Thursday 25 August 2011

The Dark Soul of the English Middle Classes Laid Bare

 

The aftermath of the summer riots in England has been a true eye opener.  And it’s shown one thing; the ‘hang ‘em high and flog ‘em’ brigade is well and truly ensconced in Middle England.

The English middle class, historical, has had an underlying societal attitude which has always defaulted to a firm belief in the poor deserving to be kicked [and severely punished for any perceived wrong-doing], as they are basically weak and inept and deservingly at the bottom of the heap. At the other end of the scale it has always fawned to the rich, no matter whatever they do. This has be made blatantly obvious in the aftermath of the last financial crisis; we have all been robbed blind by looters who can steal millions of pounds off us from behind computer screens, and adversely affect our standard of living of years, yet are allowed not just to get away with it, but continue to thrive.


That is the basic mind-set of a vast swathe of Middle England. And it is full of angry, bitter people who are feeling increasingly disempowered. The middle class can sense it's been completely shafted by the establishment- which has always been its most favourite, rich big cousin who it's had a crush on like, forever- but it doesn't know what to do about it. The structure of their world has shifted, and all they have now is ill-defined resentment and a seething anger, and that is what we have seen laid bare in the aftermath of the riots.


Many people are shouting from the roof tops that we need to  'man up' and get tough over the treatment of these rioters. A lot of people say this, but non seem to be prepared to say we should 'man-up' and start treating the root causes of the riots. And there ARE root causes to them; nobody with any real worldliness, deep down, can say they honestly believe the riots were just a spontaneous outbreak of violence at different locations across the country, 'just for the hell of it,' because NOTHING in society occurs in a vacuum. NOTHING. Even nihilists have a rational base point they work from, because no matter how much Middle England likes to think of the underclass as sub-human, they are not; they are not animals working on pure instinct, but rational humans.


And at the end of all this, those much despised 'liberal values and approaches' will be the ones used to solve the problems in the areas the riots happened. Why? Because there is no viable alternative.
I mean say for example, we go the full hog and 'man-up' completely in the aftermath of the riots. We lock up for years everyone who took part in the riots, as well as everyone in their families who aided them/benefited from the stolen goods. Many speeches are made by politicians about 'Being Tough On Crime;' shopping centres become fortresses, perhaps even curfews are introduced in selected areas. Laws are introduced where anyone wearing a hoodie can be stopped, searched and detained for an unspecified amount of time at the whim of any police officer. The scope of draconian measures are endless.


Putting aside the odiousness of these police state conditions that would in some way affect ALL the ordinary citizens of the country, do you really think it'd make a blind bit of difference to the next wave of rioters? Of course not. Not only will they be all the more embittered by the heavy handed controls they have, they will also see it as more of a challenge [and a proof 'manhood'] to overcome them. And when the opportunity comes for the next riot, do you really think that gang of young men,fired up on strong cider and raging hormones and the communal buzz of mob power, will really stop and say to each other...'oh hell, we're going too far now, we'd better stop and go home....'


Of course they won't. So after all the heavy handed policing and tough rhetoric and over-the-top societal controls, riots still happen. Its 100% inevitable. It's happened in the past, it is happening abroad [look at the ME's final reaction against the police state], it will happen here in the future. So what will then be turned to, to address the underlying problems spurring on the rioters? Why those boring, bleeding heart, on-the-ground liberal policies and initiatives of course, what else...once again 100% inevitable.

Tuesday 16 August 2011

Anderson Stays On-Form



I enjoyed City Boy, despite it's flaws [the repetitive 'bloke-iness grated just a bit too much in places] and so didn't have any problem trying out this, a more straight-forward novelisation of the hero of Cityboy's exploits.
And it doesn't disappoint.  Geraint Anderson's style is supremely suited to a vast moving, dare I say pulpish 'thriller' format and there is nothing wrong with that.  This is a really good read and if you find it's a style that suits you, you'll crack through it in no time and be well entertained along the way.
Some people may criticise it for being more of the same, but so what. Anderson knows what his strengths as a writer are and plays to them with everything he's got. He subsequently won't win any posy literary prizes but again, so what. Sometimes when you're looking for a good read, you need a brand you can trust, and I reckon Geraint Anderson is going to provide us with just that.  I hope he knocks out more of these books to help pass a rubbish-weather UK summer with.