Moral society

Things are quietening down on the riot front, some interesting thoughts are emerging from the various commentators.

Chavs are adopting black culture.  Odd that nobody seems worried about the derogatory term chav being used to describe the white skinned individuals involve.  It does seem that the'benefits' of a multicultural society don't always work positively - here it seems the worst aspects of the various cultures present in London are predominating.

The state prevents me disciplining my children.  I've seen interviews with parents who claim they have been charged with assault when trying physically to prevent their children going out with gangs.  Kids rights overrule their responsibilities, and the ability of either parents or police to make them kids stick to responsible behaviour.

I'm not responsible for my childrens behaviour.  Simultaneously with parents claiming they're being prevented from applying discipline, there are other parents (the ones under threat of eviction) who claim their older children are simply not their responsibility.  At what point is a child a fully independent individual?

It's taken me by surprise the swell of opinion in approval that rioter and their immediate families should lose their 'rights' provided by the community they're destroying.  I thought I was running against the flow thinking that anyone who criminally rebels against out social order should not benefit from it.  It seems obvious to me (and many others apparently) that if you wilfully destroy the communities resources, or wilfully refuse to contribute, you shouldn't expect to be supported by that community.

The Police seem in disarray.  The British system is policing by consent, i.e. the police are working with the community rather than as an authoritarian force compelling obedience to the law.  I do think this model is now failing - not because of the riots but because too many of the public fail to obey traffic laws, litter laws.  B****y cyclists.  It's not the offences themselves but the attitude of the offenders that they have a 'right' to break the law without punishment that makes the policing by consent model unworkable.

Political will to protect the law abiding public has been pretty much absent for maybe twenty years prior to these riots.  Suddenly the courts are in action 24 hours a day and heavy punishments are being handed out.  Bet that has come as a surprise to many of the looters.  It'll be interesting to see if the momentum keeps this going, or if the heavier punishments will be quietly watered down.

Cameron has used the phrase 'slow moral collapse'.  The guidance of the various religions has certainly been lacking and declining over the last couple of generations, to the point where the CofE is seen by many (most?) people as an irrelevance.  Our government is secular, moral guidance is supposed to come from the nations primary religion, but in my opinion the church leaders are spectacularly failing in this function.

You can't go back in time.  The faiths and beliefs that held society together in the past are questioned by science and materialist society.  It seems to me that is individuals don't perceive themselves as part of a larger whole, or under the control of some omniscient force, there is little to prevent them acting purely in their own selfish interest without regard to others (or their own long term good).

People content to live on benefits need the occasional reminder that they're not contributing to the pot they're drawing from.

The super earners content to demand ever higher amounts of money need to consider if they're really worth that amount.  They may (or may not) be contributing large amounts to wealth creation, but they're certainly alienating the rest of us.

Politicians, and public servants (police included) need to remember they're there to SERVE us - us being every single member of the population; not dictate to us and/or treat us as idiots.  Cuts are obviously needed to balance the books, but how about cutting out the politically motivated quangos, initiatives and minority interest grants and get back to basic needs.