The Devil And Idle Hands Tuesday, August 09, 2011

I feel moved to comment about the current disturbances in London.

I'll call them disturbances, because that's what they are. These are not noble protests for Justice. There's no common cause, no message, no political wrong to be righted here. Those involved are not seeking to overthrow a dictatorship, or free innocent people who disagree with a regime.

What they are is "youths" aged 14 to 20 having a go at the police, setting a few fires, and looting whatever they can lay their hands on. The devil has found work for idle hands. They're on their summer holidays. They're bored. It's something to do.

Most of those involved don't even know who the guy who was shot in Tottenham was. They don't even know his name.

A thousand MPs, police, social workers, psychologists, urban commentators of all sorts will no doubt crawl from under their respective stones in the next few days, taking advantage of these disturbances to blame it on austerity, or social deprivation, or one hundred and one other things. The Government will blame the aggro on the social policies of the previous government. The opposition will blame the Government for the state of the economy or something. It will go round in circles, and nothing will change.

Yes, there is poverty in the UK. Yes, there is an economic recession. Yes, a man was shot in Tottenham - though the jury is still out on what exactly happened there.

But we do not have a lost generation. Our "youth" (God I hate that word) live in one of the largest economies in the world. They do not want for clean water, or a place to sleep, or health care. They do not want for food, or education. They do not live under a harsh regime, or in a Police State. They claim to be socially deprived and yet most of them seem to be able to run a mobile phone bill and BBM their mates. Those that can claim benefits - yet they always seem to have cash for booze, fags, partying, whatever.

Compared to the protestors of the Arab Spring, or the peoples of the developing world, or the refugees of countless natural disasters and war zones worldwide, these kids live in nothing less than paradise.

Thing is, that opportunity exists. If you can't find a job, create one. Get an idea together, and do something. Plenty of people have started with nothing and made something of themselves. Richard Branson and Lord Sugar to name just two. Go out and offer to clean windows. Sell gardening services. Start a business collecting shopping for old people. I don't know, there is always some niche to make good.

Apparently - according to Wired magazine this month, anyhow - The UK and Europe are full of successful start up companies.

The problem though is that these kids expect everything on a plate. That's why we have so many immigrant workers in menial jobs. This generation sees itself too good to do the crap roles. It's somehow beneath them.

It's not so much a lack of hope, or investment, or whatever. It's a culture of laziness in a way. Even looting is lazy. Why earn the money to buy something you want? Just steal it.

It's this whole "something for nothing" culture that lies underneath this. Whether it expresses itself as the media pumping out a reality TV and/or talent show where celebrity is a destination in itself, or a crazy injury compensation culture, or kids running amok at night on city streets, it's the same thing.

There is a fine line between confidence and arrogance, between self-empowerment and self-importance, between boredom and anarchy.

It seems some people have now crossed that line, and we're reaping a bitter harvest.