Winter of Discontentment

The winter of discontentment seems to descend upon the human race again. While the winter of 78/79 saw strikes brought about by the British government's pay freeze policy to curtail inflation, the very, very cold winter brought misery to many. Looking back now, a 5% pay raise was also very normal where I worked back then. Why couldn't the orang putih get by with that too? Looking back too workers have been used to such inflationary pay rises up to 18% to 25% and even 40%, I would have been very rich then by that standard! Were we in the former colony, managing our economy better?

Austerity measures purportedly took their toll again recently flaring up in anti-establishment demonstrations, riots, lootings, arsons and even murders. Death of a 29 year old while in the custody of the police was duped as the straw that broke the camel's back. Deprivation and prospects of further deprivations seems to drive people into conflagrations. Senseless as it may seem, that seems to be a popular reasoning by many. But then many of those involved were youths not likely to have been so affected by the rule of the day. Could the economic link then be simply spurious?

According to work on US race riots by the economist Ed Glaeser, for example, ethnic heterogeneity in a neighbourhood increases the probability of unrest. So does unemployment. Poverty, on the other hand, seems to play a smaller role. All in all social unrests have many divergent causes some of which can be deeply rooted feelings bottled up since time in memorial.

Could it also be the miscarriage of a basic tenant of democracy itself?

"Everyone has the right to assemble and to protest government actions. However, citizens have an obligation to exercise these rights peacefully, with respect for the law and for the rights of others."

My question is does the assembly and protest have to be on the streets? If I need to go down that street why should I be devoid of that right just because some people have jammed up the place recording their protest?

I recall the day before Manchester United came to the borough to play Leyton Orient FC. in 1974. Yes, MU did play second division football back then! Here is an image of the Brisbane Road stadium in Leyton.

Dropping by at my local Asian butcher I noticed the guy getting ready to man his "fort". He gave me an idea of what could be expected. I just shrugged it off but at the back of my mind I was much aware of the reputation of MU fans. As the evening fell more MU fans arrived and they layed their sleeping bags on the pavement.

As I passed the street next morning to watch the game, I saw dustbins and their contents in disarray. One shoe shop had been looted and there were shoes on the pavement. Heck, I thought! Well, I did get tickets but they were for standing room only. My friends and I watched the game for a while.....

My point is, bad behaviour in society has always been there. Call it herd or mob mentality that drives people in a group to behave in similar manner. Herd mentality implies a fear-based reaction to peer pressure which makes individuals act in order to avoid feeling “left behind” from the group. Most of all they believe they may hide behind the numbers and remain anonymous.

What sparked the recent unrest was the shooting of a 29-year-old man, Mark Duggan, in Tottenham by the Metropolitan Police's Operation Trident team. The police's handling of the aftermath of that incident looks to have been poor. Mr Duggan's family apparently had to wait 36 hours to see his body. And when members of the community staged a vigil outside Tottenham police station to demand answers about the circumstances of the shooting, officers seem to have failed to communicate with them. There appears to be a context of mistrust of the authority (police) here.
People can be easily worked up by such stuff and the mob may be instantly reborn. Shops of high end products were understandably the main targets. Still, I cannot help thinking there were simply thugs just waiting for the clarion call.