Panic on the Streets of London

Well, the last few days in England have been interesting to watch. From the safety of my sofa, I’ve flicked my way through the various global news channels reporting on the civil collapse of London, wondering quite what was going on. From BBC News showing the fires sweeping across Clapham, to even Al-Jazeera broadcasting to the world that London is not quite the city it would have the world believe it is.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, France looked on with disdain (our riots aren’t even a scratch on theirs), while Russian news didn’t seem to mention it (as always, Soviet Russia had even more mental things going on), but everywhere else, London stock is falling rapidly. Perhaps the only saving grace is that stock is falling on a global scale, with America now only trusted with $115 trillion worth of loans – almost a third of a million dollars for every single man, woman and child in the US. It makes my £60 dip into my overdraft look like incredible money-management.

If nothing else, these riots have confirmed that Britain is a nation of whiners. Riots born of a protest that British policing is too heavy-handed is seeing the police attract criticism for not being heavy-handed enough. It’s difficult to know the next step. Continuing as is will see us continue to whine that the police aren’t doing enough, while stepping it up a level will see us blast them for using excessive force. Not changing any British policies positively will see the government criticised for not listening to the people, while changing them to support the riotous areas will send out the message that rioting is the best course of action for political change. It’s almost as though when people have an opinion, they refuse to consider why such a course of action was taken.

This ignorance is not a flattering feature of the English mentality, a far cry from the lifestyle I was used to in Australia. A far stronger attitude of acceptance and apathy covers their response to such actions. There wouldn’t have been a protest against someone illegally carrying a loaded gun through central London being shot, regardless of who opened firing. Nor would the looters have been left to run wild. That said, I don’t know that their lifestyle is that much better – just last week, someone was killed in Canberra not far from where I studied. They have bizarre opinions of what immigration laws should be, and racism is far too accepted in this modern age. Perhaps every country has its own problems, and this is just ours. I just wish we could grow up and stop being so mental.

In other news, I’m back in Sheffield. It’s good to be here.