Anarchy in the UK

[Guest mikedwood]

This is nuts!!!! And apparently it's real.

The battle of Trafalgar Square: Police struggle to control rioters after 500,000-strong London march against cuts ends in violence | Mail Online

[Caster]

It'll be here too 'fore long.

[pitt2magic]

How can there be violence there? Didnt they take away all the evil guns from the citizens years ago?

[G27]

It's interesting that one has to seek out this sort of news - none of the major networks are covering it. Even the BBC barely made notice of it.

Of course, if you only watch / read Fox or CNN, you'd probably think the riots in Greece and Portugal ended long ago...

[Murgatroy]

Yeah, I heard a quick clip of this yesterday on the radio, and have had issues finding much more than a quick blurb about it.

I love how the riots in 'civilized' nations are glossed over.

[Guest mikedwood]

Just checked CNN and Fox websites. If you rely on those and BBC it didn't happen. Al least not that I can find.

That's seems very odd.

[G27]

Its on the BBC news front page: BBC News - TUC condemns post-rally violence in central London

But yah, as I said above, you'd think all's well in Europe, but the reality is these demonstrations and riots are continuing to happen as those governments runs out of money.

We'll see them soon enough here, too...

[Mike.357]

I saw this covered on Fox this morning.

This is the stuff that happens when people become too accustomed to the .gov being there to hold their hands and give them free things. When the looters demand more than us workers can provide they don't know how to react. So they riot.

It will happen here someday.

[Guest Letereat!]

Those UKers and have always have been a rough crowd as a rule. Particularly Those from Ireland. IRA, anyone? Just take a gander at some of the "riots" in France and I think you'll see that dissent in our country is tame by comparison. Since Before Oliver Cromwell the fight has been on, 1960-96ish was a particularly violent period in Irelands long history of internal conflict.

I wonder what the Resident Northern Irelander would have to say?

Edited March 28, 2011 by Letereat!

[Guest adolf.oliver.bush]

Those UKers and have always have been a rough crowd as a rule. Particularly Those from Ireland. IRA, anyone? Just take a gander at some of the "riots" in France and I think you'll see that dissent in our country is tame by comparison. Since Before Oliver Cromwell the fight has been on, 1960-96ish was a particularly violent period in Irelands long history of internal conflict.

I wonder what the Resident Northern Irelander would have to say?

You're right. How dare the Irish try to keep their land?! Same goes for Native Americans. Almost lunacy to think they would feel anger.

[monkeylizard]

The UK's DailyMail has never been a reliable piece of in-depth journalism. They like to sensasionalize things. I'm reminded of the anti-sales tax rallies at the TN state house a few years back, where the vast majority was peaceful, but a few people got out of hand. In this case, 200 arrests out of 250,000 - 500,000 people is pretty small. Any large demonstration will always have its idiots. I'm glad to see that the majority of the people assembled peacefully to make a statement to their government. I don't agree with all of this group's points, but I'm still glad to see them voice their opinions to their government. I suspect that the BBC is keeping the riot story downplayed because they have a vested interest in the governemnet NOT cutting spending. They want the same thing that the mass of the rally wants.

This is all coming out in part because the UK has some serious taxation issues. Their structure is different than ours, but in the end, I think it's the same underlying problem. Those who pay resent those who don't, and those who don't pay think they're entitled to what they get from those who do via their government doll. that goes both ways up and down the income spectrum. In this case, a lot of the unrest is about banks, and several other large corporations finding ways to hide their profits from taxation. So they get lots of government benefits without paying very much relative to what they earn. They're pretty keen on keeping things like they are.

Now the UK government is looking at reducing the promised benefits to individuals because they can't afford to pay for them. It would be like finding your promised SS and Medicare benefits being reduced because the tax revenue won't support them (or in modern terms, finding that the tax scheme on your IRAs and 401(k)s has been changed to reduce what you get to have, but then finding out that (insert top largest bakns/corporations here) haven't paid a dime in taxes for 20 years. That's just one facet of what the UK is facing right now.

The other side is the bloated retirement/public healthcare behemoth. You know...the spending side of that tax/spend equation. Boy am I glad we have our spending under control here in the U.S. of A.

That reminds me...I need to order some more ammo.

Edited March 28, 2011 by monkeylizard