Totenham Riots

Disturbances erupted in several boroughs, with reports of trouble in Enfield, Brixton, Walthamstow and Islington on Sunday.

I'm with Samotnaf on this one. I saw things evolving in hackney and it wasn't that controversial as D describing the whole riot. People were on the streets, and not just "hoodies" and they didn't look so scared. They looked somewhat puzzled, and when the police turned up, you could see the tension between them and the cops. Things were rough, and noone should be surprised that there were casualties of all sorts. Criminality is part of the everydays of a capitalism, esp. alone urban areas. Criminality has the same casualties during festivals, demonstrations and so on. Mugging and bullying is clearly something we need to protect ourselves, because it's directed against the weakest always.

If someone only looked the BBC could get a very scary experience during the whole evening and night, but within these forums I guess noone is really surprised that how exegarated and falsified the BBC and other msm reports are. After all, if we take the whole thing in account, there's an almost surprisingly low number of physical casualties given the momentum of the events (as far as I know there was a man shot dead in Croydon).

Let's cool your heads and think. This didn't come about by accident. The story goes from milibank through march26. There's a generation that is completetely abadoned in any terms. As much we hate consumer society, we grew up in this and our needs and our feelings are fit to our state of affairs. These kids ditto. They don't give a fuck about rules, and they see things what they are: goods that you need to secure, by any means. That's what we do, that's what the rich do, that's what they do. Nihilism is the fabric of capitalist society. All you get is the fetish of commodity. And since the whole distribution of the goods are utterly chaotic already, they have taken advantage of this chaos. The point is clearly made IMO: we need to take advantage of it too!

Rioting is not revolutionary act on its own, true. But as revolutionary thinking goes, this is a time of scarcity for the working class, and consequently this is really our crises. Either we solve it, or there will be no ending in the line of government solutions. And we already know what we can expect from the bosses. So here's a good time to act: But every delusion has to be put aside: Times of scarcity, and reproduction crises does not carry inherent revolutionary values.

I hope this didn't reach its tipping point yet. As the police lost control yesterday, tonight, if things will kick in, it's gonna be more hairy. So I would call my comrades here and elsewhere: If ever, now is the time to gather your comrades in your community, organise selfdefense (vs. vigilantes, police and muggers), organise healthcare, organise food supply.

Similarily to the November of Paris, there was no clear underlying political motivation. And there will never be. But there are common sentiments between us and the rioters in the last days. We should not forget that! http://libcom.org/forums/news/riot-tottenham-london-response-police-killings-06082011?page=4

Monday, August 08, 2011

A crisis of ideology and political leadership. posted by lenin

You've probably heard it said a dozen times today: "It's like 28 Days Later out there." Every thirty seconds, there's a new riot zone. I've rarely known the capital to be this wound up. It's kicked off in East Ham, then Whitechapel, then Ealing Broadway (really?), then Waltham Forest... It's kicked off in Croydon, then Birmingham, then (just a rumour so far) Bradford... The banlieues of Britain are erupting in mass civil unrest. Until now, the claim has been that this is merely a criminal enterprise. At a stretch, it was orchestrated criminality, using Twitter and Blackberry messenger. If you're following what's happening in the UK, that's an impossible position to sustain. A few looters here and there might be evidence of little more than opportunism. But clashes with police in several major cities, including the two largest cities, doesn't look like mere entrepreneurialism to me. And as it spreads to hitherto unexpected places, it certainly doesn't look orchestrated.

Part of the reason for the spread is probably that the aura of invincibility on the part of UK riot police has been seriously damaged by these riots. Protesters in the UK are used to being contained and out-manouevered by police. That makes it seem as if the police are omnipotent. This situation has underlined very clearly that law and order is generally maintained by consent, not coercion. The police are not all powerful, despite their technological and organizational advantages, which is why they rely on good 'community relations'. In those areas where there are long-standing grievances and sources of resentment, it seems, that consent has been withdrawn. As a result of the unpredictable way in which this unrest has unfolded, the police have ended up being out-played, and sometimes out-numbered.

Yet, as important, there is also an underlying crisis of ideology and political leadership for the police. Amid the Hackgate scandal, which has shattered their credibility, and following the killing of a suspect under circumstances that were only ineffectually and temporarily concealed, they are [potentially facing a complete collapse in relations with black British communities. Cameron and the police leadership will be evacuating themselves over this prospect. The painstaking attempts to overcome the complete mutual hatred and distrust that characterised such relations in the 1980s made some headway. Of course, police harrassment, brutality, killing in custody, and so on, did not come to an end. Institutional racism proved durable. But there was definitely an amelioration between Broadwater Farm and the Lawrence Inquiry. And that is one advance which, I believe, they don't want to put through the historical shredder.

So, despite politicians like the Liberal Simon Hughes ranting and demanding that the police use the water cannon, and despite the ritual denunciations and tough talk about the law from (another Liberal) Lynne Featherstone, I suspect the police are quite unsure as to how they're supposed to be handling this. The fact that Cameron has, with remarkable arrogance, hitherto refused to shift from his Tuscany villa and arouse parliament from its recess, cannot have helped here. (Boris Johnson's absence has merely allowed Ken Livingstone to start his re-election campaign early.) One doesn't expect this disorientation, if that's what it is, to last long. The police and the executive will coordinate some sort of policy response that seeks to isolate the 'troublemakers' while making reassuring noises about 'understanding' that 'people have many valid questions' etc. But for now, the crisis is sufficient to allow these openings and, as a result, riots are breaking out in new places with stunning frequency. (Just as I write, I've learned that Woolwich has joined the riot zones).

Though the media is putting a lot of labour into the effort of racialising this issue, the underlying class dimension is just as obvious. The US press seems to get it. The New York Times' report ascribes the riots to a combination of spending cuts and anti-police sentiment amid a generalised ideological crisis for the cops:

Frustration in this impoverished neighborhood, as in many others in Britain, has mounted as the government’s austerity budget has forced deep cuts in social services. At the same time, a widely held disdain for law enforcement here, where a large Afro-Caribbean population has felt singled out by the police for abuse, has only intensified through the drumbeat of scandal that has racked Scotland Yard in recent weeks and led to the resignation of the force’s two top commanders.


They also quote a rioter saying they're taking on "the ruling class". And of course, the ruling class press is deeply attuned to this sort of scenario. Only a month ago, the Wall Street Journal wrote of how the global rich fear the coming violence of the poor:

A new survey from Insite Security and IBOPE Zogby International of those with liquid assets of $1 million or more found that 94% of respondents are concerned about the global unrest around the world today. ... the numbers are backed up by other trends seen throughout the world of wealth today: the rich keeping a lower profile, hiring $230,000 guard dogs, and arming their yachts, planes and cars with military-style security features.



So, even if politicians are in denial, the rich aren't. You may well say, "bollocks, they're not taking on the ruling class, they're just destroying their own nest, hurting working class people and small businesses". I can hear this, just as I can hear the sanctimony in its enunciation. The truth is that riots almost always hurt poor, working class people. There's no riot that embodies a pure struggle for justice, that is not also partly a self-inflicted wound. There is no riot without looting, without anti-social behaviour, without a mixture of bad motives and bad politics. That still doesn't mean that the riot doesn't have a certain political focus; that it doesn't have consequences for the ability of the ruling class to keep control; that the contest with the police is somehow taking place outside of its usual context of suspicion borne of institutional racism and brutality. The rioters here, whenever they've been asked, have made it more than abundantly clear what their motives are - most basically, repaying years of police mistreatment.

Somewhat less on your high horse, you may go on: "but even if there is some sort of mediated logic of political class struggle unfolding here, the rich have nothing to fear as this sort of destruction is at best counterproductive". That may be correct, though it's the sort of thing people tend to assume rather than argue for. Major riots in the twentieth century included Soweto, in South Africa, and in US inner cities in the 1960s up to and including the Watts rebellion. Major riots in recent British history have included those in Brixton in 1981, and Broadwater Farm in 1986, as well as the poll tax riots in 1990. It would be foolish to claim that these made no contribution to achieving the objectives of their participants. The fact is that whatever problems riots bring to the communities affected by them - and they're real, no question - it can't just be assumed that they're stupid. The participants may not be glibly articulate, and some of them may be engaging in indefensible behaviour, but they shouldn't just be written off as mindless, apolitical thugs.

A more sensible assumption, perhaps, is that you have a lot of young people with complex motives - avarice and adventure, sure, but also anger and defiance - some of whom are educated in certain traditions of resistance. For example, The Guardian reporter Paul Lewis (who is worth following on Twitter, by the way) was surprised that Tottenham residents all knew of the IPCC and were very critical of it. This surprise was misplaced. Those who are most likely to suffer police repression, and thus have to make use of complaints procedures, are of course going to be in possession of certain repertoires of knowledge concerning policing and the criminal justice system. They would make it their business to be informed, out of self-defence. I don't buy the idea that these kids are just clueless about the political background of their oppression. And I think they're most likely on a learning curve now, as yet undecided as to what wider political conclusions they will draw from all of this. Like it or not, they are now part of the wider ideological crisis, now a key ingredient in the slow-motion collapse of the political leadership. How they see their involvement here, and how their perception changes, long after the smoke has cleared and the empty rhetoric has stopped, should be of some interest. http://leninology.blogspot.com/2011/08/crisis-of-ideology-and-political.html

The owner of a 100-year family business destroyed in a huge blaze has told Sky News of "lives destroyed."

A huge blaze gutted furniture business Reeves in Croydon, south of London, which was torched on Monday night as violence spread across the capital.

Owner Trevor Reeves told Sky News: "It has just provided my family and the 15 or 20 staff and families that were supported, it's just completely destroyed.

"Words fail me. It's just gone, it's five generations. My father is distraught at the moment. It's just mindless thuggery."

His brother Graham added: "Our lives are destroyed, it will probably be someone else next week. It's horrendous, 35 years I have been down here."

He said the business was established in 1867, but he now had "nothing."

He added: "Everything is just gone, we have just got nothing left. I was in the Brixton riots but this is worse. My life is destroyed."

flatowkorps wrote:Killing of this black guy by police is just excuse for colourful thugs to rob the stores. If I`d be in government, I`ll suggest to throw them out. Multi-culturalism is fiction.

flatowkorps wrote:Killing of this black guy by police is just excuse for colourful thugs to rob the stores. If I`d be in government, I`ll suggest to throw them out. Multi-culturalism is fiction.

Prosecutors are travelling with police to likely riot scenes tonight to provide "on-the-spot charging advice"

flatowkorps wrote:Killing of this black guy by police is just excuse for colourful thugs to rob the stores. If I`d be in government, I`ll suggest to throw them out. Multi-culturalism is fiction.

Groups of people also congregated in Eltham, southeast London, where it was clear the English Defence League were involved in organising the gathering.

Britain's worst riots in decades raged into Wednesday as youths ran amok in Manchester and the industrial Midlands but London was quiet with 16,000 police swamping the streets to stem violence.

SSocialistStateSS wrote:I understand the concept of worse is better, and that white people joining in on the rioting is good to destroy the establishment; but afterwards? Considering most of the rioters here are probably not us, do we just ask them to leave?

Teenagers caught in the riots which have spread to towns and cities throughout England have been talking to Sky News about the reasons for the trouble.

They said there is widespread anger and frustration among young people over problems getting work and the rising cost of living.

They also cited the increase in student tuition fees and the attitude of police as major causes of the resentment felt by many.

One young looter in Manchester said it was a chance to get back at police for arresting young people for no reason.

"I've come for the money," he said.

"The police nick you for stupid things. This is our payback. They can't do nothing to us today."

Another told Sky's Mike McCarthy: "People are just taking out their anger (with the authorities).

"It is wrong but they're just trying to make money because they can't get to college and they just think 'Why not make quick money?'.

A third said: "All the Uni loans and all the finances have all gone up so everyone is frustrated.

"No one can see a future now because everything is expensive. Everything like the VAT has gone up and people are just showing their frustration."

When asked if that justified the looting, he replied: "No. To be honest I think everyone is just frustrated.

"Other people, though, are taking advantage to make a profit and just steal stuff.

"We're not here to steal. We're just trying to get home but we can't because the road is blocked."

They spoke as hundreds of youths went on the rampage in Manchester and Salford.

Firebombs were thrown at shops and windows were smashed as looters made off with designer clothes, electrical items, jewellery, mobile phones and alcohol.

Some of those involved in the looting appeared to be as young as nine or 10.

Greater Manchester Police said over 100 people had been arrested in connection with the disorder. http://uk.news.yahoo.com/teens-rioting-vents-anger-authorities-095743298.html

The Prime Minister has pledged to give the police whatever they need to combat rioting and said contingency plans are in place for water cannon to be available at 24 hours' notice......

Scotland Yard ruled out involving the Army for now but said police were "not scared" of using plastic bullets to bring the unprecedented riots under control. http://uk.news.yahoo.com/pm-chair-another-cobra-crisis-meeting-054620201.html

Admin wrote:

flatowkorps wrote:Killing of this black guy by police is just excuse for colourful thugs to rob the stores. If I`d be in government, I`ll suggest to throw them out. Multi-culturalism is fiction.

The bourgeois establishment wants you to think in those terms. The crux of the matter, however, is that these sorts of actions are overwhelmingly the result of the economic conditions of capitalist society. Without the sort of unemployment levels and poverty inherent to these communities, most of this crime would simply not manifest itself. Most of the rioters have no future in society and therefore act accordingly.

There is no valid reason to turn this into a failure of cultural pluralism (though that too is a failure).

Coach wrote:

flatowkorps wrote:Killing of this black guy by police is just excuse for colourful thugs to rob the stores. If I`d be in government, I`ll suggest to throw them out. Multi-culturalism is fiction.

And what are you doing to struggle against this system? Nothing but whining about minorities and siding with the British imperialist government of the ruling class in this situation, like a typical WN/NS reactionaries do.
I support and hope for the extension and development of this rebellion into a massive working-class revolution. If you really wanted this to turn out well for white working people, you'd call on them to support and join and advance this rebellion.

Rebel Warrior 59 wrote: Just to let everyone know I really could care less about what happens in the United Kingdom. Im just speaking out against the tendency of many who insist that all workers should unite against the Capitalist system regardless of Nationality. I dont care about the fate of proletarians who do not belong to my Nation. If they want to free themselves from Capitalism then more power to them. I just wont help them because it is none of my business.