On this morning, the third morning of hearing the news from London and across England, I am angry. I feel helpless, hopeless and frustrated at the amount of talk that is going on over the news. Speculation: how will the Police force cope tonight? What do you think has caused this? Let’s hear from so-and-so, the leader of Economics at some prestigious University. Let’s now go to bigwig leader-from-some-important-part-of-the-government. Sure, speculation is all well and good, but what are we going to do? Talk is cheap if changes are not made. What really is the source of all this unprecedented violence? It’s not even making a point! It’s just a bunch of angry young adults who think they can do what they want. Youth around the world protest for human rights, my young adult community is looting JD Sports and Curries to steal computers and sneakers. Wow, what a point you lot are making.
I grew up in England, I am British, from toe to tip and from tip to toe. I was proud to be English, but I am not proud of my country right now. I have lost faith in the government, faith in the education system and faith in the people of my generation. I am now a true Brit: I am hopeless. Generations before me have worked hard for a healthy country, members of my family fought in World War Two and fought for freedom. Families have set up businesses and have moved our economy on. My generation? We’re angry, and we can’t tell you why.
Please take a listen to this clip: BBC Interviews Riot Girls
“Everyone was on a riot, just goin’ mad like, chuckin’ fings, chuckin’ bottles. . .it was good tho’. . .it was good fun . . . ‘course it is!”
The interviewer asks “Have you been drinking all night?”
“Yeah. . .it’s the governments fault . . . conservatives whatever, whoever it is, I dunno’. We’re showin’ the police we can do what we want. That’s what it’s all about, showin’ the police we can do what we want. And now we have.”
“Do you reckon it will go on tonight?” asks the BBC interviewer.
“Yeah, hopefully . . . it’s the rich people, the people that got businesses, and that’s why this is all happened . . . we’re just showin’ the rich people we can do what we want.”
I am shocked, disgusted and ashamed. All of my bitterness towards my generation is now at the forefront, all that I’ve believed in the past about hopelessness amongst a class of young people is now inflamed: maybe we are a hopeless generation.
The two girls involved in the interview do not even know why they are fighting. First they blame the government (whom they clearly know nothing about), then they claim they want to show the police that they can exercise their right to freedom. Then they go on to blame the rich, or those who have businesses. Surely they know that those who own businesses are not always rich? That there are people out there who own family run stores struggle each month to stay afloat while the economy drowns and rent rises? They are clueless. I want to tell them just how wrong they are, that they can fight another way, but they will face what they have already faced: the feeling that they are so small while the problems around us are so big. How can we make a difference?
How can young people make a difference in a country that doesn’t even have a solid government? How can young people make themselves heard when their education system has seemingly failed them, council housing and benefits have made it easy for us to become lazy, and we have so much information in front of us we’ve forgotten how to make a way for ourselves? How can a group of people fall so far between the cracks?
It is easy to become dispirited, and I am certainly becoming more and more dispirited as I watch the news, follow Twitter and hear people’s reactions. But I saw this picture this morning and I have seen a glimpse of hope. After all of this, maybe there is not as much hopelessness as I once thought.
As looters and rioters smashed up shops, looted and fought with police in Camden Town, Philippa Morgan-Walker, 25 and her husband, Jonny Walker, 31, made tea for the police who were protecting their street. Some of the officers had been on duty for more than 30 hours.
True British Spirit: let’s make a cup of tea.
But in all seriousness, this really did give me hope this morning. These two people are friends of my cousin, and their love for their community drove them to do what they could: care for those who were working hard for their town. A cup of tea, a cold glass of water, biscuits, sandwiches, anything like this is more than what it seems. It reminds the British Public that there are people in our country who care. It reminds me that even though we could be consumed by this sad news, there are young people who have hope and who want to make a difference. I hope and pray that this is the worst of it, and we make our way towards a brighter future from here on.
In Liverpool, which also saw rioting Monday, 21-year-old bartender Charles Jupiter set up a "Liverpool Clean Up" Facebook page that brought about 100 volunteers onto the streets Tuesday morning. "I thought, 'Not in my city'," Jupiter said. "People were posting, 'I'm embarrassed to be English, I'm embarrassed to be from London or Liverpool.' "I reposted and said, 'I'm not. That's why I'm going out there to help clean up.'"
