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Appalled by the standard of debate bout these events....here's my take on it:- *Why the riots?* *The neoliberal capitalism of Thatcher, Murdoch, Blair, Bush, **Obama**, **China**, the banks, Jonathan Ross, Richard Branson, has..... * Taught us that what is important is material possessions Made whole sections of the population superfluous Funded the gaining of possessions through high levels of personal and household debt Destroyed traditional communities based on workplace, destroying the sources of self worth and responsibility Ridiculed collective values, privatised and marginalised social provision Commercialised childhood Forced many working people into unemployment, underemployment or insecure, casual low wage work, stressing and undermining family life Fetishised the trivial, the celebrity, cheapening culture and celebrating selfishness and boorishness Encouraged rocketing inequality Shown that exotic levels of violence against people and their towns and cities is just fine Encouraged the import of cheap labour and thereby sown distrust and division among working people Crashed, increasing poverty, inequality, precariousness, resentment and further weakened collective, social, cultural resources. *So why the surprise?* The riots are not a protest The riots are not caused by public spending cuts The riots are not a result of criminality The riots are not riots The riots are not class action The riots are not a result of bad parenting The riots are not the politics of envy The riots are all these things and none of them The riots are a result of a coming together of forces and processes.There is no simple explanation and no explanation in the behaviour of the individual looter. To understand the riots requires an understanding of how economy, politics, ideology, belief, motivation, morality, socialisation and the dynamics of belonging and alienation work together as system and systems. Don't tell me that is an excuse, and don't tell me how tough you are going to be.Tell me you see that this is complicated and it requires a completely different way of living our society. As ye sow, so shall ye reap.The harvest of neoliberal capitalism is well and truly home. -- /From: /Mark Burton <http://stores.lulu.com/store.php?fAcctID=4304478> *37 Chandos Rd South* *Chorlton* *Manchester* *M21 0TH* *Telephone: */*h*/*0161 881 6887* /out now: /Critical Community Psychology <http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-EHEP001542.html?filter=TEXTBOOK> book cover: Critical Community Psychology: Kagan, Burton, Duckett, Lawthom and Siddiquee <http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-EHEP001542.html?filter=TEXTBOOK> http:www.compsy.org.uk /also available/: A Green Deal for the Manchester-Mersey Bioregion<http://stores.lulu.com/store.php?fAcctID=4304478>/and/The Replacement Economy. <http://stores.lulu.com/store.php?fAcctID=4304478> http://greendealmanchester.wordpress.com/ ___________________________________ There is a twitter feed: http://twitter.com/CommPsychUK (to post contact Grant [log in to unmask] To unsubscribe or to change your details on this COMMUNITYPSYCHUK list, visit the website: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A0=COMMUNITYPSYCHUK