives in the house behind us, and we have a neighbor to the left of us. On the right of us is cotton as far as the eye can see. We live in a town of less than 1,000, and the evenings are a quiet as can be.
I'm free to revel in my non-belief in god, and support of gay rights. Assuming we have our jobs, we're doing fine.
Now I don't expect to unaffected when the shit hits the proverbial fan, but we have no crack dealers here, and the only gunshots are from the rednecks hunting birds.
The value of our home dropped about 3K this year, and will probably drop another 3 next year. I have a daughter on the way, and I'm scared shitless for her. Could be worse though. I could live in downtown LA.

I can back up this statement 100 percent. I lived in this area for a while and loved it. Country living but what is great is that you have the beach not too far, you also have great outlet shopping nearby as well. If you miss the city go 30 minutes west you got Mobile 30 minutes east you got Pensacola. Really nice living, nice people, everything you could ask for. I wanted to raise my son there but was layed off. If I win the lottery, I'll be moving back.

[RobsanX]

I watched a documentary on the French Revolution yesterday. I see a lot of parallels between that and what's happening in London this week. The "have nots" will only stay quiet for so long.

[truthwolf1]

Sounds like it turned into a protest of unlawful death but ended up being a (social welfare baby) robbing/hate crime spree. We had something similar called the LA riot.

Thank God for the armed Koreans on the rooftops, who said enough!!

[sgreger1]

This is sick, i've been listening to interviews with the protestors and these are the wost kind of ignorant human beings. They were saying "yah we're out here just showing the police that we can do what we want and proving the conservatives wrong. We are showing the rich that we can do what we want to, that's why we're burning shops down because business owners are rich and have all the money and they need to get whats commin to em." <--- All said in a very cliche sounding accent.


A furniture store that has been there for over 130 years and is considered a landmark was burned down and the store owner has lost everything. Insurance will likely not cover a lot of these properties as some policies don't cover arson or civil unrest like this. I feel so bad for these people.


This is what happens when you have uneducated ignorant people who decide to start class warfare, they hate the rich so they go and burn down their local small businesses. It makes my head want to explode.

The liberals act like this in Santa Cruz too, when I was living there they had a riot to protest against big corporations so they went downtown and burned all of the local family owned businesses to the ground.... These people can vote.

[timholian]

I am not even going to pretend that I can understand or even get a grasp on what is going on in England right now but I will put in my 2 cents.

1. These are kids and maybe a few opportunistic young adults..... Not a Class War. For lack of a better way of putting it "Monkey see, Monkey do"

2. This has nothing to do with the guy that was killed by police at this point. see #1

3. Just because you are poor DOES NOT MEAN you are uneducated. This seems silly to me as a blanket statement. People have always wanted what they can not have and in the Western world we dont see many riots.

4. These rioters are over entitled children that are mad because mommy and daddy cant afford or are unwilling to buy the the newest baddest trainers or what have you and are to thick to figure out they can buy them for themselves with a little work.

5. This has shown me how many truly awesome people live in England. There are people cleaning up, trying to protect others and helping others faster than I have ever seen in America. Not saying that Americans are shit.... but we tend to stay home till the smoke clears or think "it's not my problem"


Just my opinion..... take it for what its worth.... and that aint much.

[RobsanX]

Sgreger, you've posted about revolution on this forum before, so I'm curious as to why you are shocked to see it actually happening.

[devilock76]

Sgreger, you've posted about revolution on this forum before, so I'm curious as to why you are shocked to see it actually happening.

Those riots are as much about revolution as a gang rape is about redefining marriage.

Ken

[Ansel]

These are people who know the cost of everything and the value of nothing.

[truthwolf1]

This is a completely different society then our parents/grandparents who in many cases were also in the dirt poor class but educated enough not to feel the need to go vandalize, burn buildings, beat people up because of their color and flash mob burglaries.

We have a big future problem on our hands because of the social welfare class we have created and not sure what to call it other then a huge criminal riot brewing once those checks stop coming.

[RobsanX]

I think this statement just about sums it up...

'GREED IS GOOD'

Critics say government policies of chopping public spending and raising taxes to cut a huge budget deficit have aggravated the plight of urban youth as the economy struggles to grow and unemployment rises.

The awarding of huge bonuses to bankers has become emblematic of a culture of flashy consumption for the elite.

Alleged corruption within London's police force and a 2009 scandal over parliamentarians' expenses have also fueled the notion that greed is a motivating factor across the spectrum of British society.

"Everyone's heard about the police taking bribes, the members of parliament stealing thousands with their expenses. They set the example. It's time to loot," a youth in the riot-torn London district of Hackney told Reuters.

John McDonnell, a legislator for the opposition Labor Party, wrote in the left-leaning Guardian newspaper: "We are reaping what has been sown over the last three decades of creating a grotesquely unequal society with an ethos of grab as much as you can by any means.

"A society of looters created with MPs and their expenses, bankers and their bonuses, tax-evading corporations, hacking journalists, bribe-taking police officers, and now a group of alienated kids are seizing their chance."

[Ansel]

I don't think any of the looters/rioters have any steadfast reasons for doing what they have been doing. If you ask them they'll trot out some lines but half of them are there just because. I don't think they have any real axe to grind. They hijacked a highly sensitive cause which started it off and like sheep they followed each other, went forth, and multiplied whilst not being there to support the cause that originally started all this.

[sgreger1]

I am not even going to pretend that I can understand or even get a grasp on what is going on in England right now but I will put in my 2 cents.

1. These are kids and maybe a few opportunistic young adults..... Not a Class War. For lack of a better way of putting it "Monkey see, Monkey do"

2. This has nothing to do with the guy that was killed by police at this point. see #1

3. Just because you are poor DOES NOT MEAN you are uneducated. This seems silly to me as a blanket statement. People have always wanted what they can not have and in the Western world we dont see many riots.

4. These rioters are over entitled children that are mad because mommy and daddy cant afford or are unwilling to buy the the newest baddest trainers or what have you and are to thick to figure out they can buy them for themselves with a little work.

5. This has shown me how many truly awesome people live in England. There are people cleaning up, trying to protect others and helping others faster than I have ever seen in America. Not saying that Americans are shit.... but we tend to stay home till the smoke clears or think "it's not my problem"


Just my opinion..... take it for what its worth.... and that aint much.

Yah the underclass is rioting and the middle class comes out and cleans it up. Very symbolic.

I have no idea what this whole things is really about but like you said, riots are usually just oppertunistic young punks jumping at the oppertunity to go spread some destruction. Doesn't help that the youth over there (and everywhere) are unemployed and short on oppertunities. It's just sad how misplaced their hatred is, and i see it here in the US as well; they believe small businesses are "rich people" and that they are the problem. I just don't understand where this kind of thinking comes from other than lack of education.

[sgreger1]

Sgreger, you've posted about revolution on this forum before, so I'm curious as to why you are shocked to see it actually happening.

Good God, do you truly believe the London riots are part of a revolution? It started over a gang member (lots of controversy around this) who got shot by the cops and a peaceful protest turned into a riot that has now lasted for nearly 4 days.

It is a spit in the face to revolutions everywhere (like in Syria and Bahrain right now) to call what is happening in London a "revolution". It's a bunch of youth with misplaced anger taking it out on their local community, and like always the middle class will front the bill for this.

[Ansel]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england...ngham-14481061

Tariq Jahan: "I have lost my son - if you want to lose yours step forward, otherwise calm down."

Spoken in a few words what all the politicians have failed to do. This man helps restore my faith in humanity.