Today's post is a little off topic - in fact it's FAR removed from the usual subject matter of this blog. But I felt compelled to write something about the events of the past crazy few days here in the UK.
Speaking from the point of view of a builder, in the past 10 years I have become friends with a lot of Eastern and Central European economic migrants. Many of them came from war torn countries with not a penny to their name when they arrived on British shores. These same people have worked incredibly hard over the years on construction sites in the pouring rain and driving snow and working insanely long hours, and they have managed to pay for their own homes and cars and are living a life they would have never attained in Albania, Kosovo, Romania, Ukraine etc. Yes, times are hard at the moment, but it is still a land of great opportunity, which is why people still travel from all over Europe, Asia, Africa et al to make make a better life for themselves. And they achieve it too.
But these rioters are HOMEGROWN 'talent.' They have failed to make the grade and blame the government, or an antagonistic society, or an overbearing police force. I just find it very hard to sympathise with these people, when so many others from developing countries have managed to do so well. There is a sizable percentage of Britons born and raised here who have been brought-up from infancy with ready-made excuses for their shortcomings, as opposed to encouragement and the reality that it is within their power to improve their lot in this life. In the latter, the government has absolutely failed. But there's a cycle of poor parenting that will perpetuate this outlook too. But none of the above justifies any of this mayhem.
Summary: There needs to be a major cultural upheaval, ideologies need to adapt. But riots won't help this, they will just re-enforce the fact that our society is broken. And said re-enforcement in this context is about as effective as giving the wrong answer to a question, but in capital letters - the answer is still wrong.
Fat Flamingo
