This article makes Richard Jackson an ignorant " enabler " and lawless ( scapegoating ) sympathizer.
************************************************************************************************************************************* On Aug 12, 4:08 pm, Bruce Majors <[email protected]> wrote: > The results of the welfare state > > ** > > Why I Riot: A View on the London Riots > Written by Richard Jackson <http://www.e-ir.info/?author=139> 11 August 2011 > > <http://www.e-ir.info/?p=12230#respond> > What must it be like in the minds of the rioters who looted, burned, and > tore parts of London, and other English cities to shreds in the August > riots? A personal opinion follows, written by Richard Jackson in the persona > of a ‘rioter’. > > People are saying I am just a violent hooligan, a mindless thug, a criminal, > an anarchist. They’re saying I lack proper respect for authority and for > people’s property. They say I am engaging in wanton destruction and causing > mayhem just because I’m > wicked<http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/aug/10/riots-reflect-soc...>. > People are saying I am part of a small, criminally-minded minority who > should be locked up. Maybe they’re right. Maybe I am just a worthless piece > of shit. Maybe I should be locked away forever, punished, excluded. But what > do I really care what ‘people’ think? > There are reasons why I > riot<http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/08/2011891058168409...>. > You might not like them, but they’re mine. > I riot because I’m angry. Anger envelopes me like a blanket every day of my > life. I’m angry because I’m poor, I’ve always been poor, and I know I will > never be able to afford all those nice things people are supposed to have. > I’m angry because my life is shit and I know it’s always going to be shit. > I’m angry because I know that there’s no future for me; no one will ever > give me a decent job or a hand-up in life. I will live in the same shitty > housing that my family have always lived in, drawing down the same shitty > benefits. I’m angry because I live in a shit place full of poverty, crime, > vandalism, gangs, garbage, grime and neglect. Most days I take my anger out > on myself; I engage in a wide and creative array of self-destructive > behavior. But sometimes, like last night, I direct my anger outwards. I let > my rage take over, and for a brief moment, I feel a profound sense of > release. > I riot because I hate the police, and because I know that the police hate > me. They’re racist and brutal, and they treat me like scum every day of my > life, always coming around blaming me for everything bad that happens, > harassing me when I walk down the street. I hate them because they think > they’re God and they don’t have to answer to anyone for what they do. I hate > them because they show me no respect. In a riot, you can fight back against > the police; you can stand up to them and tell them how you really feel. > I riot because I am nobody, nothing, less than nothing. I am invisible, a > ghost in this city, this country, this world. People don’t see me, and don’t > give a shit about me or what’s going to happen to me. My parents don’t care, > my teachers don’t care, the politicians don’t care, the police don’t care; > no one gives a fuck about me and my life. If people do ever see me, they > don’t really see *me*; they just see an anti-social, worthless, feral > teenager; they see a danger to society, a threat to the peace. If no one > cares about me, why should I care about anyone else? > I riot because no one ever listens to me. No one has ever really listened to > me; nobody hears what I have to say. But when I riot, it seems the whole > world stops and listens. My riot is my voice. It is the expression of my > feelings, the sound of inarticulate rage which I cannot express any other > way. I don’t expect anyone will understand what I’m saying, I cannot put it > into nice words; but I feel the need to say it anyway. I have to let it out > somehow, and right now, music, or drugs, or vandalism is not enough. > I riot because I feel powerless every day of my life. I’m not in control of > what happens to me; other people are always deciding about my life, telling > me what’s right for me – teachers, cops, social workers, pastors, > politicians<http://nathanieltapley.com/2011/08/10/an-open-letter-to-david-cameron...>, > media commentators. When I riot, I feel powerful, I feel in control. It may > only last a few hours, but for those brief moments when I smash something or > burn something, I feel like a free person in control of my own destiny. I > feel like somebody. When I riot, I feel like a real man. > I riot because it is the most exciting thing that has happened to me in > forever. It’s like being high, but way better: the adrenaline, the sheer > thrill and terror of fighting with the police, burning shit down, smashing > and stealing, running, hiding. What would I be doing otherwise? Watch the > TV? Studying? Hanging out with my friends on the corner? Smoking dope? Fuck > off! This is so much better than the mind-numbing tedium of my regular life > where I simply exist from day to day with nothing to look forward to. In my > usual life, I am like the walking dead, a real zombie; there’s absolutely > nothing exciting to do around here, especially when you have no money. I > will live on this excitement for ages. > I riot because when I’m in a group with my friends, we sometimes egg each > other on. I’ve done things with them that I would never have done on my own. > It’s a group thing; I feel braver and stronger when we’re together. We try > to impress each other; we give each other respect. It’s how I get my esteem, > the only way I get some respect. > I riot because it might allow me to loot a few shops. I know I could never > afford all those beautiful things everyone else seems to have, but in a > riot, you can just take them. I *need* some new trainers, a new phone, a > laptop, clothes, money, games. It’s a consumer > society<http://www.social-europe.eu/2011/08/the-london-riots-on-consumerism-c...>, > my friend. We have all got to have these things, otherwise we won’t be > happy. I just want to be happy. > I riot because I have absolutely nothing to lose. You want to lock me up for > it? Go ahead. It means nothing to a nothing like me. > > *Richard Jackson is Professor of International Politics at Aberystwyth > University. His latest book is Terrorism: A Critical > Introduction<http://www.palgrave.com/products/title.aspx?pid=318264> > ** (2011; Palgrave Macmillan; co-authored with Lee Jarvis, Jeroen Gunning > and Marie Breen Smyth). 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