It's Thursday evening, and while England's major cities seem quiet again for now, the shockwaves of this week's unprecedented social disorder are still reverberating around the country. The streets of Stockwell, although largely unaffected by more serious trouble, are located ominously close to Clapham Junction, one of the very worst flashpoints in London on Monday evening, and 24 hours later the tension in the air remained palpable as the Sage walked to the nearby tube station. Passing through Birmingham earlier on Tuesday morning, I sensed a similar feeling as people stopped to stare at the boarded up shops surrounded in crime scene tape.
Over the past few days, politicians and social commentators have tried to outdo one another to deliver the most insightful soundbites about what has caused these incidents, how they could have been dealt with better and how we prevent them reoccuring in future. As a Londoner who was thankfully outside the capital when huge swathes of it were looted, smashed and set ablaze, it's now time for the Sage to put my own two pennies worth in and give my thoughts on these issues, and a few others too:
Rioting and looting are nothing new. We have a naive belief that the veneer of modern civilisation, which has granted virtually all the British population a standard of living beyond the wildest dreams of earlier generations, somehow means that basic human nature has changed. Unfortunately, there will always be members of any society, however advanced, that seek to rail against accepted boundaries of behaviour in order to obtain what they want, as history will tell us. The mob mentality deflects the sense of individual responsibility and drags weak-minded followers in its wake, whether it's the French Revolution of 1789 or the British riots of 2011.
The culture of entitlement and instant gratification is all-powerful. Moving on from my previous point, the definition of poverty in Britain has changed beyond all recognition in recent years. A hundred years ago, for many people it meant not having shoes on your feet or food on the table. Today, almost everyone has these things, so the yardstick has moved. Those who don't have an iPhone, or the latest HD TV, or a steady stream of computer games, believe they are being denied what is normal in their society. This materialistic culture is in their faces every day and some will inevitably do whatever is necessary to obtain what they feel is their right - including looting.
The lack of respect issue. This week's events were simply a violent explosion of a cultural time bomb that has been ticking for a decade or more. We've all seen it - in schools, on the streets, in shopping centres and elsewhere. In a sense, the demonisation of 'chavs' has only served to polarise these people even more, actively encouraging them to subvert society's perceived code of conduct because they feel they have no hope of acceptance whatever they do. Gangs are a by-product of this attitude, as they give members a sense of belonging and standing. Yet that does not explain how the phenomenon began in the first place. A lack of discipline - both in the home and in society at large - is undeniably one of the root causes, but not the whole picture.
A lack of positive role models. We continue to live in a class-ridden country where the privately educated and historically wealthy wield a disproportionate influence, with social mobility less and less possible. Young people from underpriveleged areas can't imagine becoming a doctor, or a lawyer, because no-one they know has those kind of jobs. It can seem to youngsters that the only people who achieve wealth and success from some communities either have a special talent - for sport perhaps, or music - or turn to crime. If they can't be a Dizzee Rascal or a Wayne Rooney, a depressingly high number rather take their chances on the mean streets than face up to a life of fast food restaurant and shop assistant jobs. Money and status is everything.
We are a capitalist society with a socialist welfare state. The Sage believes every civilised society should have a welfare state, but unlike other northern European countries, it's not always a two way process in Britain which creates many problems. While most citizens in Sweden or Norway feel they have a responsibility to follow the laws of the state in exchange for good public services, some in the UK simply see it as a luxury to be indulged and abused for their own enrichment. Can we develop a social contract mentality or is it already too late?
Improving social mobility is the key to change. Don't cut vital resources like libraries, the Education Maintenance Allowance and Sure Start. Bring back the grammar schools and introduce quotas for university places for private schools that reflect the relatively small number of children who are educated there. Make tuition fees a percentage of family income. We have to create a more level playing field if society is to change and for young people from all backgrounds to feel they have a chance of achieving in the mainstream. Furthermore, we need to create a society where work conducted at all levels is respected, not just high income professions.
Cutting offender benefits won't work. Few would dispute that Britain's benefits system is subject to systematic abuse, but cutting people's money as a punishment will only drive them further into disenchantment and crime. We need change attitudes and encourage offenders to feel part of society - and that will happen by improving education, training and job prospects. The Sage supports the idea that the longer-term unemployed should undertake part-time community service as part the process of installing the 'social contract' mentality I referred to earlier.
We need more robust policing as an option. Noone wants an Arab-style police state, but when large numbers of British citizens have their property, business or personal safety threatened they have a right to be protected more forcefully. Yes to water cannons and baton rounds, but plastic bullets should be an absolute last resort.
The public are overwhelmingly behind the police. The boys in blue haven't had the best reputation over the past few years, and many people rightly criticised some of the more heavy-handed tactics during the G20 protests and other events. But there's a fundamental difference between a few idiots hijacking a politically motivated demonstration and widespread, wilful looting and destruction. Even those of us of a more left wing persuasion have to concede that fact and more robust policing will receive almost unanimous support should similar incidents occur again.
