Hey everyone,

I am from the states, but there has been a massive amount of media about what has been happening in the UK with the rioters. Since we have many members from the UK, I thought I'd ask you guys what your opinions on these recent events are.
This thread is merely for me to get perspectives from the UK residents themselves and I have no intentions of contesting anyone's opinions. Of course, if debates break out among other members, I hope everyone will respond to one another with due respect.
Thank you!

I'm from the US. These riots like the Britain riot and the recent Canadian riot just reflects how stupid the human race actually is. There is really not much else to say from my stand point but I grow more and more misanthropic everyday. Then the people pay in the end.

This video in particular aggravated me. The boy is clearly injured and they act like they came to his aid and then they rob the boy of a portable in his back pack and dump whatever papers he had in their.

At the risk of Moderator wrath....

Bunch of wankers.

Most of them dont even know/ care what started it.

i second pelo there just a bunch of idiots and just useing the riot as an excuse to go out stealing everything

Yup, I gotta say they seem to be just a bunch of hooligans causing trouble. Protesting or some other productive form of activism would have been good, but they are destroying themselves with all the unnecessary damage done to their own people.

In the 1999 Seattle WTO riots police officers and the SWAT team dressed as anarchists and literally pushed the non-violent protesters into a riot mob. They threw the first brick...

As we all know, people are followers. Police officers started the riot and handed off the torch to the derelict opportunists that were willing to follow the path to violence. This allowed the police to use force and round up the protesters as they saw fit. Until that point their hands were tied. It would not surprise me at all to find out that similar tactics have been employed in protests around the world if nothing else than to give the media something to spin, to paint the once reasonable protesters in a negative light so that people will be more hesitant to employ their right to protest.


Now that being said I would like to state that I have no opinion on the London riots. This is merely food for thought, and I in no way advocate violence, or theft as a means to an end. When people band together to protect their rights and a once peaceful protest turns into a violent thieving mob, the original protest point becomes overshadowed by the swarming negativity the mob receives, and the battle is lost.

Sorry, this is going to sound horrid, but martial law is really the best option in these cases, IMO, as it keeps the public from further injuring each other or businesses around it, and it cuts down on the looting...

Here is a blurb from Wiki: On the evening of August 31, 2005, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin nominally declared "martial law" and said that officers didn't have to observe civil rights and Miranda rights in stopping the looters."

I'm a firm believer in freedom of speech and assembly, however, the UK situation has just gotten too violent lately (laugh it up that this statement is coming from an American).

Just my $0.02,

Rob

It is too violent. Passive resistance kids.... They are powerless when we are peaceful.

Something had to give. Bring back the gallows and that'll stop people taking the p***