It is really sad what is happened, and I hope things will soon be under control.
The English media (BBC, Times etc) and the politicians are keen to focus on
the "LAW and ORDER" aspect of the riots. The perpetrators are described
as young criminals, barbarians, without any respect for authority, spoiled
and merely interested in getting what they want by easy means (e.g. theft).
The prime minister has promised to crack down hard on the perpetrators.
And indeed over 1000 people have been arrested today.
The European media bring --of course-- the same story as in the previous
paragraph. But they also go to great lengths to describe the SOCIAL aspects
of the riots. England is a country with an enormous class difference. On the
hand there is a super-rich elite living the good life in countryside mansions
and in the upper class regions of London. On the other hand there is a huge
underclass of poor people living in ugly slums in parts of London, Birmingham,
Manchester, Preston etc. This is a demoralized class of people, unemployed,
with poor education, with little chance of improving their lives. Social problems
are frequent and intense: binge drinking, drugs abuse, teenage pregnancies,
split families, shop lifting, gangs, joy riding etc etc.
I find it curious that people living in England can readily confirm (e.g. on Dutch
television) all that I wrote in the previous pragraph. But it is not something
the British media or the politicans are willing to say.
Why is it that England appears to be blind to the enormous class difference
that it is cultivating, and to the many social problems this has created
Why has this become a non-issue for the British media and politicians
