[kj] Broken Britain

[sade1]

Having lived through the Los Angeles Riots, I can relate completely, unfortunately.  I feel in your words what you went thru, as best as I can at least. 
I just had a few words to offer,


> ..I don't want to hear any more excuses and justifications for this behaviour. There are none. 


   There are only reasons, yet the reasons for what's happened are also the reasons why it will happen again if the whole reality of it all is ignored. I promise you that on anything, as they say. It helps to be as a doctor diagnosing in the midst of emergency, but it doesn't have to be the same person doing both; the patient is also entitled to her experience and feelings.

The worst thing to do at this point (tho' a natural fallback position) is to reduce the nature of an experience to simple materialism and materialstic judgements. Notice how victims want/need/demand that their full shock and horror be acknowledged and addressed. That too is the only way to sort thru the greater issues that cause people to suffer and fear. 
A local man here from Fullerton, CA (white, upper-middle class, mod-con town within L.A.) just had his homeless,schizophrenic son beaten to death by the city police and within days they threw the father a check for $900,000 dollars as "hush money." He replied with shock and was in turn replied with, "..well, it's not like he was gonna be a 'rocket scientist' " (the cops' words) and the father says basically, "fuck yourselves." 2 perfect examples of reducing a human and plight to rank materialist terms. 

In keeping, physical survival doesn't address the human needs for your self-&-sanity,sine qua nons both. We need self-esteem, hope, and opportunity. If we deprive each other of only 1 (never mind all 3) to traumatic proportions, well.. do you know any traumatized people, and can you blame them when their triggers are tripped and they freak out in whatever horroric way they may? Should we punish them and count the dollars and cents (pounds-&-pence, sorry), and then charge them and throw them in prison if they can't pay up?.. ..  Is that it? Can't be, I hope. 

I'm with you with your feelings about it, believe me.  During the Riots here, I had to drive from Downtown INTO South-Central just to have to try n' drive back out with my family (including a 1month old baby and several other infants) and head for higher ground. Scary suspense.

No knives, though.   



From: Paula Cook <cook_paula at hotmail.com>
To: gathering at misera.net
Sent: Friday, August 12, 2011 3:25 AM
Subject: Re: [kj] Broken Britain


I live in Ealing. The nearest the riots got to my home was about 200 yards. I couldn't sleep Monday night with all the noise, sirens and helicopters. The next day, most of the town centre was cordoned off. I just couldn't believe the destruction. My hairdresser, beauty salon, corner shop, and all my other local shops had been attacked. A family member of the beauty salon's owner had been attacked trying to protect his business, his face a mass of cuts and bruises. Some people had been attacked in their homes and had to flee, their homes burnt out. Others had their cars burnt. Local people, including myself, were in a complete state of shock. 
 
I couldn't sleep Tuesday or Wednesday night because I was so frightened. I'm in my mid-40s, live alone, am 5'1" tall and under 9 stone - and I only have kitchen knives to protect myself against a mob invading my home. 
 
Gatherers, no disrespect to any one of you, but I don't want to hear any more excuses and justifications for this behaviour. There are none. London is a city of opportunity. There is NO poverty in this country, the welfare state ensures that. Poverty exists in parts of Asia, Africa and Latin America; I've seen the shanties of Guatemala City, Managua and Panama City with my own eyes, they are shocking, nothing like that here. We have it very good indeed in this country compared with most other countries.
 
I want the full force of the law to come down on those responsible. I want the law, for which I pay through my taxes, to protect me and make me feel safe again in my own home. 3,000 police for 9 million Londoners is a joke, we need the 16,000 we've had in the past few days to become permanent. I would like to see a highly visible police presence in London from now on, police have been conspicuous by their absence for a long time now. We need the authorities to come down like a ton of bricks on all this "gangsta" culture, hoodies and suchlike. I don't want to live my life in fear.
 
Stay safe Gatherers
Paula aka Nuclear Girl
 
 
 

> Date: Wed, 10 Aug 2011 16:18:35 +0100

> From: Janean Lancaster <j at jlancaster.info>

> Subject: Re: [kj] Broken Britain

> To: "A list about all things Killing Joke (the band!)"

> <gathering at misera.net>

> Message-ID: <4E42A14B.8050304 at jlancaster.info>

> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"; Format="flowed"

> 

> Yeah, that's pretty spot on. Especially the first sentence about a 

> society that values material things about all else. There seems to have 

> been a shift in attitude towards material posessions in the last 20 

> years. There's an obsession with flat screen TVs and shit. "Riot? 

> Ooo, let's go and get another telly."

> 

> On 09/08/2011 17:00, folk devil wrote:

> > "Create a society that values material things above all else. Strip it 

> > of industry. Raise taxes for the poor and reduce them for the rich and 

> > for corporations. Prop up failed financial institutions with public 

> > money. Ask for more tax, while vastly reducing public services. Put 

> > adverts everywhere, regardless of people's ability to afford the 

> > things they advertise. Allow the cost of food and housing to eclipse 

> > people's ability to pay for them. Light blue touch paper." On a 

> > friend's FB.

> >

> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------

> > Date: Tue, 9 Aug 2011 17:30:22 +0200

> > From: 65snoopy at gmail.com

> > To: gathering at misera.net

> > Subject: [kj] Broken Britain

> >

> > While I've been watching events at home from afar with a mixture of 

> > bemusement and

> > shock, this video has got to be the most depressing thing I've seen 

> > for some time.

> > I hope the bastards here get what is coming to them at some point in 

> > their lives.

> > Lost for words - what the feck is going on over there?

> > Hope everyone is safe.

> >

> > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Gex_ya4-Oo

> >

> > N

> >



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