The root causes of the British riots

What to make of the riots that began in parts of London and have spread to Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol and Liverpool? Are there any root causes we can identify? First, it is apparent that far too many commentators interpret these events based entirely on pre-conceived paradigms. For socialists like Ken Livingstone (former mayor of London), the riots are the fault of the government’s spending cuts and the “social division” they have supposedly fostered.

Meanwhile, the far-Right British National Party characterizes the mayhem as a repeat of the race riots that occurred in Oldham in 2001. Only this time, the primary agitators are not South Asians but, in the words of one London-based right-wing blogger, “pampered black youth” who “indulged in welfare scrounging, looting and feckless fathering supported by the bleeding hearts of the BBC/Guardian axis.” Many mainstream conservatives point to a state policy of multiculturalism as the culprit.

However, a close look at what is actually going on demonstrates the failure of all these analyses to explain the riots. Contrary to what Livingstone imagines, many of the youths taking part in these disturbances are not poor at all: They are mostly of a middleor lower-middle-class background. In any case, if they are angry with the coalition government and its spending cuts, why are they looting the homes and businesses of middle- and working-class people? It is clearly not the wealthy who are bearing the burden of costs in damages.

As for the motivation of the vandals and thieves, one need look no further than what one rioter told Sky News reporter Mark Stone: “We’re getting our taxes back.”

'Sounds like the Tea Party to me.'

I hope that comment is intended to be sarcasm. If not, it is simply inane. Perhaps some explanation will help clarify the issue.

TEA is an acronym for Taxed Enough Already. The term 'TEA party' refers to the historic 'tea party' at Boston harbor in December, 1773 when American colonists threw British shipments of tea (then the national beverage) overboard as a protest against the British 'tea tax'. It was a significant event that culminated in the American Revolution. Today, the TEA party is a movement that has as its primary goal, bringing our massively overgrown government back to a more reasonable, affordable size. There are no riots or vandalism connected to TEA party rallies.

The people rioting in the streets of London are not really 'getting their taxes back'. I suspect many are on the British 'dole' (welfare) and pay little or no taxes. They are stealing Nike sneakers and flat screen TVs because they can. The smashing and burning are ancillary actions done out of malice and, probably, an adrenaline rush. The 'poor against the rich' meme is a fallacy, except that, as always, those who have less want what others have, preferably without working for it. The underside of human nature on display. This is what happens when a nation succumbs to socialism and, at some point, as former British Prime Minister Margret Thatcher once stated, other peoples money runs out.

The U.S. TEA party is attempting to rein in enormous amounts of government spending and feckless economic policies before American gets to that point but the opportunity to reverse the inevitably disastrous, socialist course we're on will slam shut after the November 6, 2012 election. Should American voters decide to keep Obama and the Democrats in positions of power our economy will definitely continue to be destroyed by the insatiable demands of Big Government. Patriots won't riot, they'll adapt and survive on their own initiative but when people who have been raised on the 'entitlement' culture realize that there is no more 'free' money coming, we could well see the kind of trouble that is plaguing England, today. I pray that doesn't happen.

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