We have been told by a phalanx of left-wing pundits that these riots are a symptom of the ‘underclass’ lashing out against a society that excludes them by offering no opportunities to escape from their ‘situations’.
The truth is much scarier than that and indicates how much the moral fabric of this country is torn and frayed. Included in the many in court today are, according to The Mirror, a primary school teacher and a someone who completed an ICT B-Tech at Hackney Community College and was due to have an interview for an apprenticeship on Tuesday. Another was due to start a college course in September. The Telegraph reports on other cases which include a university student, an army recruit, a forklift operator and – unbelievably – a youth social worker.
Just how were these people – a cross section of society if there ever was one – “socially excluded”? None were “unemployed”. All had opportunities there for the grabbing. But instead of grabbing opportunities offered them, they chose to smash-and-grab hi-tech gear and flashy clothing through shattered windows on the High Street.
The truth is that the spoilt youth of Britain – including the poorest and most ‘excluded’ – still have more care, comfort and opportunity than 90% of the planet. It’s time we stopped helping them to feel aggrieved and started emphasising the opportunities this society offers to those who are prepared to meet it half way, unlike the examples above who squandered what they had before them for a free PlayStation of pair of trainers.
Opportunity is there for the grabbing. And you don’t even have to smash anything – except your own sense of entitlement.
Why were immigrants defending their shops and homes against looters and rioters? Because those who haven’t grown up in this country still have the connection between work, sacrifice and initiative, and property and success. Those who weren’t born in this country know what it means to struggle to make a place for yourself in this world. They weren’t ready to stand idly by and watch people with nothing but nihilism take it away.
They are worth more to Britain than home-grown university students and social workers who thinks looting a shop is the way forward.
