ENGLISH RIOTS, LOOTING, RACIAL TENSION OR SIMPLY A PROBLEM OF YOUTH

This weeks "riots" in London and Birmingham will of course lead to some knee jerk legislation and reaction by politicians.  Parliament has been recalled to be seen to be governing or keeping the peace.

We can be certain that the debate about the causes of this weeks events will be the subject of endless journalistic opinion and far more dangerously will probably lead to a mass of university funding to posh academics; who have no idea what inner city life is like for the majority of poorly educated and housed,  first and second generation immigrant children of  differing  cultures.

One of the problems confronting sociologists in any analysis, will be primarily identifying a specific English youth culture.  Should we choose to label the majority of 13 - 25 year olds, we might call them working class, although the majority do not actually have full time jobs,  there appears to be a common fashionable language.  The roots of this language seem to be in American (US) Rap music, movement and speech, the culture reflects gang membership and this has been copied around the world and is associated with inferred violence.

American Film and Television celebrity culture seems to have a huge influence in western countries.  In addition to this dream "X-Factor" culture that anyone can be famous and rich, in the UK young people are exposed to the Lottery Culture another promised life chance to be a winner.

The electrical, phone and computer gadget's and games, have been around and available to this present young generation for all of their lives.  The absence of well paid jobs and affordable housing (the result of Thatcherism),  to the young working class over the past 30 years, has altered the old traditions of marriage and family.  A huge proportion of inner city youth come from single mother homes, as children they are the generation that demanded these luxury goods, often receiving them from officially absent or untraceable fathers.  Criminality and in the last week the "riots" have provided another means to get just what they want.

Racial tensions, discrimination or defensiveness should not be excluded from any analysis, the deaths that have occurred sadly do appear to have a racial dimension.  As ethnic groups have been left to take on the role of vigilantes trying to protect their own communities; they took on the risks that the police are trained and equipped to cope with. In Birmingham sadly and shamefully three lives have been taken by a very sick element within our society.

The film reports of looting clearly show many middle aged criminals, these are the role models for many of the youths, government is blaming the young as they always have and are at a loss to understand why youth always  seems to be a problem to society.

From garroting in Victorian London to the the 1960's Mods and Rocker riots.  We should never forget that politicians only survive by creating moral panics that get them votes at elections.

The breakdown of  law and order on the streets particularly in London during the riots, could be attributed in part, to cuts in the Policing budgets by the coalition government, or deliberate negligence by the Police to strengthen their case for greater funding.

Education will always be blamed for the ignorance of the masses, but basic primary school education remains as good or bad as it has for the last 60 years.  Secondary education is really a way to occupy the minds and interests of working class teenagers.  They have always formed that essential reserve in the capitalist workforce, labelled in the good old days of full employment as 'factory fodder' and now as the unwanted product of the 'underclass'.  Their materialism, addiction to drugs, binge drinking and pretending to have loads of friends on Facebook has made them into undoubtedly the saddest, most selfish, ignorant group that ever threatened any society with anarchy.

Our prisons are filled with over 80,000 inmates, locking up even more stupid people is not a solution.  Employment and responsibility is what our younger generation need, to build their self-esteem, their confidence and to have a future worth working towards.

The police and the politicians have been tarnished with corruption recently.  We live in a basically dishonest society, there really are no role models.  How many good English citizens would exaggerate an insurance claim I wonder, I fear far too many; how many bankers or business people are honest and ethical, not too many I guess.

This weeks events in England were not really "riots", they were an exhibition of the despicable behaviour of a broken greedy and sick society that may be beyond salvation !!!

A green and pleasant land ?

Pictures from the Raj

This is an example of the means of description that existed for families and friends in the Victorian era, long before the days of Facebook and photo-sharing.  In a collection found on Sotheby's auction site in Australia.

An example of a Colonial Interior at the Lucknow Residence in India of my great-great grandfather.  This watercolour was painted by his first wife Cordelia Ellen Thomas in 1855.  Cordelia died of smallpox during the mutiny and siege in 1857, the baby on the left of the painting Caroline Home Thomas, survived and spent most of her life in  Australia.

Memorial to the artist (guess no copyright on painting)
 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en)

Captain L F C Thomas of The Madras Artillery was responsible for the ammunition and explosives at Lucknow.  As the siege became more intense he was ordered to destroy the defensive fort known as the Muchee Bhowun and to bring the troops out to defend the Europeans trapped in the Lucknow residency.  He must have been quite proud of his actions there, because on  his retirement to England he was to name his house in Deptford after that fort.  

Lancelot was the second generation of our family linked to the Honourable East India Company, his father spent much of his military service in Afghanistan in the Bengal Native Infantry.  Interestingly the enemy and the politics were little different from the present day, the enemy included mentally unstable Bin Laden style Wahhabi tribesmen and the British mission failed due to the use of a puppet Afghan leader.

As for the Indian "Mutiny",  the struggle for independence was very slow and confused by politics and propaganda, the history of modern India was truly both horrific and fascinating.  India is the one place and society in the world that I would love to have visited before I died.

Does "incurable" or "inoperable"mean a CANCER condition is "terminal" ?

This is a question from the Macmillan Cancer Website, that I have attempted to answer.


Inoperable in the case of Cancer, I guess would mean that eventually the condition would be terminal.   When that happens depends on the individual and the treatment.  In December 2010, I was told that I had Inoperable Lung Cancer and secondary Spinal Bone Cancer.  There never was a prognosis, but I got the impression that Life would be very short.  I received six sessions of Chemo in 21 day periods, the result from the latest scan shows a massive reduction in the Lung tumour size and a major improvement in the spine area, alleviating for now the need for radiotherapy. 


I was never too keen on the hugely optimistic view that so many people try to tell us at the beginning of the diagnosis, we are all different, health wise and have to take each day as it comes.  Most importantly it is the patient who has to take control, particularly regarding the suitability of some of the drugs prescribed.  Every problem that arises becomes a new challenge to solve, for example finding food and drink that does not taste so bad that it makes you sick.  


I suppose the key to coping with that 'terminal' suggestion or label, is to accept it as possibly a long term prognosis. But there are more important issues to deal with in the present, like making the very best of our time, spending time with those we love, having holiday breaks or sightseeing or just writing a blog in the hope that it cheers someone up a bit !!!

Brimstone