The Riots, And The One Large Causal Factor That's Been Overlooked.

I want to start today by telling you about this guy I know. He grew up in one of the poorest areas in Scotland. School clothes were always hand-me-downs, which doesn't always do wonders for someone's self esteem. He didn't get his first bike until age 12, after saving up months of paper-round money as his family simply didn't have the money. TV was simply this pretty box that other people had, a telephone was that thing that you walked down the street to get to, and you gave it 20p to ring your date on. It's something that's somewhat hard to imagine, but those are just the luxuries in life! The idea of the toilet being in the garden as a glorified hole in the ground today would be unimaginable anywhere, but that was the norm for our man. When he had his weekly bath, he didn't pull out the plug, he simply tipped the water out and hung it up in the shed. This wasn't even in between working in the cotton factories in the 1800's, this was the 1970's! So what's he up to today?

Well, he has upgraded to an indoor toilet, but he can pick between the four in his house. It is kind of in keeping with the fact that he can sleep in one of the seven bedrooms in his house. If he wanted another loo outside, for old time's sake, he has 3.5 acres of garden to choose from. Gone is the "hanging up" option on his tub, and in is the "bubbles" and "jacuzzi" options. He also has a new bike! Well, I say "bike" I mean car. I say "car" I mean Maserati. I still mean "new", however. He has the sort of life that would get MTV Cribs writhing in their seats and reaching for their cameras. Am I jealous? Well, sort of. OK, yes I am, but it's what I like to call an aspirational jealousy, rather than an envious one. It's like watching a good footballer play and then practicing hard, using his success as inspiration to motivate yourself instead of the latter, which would probably be kicking him in the shin so that you technically move up the ranks. I'd rather raise myself up, than bring others down, if you know what I mean.

However this interesting comparison between this guy's life as a child and now have an extra meaning this week. I doubt there will be a single one of you reading this now, even those in America, Russia, other European countries, Australia etc who read my scribblings who would've missed the rioting that has been going on throughout the country. I'll avoid going into major detail about why it started, but basically a guy was shot in a taxi by the police, who found a handgun at the scene. A protest was quickly replaced by what can only be described as primates breaking into shops and looting the contents, followed by torching the premises. If you've watched the footage, then it's hard not to feel angered at these scenes. It's also hard not to feel a great deal of sympathy watching someone talk about how their livelihood has just been ransacked and burned, or see a clip of an injured boy have his bag rifled through.

So why do they do this? Personally, I don't care if there wasn't a police officer for miles and I was outside an Apple store, staring at the iPhone I really want. No amount of opportunity would make me smash the window and take what I want, regardless of the old saying. Well, according to some commentators (and, unsurprisingly, those with political points to score) are blaming the poverty that some of these people are in for somehow forcing them to steal. Now, if that's the case, why they feel the need for a new pair of Nikes, an LG telly and an Xbox is 1st on the list is beyond me, and I think that bookstores remaining intact is very telling. Poverty doesn't make you torch someone's business and say to the TV cameras "It was them rich people wot made us do it". It's a simple lack of any morals or a sense of right or wrong. Why else is the son of Pink Floyd's guitarist, David Gilmour, facing prison for vandalising a war memorial? I doubt it was anger at the current Government either. I recently was told by a 19 year old I know that he had no idea who the Conservatives were, nor did he really care, so I doubt political history was high up their list of reasons why they tried to rip the TV off the wall in the bookies, rather I suspect "pinching a fancy TV" was the reason.

This is the reason why my aforementioned wealthy friend is where he is today. He wasn't held back by poverty, although he acknowledges that it gave him a few extra hurdles to jump over. What stopped him (and the rest of the decent people in society) from descending in to what can only be described as "lord of the flies" was a sense of personal responsibility that he was taught from a young age. This is something that costs nothing, so any amount of poverty is no barrier to such lessons. He learned that if he wanted to do well in life, it was up to him. If he wanted a new bike, he went and earned the money rather than stealing someone elses. However, the most important lesson he learned, according to him, was that if nobody was hiring, then work for yourself. The rest, as they say, is history.

However, despite all the nice things he owns, he still shamelessly wears sandals with socks. Clearly, one thing that money can't buy is taste.

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