Over the past several days, people have been rioting in the streets of London, looting, injuring others, and creating complete mayhem.  Why?  Apparently this was incited by the shooting and death of Mark Duggan, a 29-year-old resident of Tottenham.  Who is Mark Duggan?  In searching various news stories, blog postings, and the like on the internet, who he is depends upon which site you read.  Those in defense of his shooting portray him as a thug.  Those defending Mark describe him as “a good man.  He was a family man.”  His fiancee has, according to Guardian.co.uk website, admitted he is “known to the police and said he had spent some time on remand, but denied he was ever imprisoned.”  What actually occurred to bring on this shooting?  I doubt we will ever know the true, actual facts.  The police will tell one story, and the witnesses will state another.  Or possibly somewhere in between.  This may have been a justifiable shooting, or it may not have been… I do not know.  I was not there.

Many articles are portraying him as a “gangsta.”  But then, I honestly do not trust a lot of the media.  The images of him online do show a gangster persona, but where are other pictures of him?  Surely he has not had just three or four pictures taken of him in his life.  When possible I prefer to read facts from various viewpoints and usually determine that the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle.  A significant percentage of mainstream news sites and channels only tell you what they want you to know, not what is actual.  Or tell you what they think will bring the views, the hits, the attention, and the money.

The money.

Is this riot tied to money?  Or LACK of money??

The world is now starting to revolt as it evolves into a war of the “have’s” versus the “have nots.”  England has now become a country in which the richest 10% are now 100 times better off than the poorest.

Hmmmmmm…… sound familiar, America?

Haringey, the borough that includes Tottenham, has the fourth highest level of child poverty in London and an unemployment rate of 8.8%, double the national average, with one vacancy for every 54 seeking work in the borough.

According to the Guardian:

“Since the coalition came to power just over a year ago, the country has seen multiple student protests, occupations of dozens of universities, several strikes, a half-a-million-strong trade union march and now unrest on the streets of the capital (preceded by clashes with Bristol police in Stokes Croft earlier in the year). Each of these events was sparked by a different cause, yet all take place against a backdrop of brutal cuts and enforced austerity measures. The government knows very well that it is taking a gamble, and that its policies run the risk of sparking mass unrest on a scale we haven’t seen since the early 1980s. With people taking to the streets of Tottenham, Edmonton, Brixton and elsewhere over the past few nights, we could be about to see the government enter a sustained and serious losing streak.”

I still do not believe the truth has come out over Mark Duggan’s death, but what I do see, though, are people who are apparently fed up with the way they are treated, and Mark’s shooting – right or wrong – is what it took to cause this chain reaction.

Is America headed for a riot like the one occurring in London?

I think yes.

We have a government that continually bickers, and refuses to agree on items which directly affect the citizens of our country only because the GOP’s do not want to agree with the Dem’s, and the Dem’s do not want to agree with the GOP’s.  And then there is the Tea Party whose main purpose appears just to be to stir up shit (pardon the language – but it’s quite fitting.)

How the hell are we to make any progress if our elected officials cannot play nicely in the sandbox?

The likes of the Tea Party, the Koch Brothers, ALEC… they all want the government out so they can control the commerce, keep their taxes down while the middle class and under only become more poor in paying their taxes, and losing their jobs while they move more production overseas, or place prisoners from private prisons in place of the union workers.  There is a lot of money passing hands from the lobbyists to the politicians buying their votes.  I see a conflict of interest here.

Wall Street and an “elite” 1% of this country own most of the wealth… they are in control, my friends.  Mark my words.  Our politicians bow to the banks, not to the people of our country.  And the “elite” get away with raping our citizens.

Be careful, America – and this statement is driven more to those in office.  You may wake up one day to find your car on fire, your business or office looted, and the people out protesting for fairness.

Please, learn to play nicely in the sandbox together.

Below is a flyer passing around the riots

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