Version imprimableUK society was taken by surprise, and the whole world looked on in astonishment. The scenes of violence and looting in the streets of Tottenham, and then across the country send a warning message to politicians, parents, police, and to the average citizen. Something is wrong, deeply wrong, in British society. A young adult, 26 years old, was shot and killed. He was apparently unarmed ; it seems to have been a police blunder. The family decided to demonstrate with dignity to express their sadness and their concern about the behavior of the police in shooting without warning, as if a young Black British citizen’s life was worth less than a white’s. Their concern was legitimate. There is still a great deal of racism towards Black people in UK society.
But what emerged out a non-violent demonstration had nothing to do with the struggle for dignity and justice. Very quickly young gang members took advantage of the situation and started to destroy and to burn cars, buildings, looting and robbing innocent people. Unlike events in France in 2005, there were no social and political slogans coming from the crowds of overexcited young people. It was all about destroying and looting—and not a sign of the cultural or religious failure of the “British model of integration.” Our multicultural system may not have been called into question, but, beyond political beliefs, racial or religious affiliation, modern British democracy has been shaken. The social malaise is tangible.
It has been said that the young looters were not really interested in social justice and equality but were influenced by video games and the virtual culture. It seemed as easy to destroy in reality as it appears to be on the internet. If this is true, then the situation is even worse than it seems at first glance. Not only our role as parents is being challenged, but that of our public and private schools and the educational system as a whole.
The question is clear : with such a powerful virtual culture, what should be taught in our schools and how can poor and unemployed parents deal with these issues and be helped by accessible and efficient social services ? The police must be deployed to secure our streets but it cannot be the only response to acute social problems. Even though the young demonstrators and looters voiced no social or political claims, we are dealing with generations of young girls and boys who are true victims of social injustice and political neglect.
Instead of dealing with such demanding issues, our politicians are reacting to collective fears or mass excitement. It is impossible to identify, in their political agenda, a vision, a social policy that proposes short or long-term solutions. In fact, there are some similarities between our politicians and the young looters in the streets. They both are driven by a powerful culture of emotion that is the product of new technologies and means of communications. The politicians, in a civilized way, try to cater to the raw emotions and expectations of the citizens. Obsessed with the results of the next election, they follow the dominant and fashionable political trends. What we get instead is the normalization of populist slogans that ignore the real problems of society. In a less civilized way, the young rioters are nurtured by the same mass culture of speed, emotion and fashion : where there are no longer ideals, destruction is the easiest way to express an idea, or the absence of ideas.
The UK riots are a faithful mirror of our times. When emotions gain the upper hand over politics and social movements (or disorder), it is time to resist by rethinking our educational models. The internet culture of indiscriminate violence and destruction must be challenged by an educational vision of personality building and civic commitment. True freedom is knowledge—not blind rejection of society. Politicians must reconcile themselves with politics, just as our society must rediscover rationality, knowledge and accountability. A purely emotional citizen is as dangerous as a politician with neither ideals nor vision. Both are early warning signs of a potential implosion of our democratic systems if we fail to take them seriously. The contemporary youth madness in the streets of the UK is the mirror of our adult political blindness. We should not be blaming first the young.
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