London Burns in Youthful Lament.

Okay, so I can no longer ignore the burning elephant in the room. It may have escaped your keen yet impeccable notice but, in recent days the capital (along with some of the other major inner city areas across Britain) have been subjected to a wave of violence and social disorder. I have resisted the urge to vocalise my opinions on this matter outside of the comfort of my own living room for fear that it fan the flames further. Then I saw Kelvin Mackenzie on Newsnight so, if the BBC are not concerned about insighting hatred by allowing idiots to talk rubbish, then I may as well chuck my two pence in the pit.

Anyone who knows me (in real life as opposed to this cybernetic construct) know that it has been my assertion for a number of years that some kind of class based / generational upheaval has been flirting the horizon for some time now. The ingredients to this tumultuous stew has been simmering for – oh let’s say – the last twenty years or so. Gradually (and measurably) a rift has grown between the lower classes and the higher classes but also, parallel to that, a resentment has been rising between the younger generation and the elder.

The class rift has been quite widely acknowledged and debated – highlighted succinctly by the MP’s expenses scandal where the “governing” classes were raping the public purse while stamping down on the “benefits cheats” – the hypocrisy of this is hopefully evident, so I won’t waste too many words on it here.

The real crux for me is the second (less publicised) rift that has grown between the generations, which is more pertinent to this discussion. There is a growing resentment from the younger generation (for which I have to declare an interest as a member) built upon the many preclusions and injustices (weather perceived or genuine) that have been dumped upon them and precipitated by the looming prospect of the rapidly spiralling social / economical  situation that forms our inheritance.

In short, this generation (particularly those on the working / benefit class side of the previous divide) have seen nothing but greed, corruption and domineering violence on a governmental level and, furthermore, have been subjected  to many “experiments” designed to deal (masquerading as help) with them.

A brief catalogue of recent political/social history reveals these clearly. Let’s start with Thatcher (who many designate as the starting point of the slippage) who facilitated the Yuppie ideology (exclusively based on greed and “cut-throat” business ethics) whilst simultaneously robbing poorer children of state-sponsored free milk. Then came John Major (the man with the ridiculous voice) for whom the only thing I can remember about him is that he was forced to combat “sleaze” from within his own party (that, and something about traffic cones). Then came the man who many felt (initially) would deliver us from this abyss – Tony “our lord and master” Blair.

Blair gets his own paragraph (such is the substance of his fuckery). One of Blair’s first orders of business was to introduce the New Deal (not to be confused with Roosevelt’s version) to “deal” with the unemployed. This initiative served only (in my opinion) to further stigmatise the unemployed by shifting the “blame” from the discrepancies of employers and onto the victims (and I don’t think that is too strong a word for it) of the shortfalls in the job market. While that may have always been the case, where the New Deal differed (and still does) is by forcing the unemployed to take on “voluntary” work – which many within the system equate with community service (which is a punishment given in lieu of a custodial sentence). Effectively, you could be made to feel as though you were being punished for the “crime” of not being able to find a job.

In fact, “the all-conquering” Blair gets two paragraphs, because then the war(s) happened. I don’t want to get too far into the moralities and such of our involvement in  Afghanistan and Iraq but the part that is pertinent to this argument is that, while governmental attention was focused on international affairs, we as citizens slowly watched our country slide toward disaster and depression – seemingly unchecked  by the all-seeing-eye despite a redoubling of the power of the state. “Stop & Search” and an extension of the amount of time one could be held by the police without charge (among other things) were introduced which  many saw as a signifier of the government (through the police) overstepping it’s bounds. It is also worth noting that the chancellor of the exchequer (i.e. the person responsible for holding the country’s purse strings) at this time was Gordon Brown.

The Gordon Brown years were merely an extension and continuation of the problems outlined above after “the grand exulted menace” Blair pulled a Pontius Pilot and buggered off into the lucrative world of after-dinner speaking. The aforementioned “expenses scandal” hit the media fan during his tenure and proved the last straw come the time of the election.

This brings us up to date and to the muddy waters of the “coalition” years. Unfortunately, the insurmountable class rift has been keenly pin-pointed in the shape of the Etonian David “call me Dave” Cameron and his constant protestations of “we are trying to fix the situation we inherited from the last government” are steadily failing to hold water. The most pertinent piece of the puzzle that can be attributed to this government (when considering young people) is their handling in the tuition fees situation.

Tuition fees are a key component to this tide of resentment as it robs poorer people of the opportunity of higher education by either pricing them out of it completely (even with loans and grants) or indenturing them to a lifetime of debt. Metaphorically, it is the rope that binds young people to the track as the freight train of the recession bears down towards them – they can see it coming but are unable to move out of it’s way.

While we are casting our gaze forward, we should take a brief look at the final component in this tangle of resentment – the prospect that the young people of today are projected to be expected to work into their seventies in order to pay for the pensions of the very people who have screwed us so firmly into the ground. And then what becomes of our own children? (assuming we are able to support a family properly in the future) This, for me, is an unacceptable forecast and the absolute final straw.

So, this rising resentment is not only understandable but also palpable. The notion of this resentment boiling over and manifesting as social disorder is not only inevitable but predictable. The recent events are merely an expression of that resentment.

However, and this is where my argument takes a drastic u-turn, these riots are not only destructive but also damaging to our position (as poor young people who are equally unhappy with the state of affairs) For us, and our arguments, to be taken seriously we must shatter to stereotype that all young people from poor urban backgrounds are ignorant, self-serving animals (which, like most stereotypes, is distinctly wide of the mark).

So seeing the “youth” of Britain take to the streets to indulge in mindless, unpoliticised destruction and greed driven looting is not only heartbreakingly disappointing but also encourages the stigmatisation of any and all young people who choose to guard themselves from this isle’s fickle climate by wearing a hooded top.

Another concern is the inevitable fallout of this mess , not just the shattered glass and embers on the pavement but in the months to come beyond that. I foresee that these events will be used to justify yet further increases in police measures, particularly in the field of crowd control. This will make any genuine protest or demonstration even more difficult to participate in without the fear of hostile escalation and descending into anarchy.

Personally, I would like to see a peaceful demonstration in which all two million + unemployed people, from all backgrounds, age groups and locations, along with all those working on bare minimum wage and any others who feel ignored or neglected by their government, suddenly pop up in Whitehall. Nothing more needs to be done than that. Even if only a fractional percentage of those people show up, the city would grind to a halt under the weight of it’s people – transport systems would fail to function, businesses would not be able to operate, traversing the capital would become impossible. Let’s see ‘em ignore us then!!

Unfortunately, this (admittedly fantastic) dream will probably never come to pass due to the actions of an armful of  bored, thrill-seeking teenagers. Moreover, any smaller scale debate is left tattered and tarnished as detractors of our point of view now have a steady payload of ammunition to throw at us and we will be forced to defend and deflect these arguments before we can go on the attack ourselves.

So, to those who partook in this shameful display of greed and inanity, I just want to close by saying – Thank you so much for setting us (and yourselves) back so completely – You are no better than the real purveyors of greed and corruption found at the highest strata’s of the social pantheon and you now share the focus of my animosity and contempt.

[This is a largely light-hearted blog site but I had to get that out of my system. Normal service will be resumed shortly]