The art of deflection is as old as time. Children learn to do it and it is honed throughout the lifetime. As people in London rage out, many of those around the world are analyzing what could be the cause because surely the communities of the world are not dominated by thuggish fiends bent on thrashing out at a random moment’s whim. Surely there must be underlining causes of this behavior and the humane thing to do is try to understand it instead creating a state of oppression over what Cameron has claimed to become a climate of fear.
The latest news from the events in London include a petition circulating demanding that the rioters have all of their benefits taken away and Cameron stating that, “It’s as much a moral problem as a political problem,” and that “This is a problem for our society and something we have to deal with.” He states this alluding to the assumed fact that what is occurring is due to the lack of morals of the people committing the rioting.
The issue is not centered on, nor is it driven by thugs.
Not even a month ago, The News of the World made worldly headlines through the shameful discovery that people throughout the media and power structures of Great Britain were spying on citizens. High members of the British police force resigned in light of the controversy and those who were personal friends of Cameron’s have been arrested. Prior to this austerity measures took place as well as significant rises in tuition. It is foolish to think that these measures can take place in addition to the lack of jobs, increase in tuition, and the violation of privacy without people becoming angry as their future and control over their own lives is uncertain.
This article is not intended to attack Cameron, but to shed light on the potential of solving a problem that seems to be layered with issues being faced by those less fortunate than Cameron. There are many parallels of what has happened in Great Britain to what is happening in the United States. It has yet to be discovered the extent of Rupert’s empire’s malfeasance concerning the public in the United States, but many social programs are threatened with cuts, which has led to uncertainty on this end of the pond. If it were discovered that the game has been slighted against Main Street here in the US, then it stands to reason that it would take a small spark could ignite this type of violence stateside.
On the surface and maybe deeper than the surface, it may be Cameron’s opportune time to get the public’s scrutiny off of himself and focused on the mayhem in the streets. However, the opportunity to reexamine methods of state control over the people, the wealthy citizen’s ability to spy and monitor those people for self gain, the breakdown of safety nets without economic reform in the form of new and stable jobs as well as affordable education, and most importantly a fair democratic process that ensures the fair and equal treatment of all members of society is glaringly apparent and should be seized upon. Blaming the victim is not the solution. This is not the time for name calling and deflection. This is the time to stand up and do the right thing.