London / UK Riots

[goddamniamsoawesome]

Re: London - riots

@ravage

Interesting. How long, where did you work and with which organization? And what was work exactly?

It was just a local grass-roots initiative. I lived smack between Brixton Hill and Streatham Hill for under one year. I also lived between Lewisham and Peckham for just over six months. We were some guys looking to make right, I got into some rough business because for a while I lost my heading, This is when I started boxing which led to unsanctioned underground prize-fighting which led to me getting involved with unsavoury characters. We started doing music (PDC and Suspect boys) first and then got into some other stuff. Funny because there is still a rivalry between the Brixton and Peckham boys. Anyway, the work was a few of us found our way out of the mess and we started trying to work with the high-ups (Jaja, Nyia, Ramsey, etc… PDCEnt now) and trying to prevent youngsters following their footsteps and getting into this dodgy business. We organised talks, shared experiences and how we came out better because of such experiences. A lot of kids listened and a whole other lot didn’t, that’s just how it is I suppose. Probably more than I should have let go but yeah, whatever.

@ravage

There we go. Many of the things you go onto write about are directly resulting from this.

Not really. At some point there might have been such prejudice but most of these youngsters haven’t seen the days their elders have. Its a lack of role models and other things I have described. We love to talk about the failure of society. Anyone remember ‘Hug a Hoodie’? What a load of bollocks really. I spent a lot of time amongst these people, I was one of them FFS. Its just irrational prejudice against authority. Nothing much. Watch Channel U sometimes, you’ll see how they glorify such gansters. I know the BBK boys and you can listen to them griming. They are people I know but I don’t agree with a lot of their talk. I mean PDC meant Pussy-Drugs-Cash. You tell me what you can read from that.

@ravage

General culture doesnt emerge from nothing. The desire to get money is not a trait limited to Brixton and Haringey. Materialism and consumerism is the language of the culture in general. The ‘easy’ impulse arises from the oppression/exclusion aspects you mentioned earlier. There is no non-easy way to live the life you and me might have access to by getting city jobs if their future prospects include working retail and in chicken shops as you say.

Yeah, the desire to get money is a trait present in probably every single human being in the world. And no, I know enough of such ‘oppressed/excluded’ youngsters who turned their lives around and are doing good for themselves. Maybe not drug lords but they are making a living. I mentioned Nyia earlier. He was a heavy character in South London. Now all he does is work the night at Sainsbury’s and looks after his two daughters as a single dad. He saves some money to spend on studio time and goes MC’ing in raves. Just one example. I have lots more. My point was the fact that a lot of people choose to settle down and work towards a stable future while others don’t. You can’t blame a segment of society because they are doing well, just like you can’t absolve another section if they aren’t. No one owes them anything.

@ravage

All I can say is going through these neighbourhoods, and I happen to live close enough to have to pass through one every day, I do not see a lifestyle that says indulgence. For all the arse wiping you list, I can see a difference as clear as day between the lifestyle these people have, and that of those who are a part of the good society. Be that in terms of educational and professional opportunities or in terms of material possessions or in terms of standard of living.

You happen to live close. I’ve been through the life. Sure, it was not something I grew up in (I grew up a universe apart) but I know those people, I know their families, I know their culture, I know how they think. Its opportunism at its best. No excuses Ravage. Yeah, you can see a difference because some choose that path while others are happy to try and live the live of a gangster, because it gets them money, girls and power. Fact. Opportunities in England are equal, too PC in my opinion. And I say that even after knowing a whole lot of these guys.

@ravage

Lets remember that injustice is always a sliding scale. At the time of the french revolution, the aristocrat who said ‘Let them eat cake’ could rightly have said look these peasants are so much better off than our grandparents kept them, or they are so much better off than the slaves we ship off to Africa. And they would have been right. But they still got their heads chopped off.

That my friend is not the case anymore. There is ample opportunity for people these days in England to sort their lives out. Trust me I can list tens and tens of individual cases where they came from nothing more than a broken home without any family and yet have worked on their lives,. Simply put, these guys aren’t okay with such activities. There is no frustration, there is no desperation, this is mindless opportunism. Its very malicious in nature. Let’s not make excuses here.

@ravage

As for millions of people working, how do you know that those rioting dont have those kindof minimal wage jobs? It is speculation to say these are just unemployed people.

I never said they are unemployed. I say a large part of them are unemployed. The average age of these looters is under 20. They are mostly teenagers. Youngsters who have no accountability. We can’t blame the government for that. The guy who got shot for example was a gangster, clear as the sky. Yet these people come out in support and now come out purely to satisfy their malicious whims. I call BS to any injustice. I can say all this because I was one of them for some time of my life.