2011 The year of discontent in the Western world?

[sgreger1]

These people are mainly children with the age range from 10 upwards. They all like to be a part of a 'gang' and there are lots of these gangs in every borough of London.
With Blackberry, Facebook and Twitter, they have become 'organised'. There is no agenda apart from a desire to cause damage to property and steal.

The problem with youth today is that there is a sense that society owes them something without them having to put any work in. There is a lack of personal responsibility, as described by a lot of teenagers today "You can't touch me, I can do whatever I want." "It's because I'm disadvantaged innit".

I talked to my grandmother today, she's getting on. She recalled that when she was growing up, if you didn't work you simply didn't eat. As a child, shoes could not be afforded and she walked many miles to work in a mill in order that the family could eat. The whole family, children and all had to work.

When I was a teenager I wasn't the brightest spark but I wasn't the dimmest. I had to work bloody hard to get my 'O' levels and 'A' levels. I went to university, and ok I left to join the Army, but there I worked bloody hard. I left the Army and now I'm in security where I work bloody hard.
This would be totally alien to the youth that were out on the streets of London.

Yes, there are a lack of jobs around these days and you have to take what you can get - but do not burn down my city when I am paying for your benefits and income support or your families council house. In my grandmothers day there was no such thing - you starved. So I say to the youth, stick your bling, your gang culture and the chip on your shoulders firmly up your arse - get some self respect and some personal responsibility. Do something about it, do some work - school work, volunteer work, anything.

But from that display of lunacy on the streets I personally feel that all is lost for them. They'll listen to nobody. Maybe only Dr. Doolittle can help them.

What worries me is that this youth bulge is ripe for abuse by the government, specifically for a war. I could see them easily calling these kids to arms against whatever boogeyman they conjure up, and lacking jobs or any future, these kids would gladly go slaughter anyone they sent them after. Look at America, the army is one of the best gigs you can get, they literally throw money at you from every direction. $40,000 sign on bonus, pay off your student loans, another $30,000 for school, free healthcare, damn good pay, training etc. People are willing to sign up and and kill others even during good times for that shit, imagine what people are willing to do in this economic climate.

I truly fear that they will take advantage of this lost generation by starting WWIII. That'll clear the job problem right up! lol.

The US will lose that game though, we've been at war for a decade and are bankrupt. Osama Bin Laden managed to outsmart the military industrial complex in that he understood the teachings of Sun Tzu: It is an acceptable and often times superior strategy to force your enemy to over leverage themselves (read as: bankrupt themselves) in an attempt to exterminate you. They beat the Russians in afghanistan by making them spend a lot of money to accomplish very little and now they have defeated the US using a similar tactic. And our leaders willingly played along because it served their interests as well, but soon the river of money will dry up and then they will have to think of a new (likely worse) strategy.

[Ansel]

There have been some people in this country who shouldn't have had children and some of their parent's shouldn't have had children as they just simply aren't equipped for parenting and all that comes with it. I appreciate that selective breeding is a very rocky road to go down but i believe this to be true.

[Ansel]

And some of these kids are seriously misguided targetting people who they believe to be rich and priveleged when actually they're just people who worked, yeah worked, to earn money to pay for the bits and pieces they have instead of relied on benefits.

[RobsanX]

Cameron is going to shut down social media in the UK...

[lxskllr]

When in doubt, censor!

Dumbass. Someone needs to brush up on Sun Tzu.

[pris]

It was good to see on TV today these thugs getting early morning wake-up calls from the Police and being dragged away in meat trucks to face their punishments. Heard too stories of some sat crying in the dock as they faced the magistrates. No sympathy from me at all. Not so big and hard now are you! Enjoy your time behind bars.

[Frosted]

Cameron is going to shut down social media in the UK...

Where's he said that?
If he's shutting it down during rioting I see no problem with that if it's in order to protect the public which it will help to achieve.
Would anybody prefer a curfew?

[HK11]

I read some stories this morning about the Enfield Defense League, groups of vigilantes patrolling to stop the looters, and it occurred to me that social media is a sort of online "Inception" device.

Plant ideas for rioting and looting in some circles, vigilante protection in others and you have a free race war and no accountability.

Then there is a problem to be solved! Increased internet monitoring and kill switches should help. When there is a real uprising on real issues, the precedent has been set to allow for disabling communications.

[Frosted]

Then there is a problem to be solved! Increased internet monitoring and kill switches should help. When there is a real uprising on real issues, the precedent has been set to allow for disabling communications.

I see no problem with that. All mobile phone signals were turned off immediately after the 7th July bombings.

[Frosted]

Must be new news but you're absoloutely right RobsanX

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-14493497

On second thoughts maybe it's more prudent to keep the social networks open so that intelligence and evidence can be collected and used in prosecution.

[ABW]

I was wondering why they did not do this earlier.. Shut it down and round these scum bags up..Here is the key point...make them pay and pay hard.. I think you have so many punks running around doing this because they know that even if they are caught is just a week in day camp and back on the streets they go..

I really feel for you frosted.. It really sucks...

[HK11]

I see no problem with that. All mobile phone signals were turned off immediately after the 7th July bombings.

I have a serious problem with someone being able to cut communications. What if you wanted to protest about your country's infrastructure being handed over to the IMF to cover your "debts"?

[Frosted]

I have a serious problem with someone being able to cut communications. What if you wanted to protest about your country's infrastructure being handed over to the IMF to cover your "debts"?

I get a strong feeling from past posts on snuson that American citizens cannot trust their government at all (I'm assuming that PP's basement is in the U.S)
I don't feel that the British government is conspiring against me and therefore I give them a certain degree of trust to carry out their duties in protecting me as a citizen when there is a requirement to do so. I have no problem with that.

[devilock76]

What worries me is that this youth bulge is ripe for abuse by the government, specifically for a war. I could see them easily calling these kids to arms against whatever boogeyman they conjure up, and lacking jobs or any future, these kids would gladly go slaughter anyone they sent them after. Look at America, the army is one of the best gigs you can get, they literally throw money at you from every direction. $40,000 sign on bonus, pay off your student loans, another $30,000 for school, free healthcare, damn good pay, training etc. People are willing to sign up and and kill others even during good times for that shit, imagine what people are willing to do in this economic climate.

I truly fear that they will take advantage of this lost generation by starting WWIII. That'll clear the job problem right up! lol.

The US will lose that game though, we've been at war for a decade and are bankrupt. Osama Bin Laden managed to outsmart the military industrial complex in that he understood the teachings of Sun Tzu: It is an acceptable and often times superior strategy to force your enemy to over leverage themselves (read as: bankrupt themselves) in an attempt to exterminate you. They beat the Russians in afghanistan by making them spend a lot of money to accomplish very little and now they have defeated the US using a similar tactic. And our leaders willingly played along because it served their interests as well, but soon the river of money will dry up and then they will have to think of a new (likely worse) strategy.

As sad as it is it is almost a necessary natural cycle. Human's are beyond the apex predators of this planet, we are basically super predators. Now think back to past predators that meet that mark, they exhaust their food supply and resources, become extinct. Nature has to get rid of them if they don't get rid of themselves first. Now look at humans. There is nothing on this planet that we cannot kill if we decide we want to. Nothing. And most of the time it isn't even for food, not directly. At the end of the day without war to keep our numbers down, all that is left is some super disease to get us back in check.

I remember a science teacher of mine talking that if you look at the historical evolution of any virus it is a basic race of two exponential curves. On one side the number of infections as the virus mutates, particularly it's transmission method. The other side is how the host/affected organism mutates to develop the anti-bodies to make the virus not a big deal. Now let us take HIV for an example, what happens if HIV one day mutates to be air born. Theoretically that could happen and that solves our locust like problems.

Ken

[Frosted]

I have a serious problem with someone being able to cut communications. What if you wanted to protest about your country's infrastructure being handed over to the IMF to cover your "debts"?

Apologies HK11 - I've just understood your point about the IMF because it's just been on the news. At this moment I'm referring to the riots in London and I feel that whatever action the government take in this situation will be the correct one. As far as the IMF is concerned, that's a completely different matter that will have to be dealt with when the time comes.