Totally F'ed

Sooo...This shit is pretty crazy huh?



Paul and I were talking last night about the very strong parallels between what's going on in England right now, and the Rodney King/ LA Riots shit that went down almost 20 years ago. An act of perceived injustice carried out on a black man by white police officers, causing the whole community to reject the notion of law and order and use it as an excuse to riot, loot, and rob from other community members.

I felt like this video really captured the true nature of the situation, and the futility of it. In a way, it appears the police exacerbated the situation. There was already this anti-police current running through the community, and then they show up in full riot gear, making aggressive postures and preemptively blocking streets, preventing people from getting to their homes. This merely seemed to serve as the catalyst to reignite the flames.

I think this video also really captures how ineffective the police are in this ongoing situation. No meaningful weapons or means to disperse the crowd, and they're grossly outnumbered. Its almost painful to watch them shielding themselves from the things people are tossing, and getting laughed at. You can tell that their presence is a total joke to the lawbreakers. And they are laughably bad at asserting authority. You want to shout at your computer screen "arrest them or something at least! Don't just stand there!"

It makes you wonder what these riots will herald in the future for England. After the LA Riots, it seemed to become a parable for cultural awareness and acceptance, and an event that people look at as a catalyst for the suppression of racism in the community. But with the already strong anti-immigrant climate in the UK, and the rising determination to be nostalgic about "britishness", its easy to imagine that this will tip the scales to an even more fascist UK.

Tonight there will be 16,000 officers on the streets of London to restore order, and they are considering the use of rubber bullets. that's 10,000 more than the night previous. Interested to see how it plays out!