Only the Rioters are to Blame

Safe in Italy, I am horrified to hear about what is happening in London, Birmingham and Liverpool. An eyewitness in London tells me that most of the looters and rioters near him are black. Of course, most people would be afraid to publish that, but fear is the mind-killer, as we read in Dune. In Toronto we finally got the courage to talk about "the Jamaican problem", which was refreshing and also helpful, for it moved the conversation from race to culture.

England has several cultures, often rooted in class. Chav culture, perhaps the most benighted, transcends racial boundaries. It idealizes the most tawdry aspects of American pop culture, like the misogynist and violent rap music born in some of the most horrible slums to be found in the USA. We can see the fruits of chav culture in the photos of the burning double-decker London bus.

We are what we eat, it is said, and we are also what we read and what we watch and that to which we listen. If people sing along, from the age of five, to music that tells them to "hate the police", they are eventually going to hate the police. Why is this so hard to accept? The proof is out there on the London streets, in Birmingham and in Liverpool.

If it spreads to Edinburgh, I will be even angrier. I will, in fact, want tanks in the streets.

Meanwhile, although the looters make me furious--can those be THE ENGLISH? Ordinary Englishmen and Englishwomen casually walking into a smashed shop and looting?--I think I am more angry at journalists asking who else is at fault. Is it "cuts"? Is it "David Cameron"?

NO. IT IS THE LOOTERS THEMSELVES.

Ordinary people are choosing to behave in an absolutely despicable fashion. This is horrifying. Why are Englishmen and Englishwomen (of whatever colour) behaving like this? It cannot be blamed on such recent history as the supposed "cuts" or the election of David Cameron. This suggests a slow, long-term decline in English morals and public behaviour. Shame, shame, shame.

Since the looters will probably not be shot, as they would have been shot at other times in history or in other places, I hope they are named and shamed to a draconian degree.

The whole world is watching and eventually it will forget the very concept of the "English gentleman" and the "English lady." Perhaps before long, the present generation will completely completely squander the respect and goodwill won by their quieter, dignified ancestors.

In the old days, no matter how poor he were, or if he were in prison, or in a Japanese death camp, an Englishman was proud to be English. No more, it would seem.

P.S. Read this yet? A piece in the "What in heaven's name happened?" puzzle.