Appraisal of the Public Disturbance in England, United Kingdom

Parliament was recalled from the summer recess yesterday to discuss the disturbance that took place over the last four nights in some major English cities.  The police and other emergency services were rightly praised, by both sides of the house, for the admirable and effective way in which they dealt with the situation and restored order.  They were also rightly critical of the criminals who perpetrated the disturbance and the looting and vandalism that took place.  Series of measures were announced to help the police and the justice system to do their job more effectively in dealing with the problem.  Measures were also announced to deal with the criminals.  Various proposals were suggested to understand the underlying reasons for the disturbance but these were not considered at the time.  These will hopefully be appropriately and fully discussed, debated and appraised in the weeks and months to come and addressed accordingly.  Praise was also given to the communities for their help in clearing the mess and restoring a sense of normality.  Unfortunately the vigilante stance some communities adopted was not condemned.


It is important to understand the underlying causes whether simple or not to be able to avert similar situations in future, and to restore  and instil public confidence.  I believe that the Rabbi who was on Chris Evans BBC Radio 2 show yesterday morning hit the nail on the head with the explanation that he gave for the kind of disturbances that we are experiencing.  And I think what he said explains the situation globally, whether it is in Britain, the Middle East, Africa or anywhere else in the world.  His explanation is that the [ultimate] value  society places on possessions accounts for many of the antisocial, disruptive and criminal behaviours that we endure on a daily basis.  This was reflected by a conservative Member of Parliament, during the parliamentary session today, when he referred to consumerism as the root cause of the ills of society that David Cameron, the prime minister alludes to.  But, Mr Cameron was more concerned about punishing the culprits of the  latest disorder rather than underlying reasons for their criminal behaviour.


There has been an intense emphasis and importance on values that involves money and possessions since the 1970s; and this emphasis has been above and beyond all other values.  This has led to consumerism and greed.  The latter being defined by most dictionaries as:


 "An excessive desire to acquire or possess more than what one needs or deserves, especially with respect to material wealth". 

There are many examples of this in everyday life globally.  The parliamentary expenses problems that we faced recently can be attributed to greed.  Many of our sportsmen and women, people in music and film industry and industry in general use this as their modus operandi.  The bank crisis of 2008 and the global economic crisis, including the fragile and fluctuating stock markets, the recent News International debacle and the pressure put on Prime Minister Cameron to curtail the BBC as per James Murdoch's 2009 MacTagart lecture are all examples and the effects of greed.  The disturbances in the Middle East and the continent of Africa is also highly likely to be influenced by the same emphasis on greed as an important value of humanity.  People, therefore, are using all means available to them to achieve possessions whether foul or fair. There are also plenty of examples where this kind of behaviour is reinforced and rewarded.  These include bonuses, national honours and awards and public adoration.  However, the rewards depend on the social and economic background of the recipients and the context in which it has been achieved.  Some people fall foul of living up to these values and they engage in criminal activities from petty crime all the way up the criminal spectrum including the illegal drug industry. Criminals obviously have to be punished but should we not attempt to change society by revising the values we give so much importance to and may be in future avert these problems that has been created.   

Read my next post for some suggestions to remedy these ills.


Good Bye and Good Luck until the next time


Knight Owl