London Riots: We Tried To Warn You

I'm sure some think so.

 

the op belives that income inequality causes crime.

so ...... Jeff Daumer killed and ate his victims b/c he was poor and hungry?

Right

It may come as a shock that many people are poor b/c they are inadequate and criminals b/c they are bad people.

Hard core criminals are inadequate in about every way: socially, psycologically, morally, intellectually, motivationally etc.

Inadequacy causes crime. Poverty is just one symptom of the inadequacy.

 

Teach or force one to fend for themselves and they'll want for nothing.

Hand them sustenance and they'll likely break down your door the next time they're hungry.

.

 

'Idle hands are the Devil's Workshop.' And that's the problem in Great Britain. Their Nanny State is failing miserably. Too many fat & lazy Citizens demanding more & more. They've reached a point where now they're "Cracking down on Social Media." This should be shocking to everyone. Is Great Britain really a Free Nation anymore? They're in a lot of trouble over there. Things are going to get worse. It's very sad.

 

No.

I am not suggesting that all crime stems from inequality. I am stating that inequality is a major factor.

Furthermore to suppose all criminals are inadequate merely raises the question as to why?

Furthermore it asks the question as to why there were massive differences in the past in murder rates and why there are international differences in murder rates all of which correlates strongly with income inequality.

So answer the question, what makes someone inadequate?

Are some people merely born that way? (And by extension people in 1960's America and in Denmark today are genetically superior)

Or are there environmental influences that also come into play?

 

One of the reasons behind the London riots is the negro factor. Negro people believe the white-man owes them a living. If they dont get enough welfare they riot. Negros and riots go together like love and marriage.

 

Oh great, another racist.

 

So Im a racist for stating the obvious?

 

If you read any of the papers you will see that income inequality is a greater predictor of murder rates than ethnicity. Effects of ethnicity may be due to the strong correlation with income inequality. Ireland has a lot of drugs too, all white people doing them.

Indeed, when the first Irish arrived in the U.S. they were 'drunken louts', 'criminals', 'wasters'. Now? Not so much

 

For grouping a whole "section" of the human population together, yes.

Why focus on race unless you think that they're genetically predisposed to do these things more often then others?

 

Here is some info related to what you were asking for earlier Speeding. Unfortunately I don't know what their metric for deprivation was, so I can't say much.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/interactive/2011/aug/16/riots-poverty-map

 

Hmm... Looks like most of the suspects live in the red areas, but the areas where the riots occurred themselves aren't as deprived.

Too bad they don't have a similar map for Gini coefficient.

 

"British rioters have hit out at what they see as an unwelcome transatlantic influence on the traditional English way of looting and causing affray. ‘It’s another deplorable Americanisation of our traditional British way of doing stuff – especially free stuff,’ says fourteen -year-old Tottenham rioter Zac (two Sony flat screens and a bag of trainers). ‘Innit.’ ..."

http://www.newsbiscuit.com/2011/08/15/rioters-denounce-americanisation-of-british-way-of-rioting/

 

It's really too little to go on and when the areas get that small (a short walk) then it becomes useless to divide it up further in terms of Gini.

I am also aware of studies that show that clear divides in political conflicts (e.g. Northern Ireland) reduces conflict between neighbouring areas. In terms of such riots however, nearby affluence would surely create resentment.

Furthermore such resentment probably builds up due to consumer culture. One must consume to be cool, but when the gap between expectations (including what is expected of one) and realities increases then tensions rise. The consumer trend has been held together in the face of falling real wages due to increasing easy credit, that credit has dried up however. It is by no means a coincidence that these looters stole those things that they feel they need due to consumer culture. There is a direct parralell between this and children in the 'hoods' in America killing each other over trainers, the ultimate status symbol. That is just conjecture however.

 

How does consumer culture in Britain compare with the rest of Europe? Is it particularly stronger?

 

I would say so, although it is a hard thing to measure. What would be interesting however would be a comparison of personal debt across Europe (credit cards etc. and a seperate comparison involving housing). Credit card debts would act as a proxy for consumer spending, cheap credit and decline of real wages. Saving rates (which have generally declined) would also be interesting. I'll have a bit of a google.

The important point is that even if the consumer culture is not stronger in Britain there is more of an underclass that can't sustain the consumption they are supposed to. Consumption is an indicator of social status (e.g. the 'trainers' (runners, people) example I gave earlier). In more stratified societies the need for social status and the inability to achieve said status are increased.

 

That's a good idea, It think that would be pretty interesting to look at.

 

Wonderful stuff. It appeals to my sense of humour.

 

Some interesting results but nothing conclusive;





I can't find much on international real wage comparisons but it real wages have been declining in both the U.S. and U.K.

 

Seems to be expected, Savings going down, debt going up. I would have expected it to be worse for the US and UK though. The Netherlands, Norway and Sweden are bit surprising though.

 

The Brit riots are the result of minoroty people trying to get something for nothing. The Brits should expell them from the country. Get back to WASPism.

 

Stop the trolling and/or racism.