It's very difficult to know what to say.

[commodorified]

Sometime in late Sept 2001 a dear friend who then lived in Battery Park City said to me that a city was ... I don't remember her exact words, and mine will be worse, less real, more theoretical.

But, roughly, that a city was the visible sign and symbol of the best of civilisation, a living breathing thing, a sign of our ability to get past our natural fears and suspicions and agree to live and work together, and that to hurt a city was to hurt all of that.

I believe this. I have never had survivalist tendencies, nor any interest in outliving my society. I have always said that when the End comes, if it does, I intend to die in downtown Ottawa, handing out water bottles and bandaids and whatever else we collectively still have to help each other with.

That said, this is not an "oh those dirty rioters" post. I am a pacifist. I am committed, knowing how improbable this sounds, to ending violence and the causes of violence.

In one NBC report, a young man in Tottenham was asked if rioting really achieved anything:

"Yes," said the young man. "You wouldn't be talking to me now if we didn't riot, would you?"

"Two months ago we marched to Scotland Yard, more than 2,000 of us, all blacks, and it was peaceful and calm and you know what? Not a word in the press. Last night a bit of rioting and looting and look around you."

Telling people to work within the system isn't bad, as such. Telling people to work within the system while you are implacably thrusting them and their concerns OUT of said system, dividing forms of political action into a) those useful only to those who already have considerable power b) those which will be ignored c) those which will be criminalised ...

Democracy, friends. What did they THINK it was made out of?

Comments

[commodorified]

I'm glad that I managed to say A Right Thing.

And I'd actually just been reading that when I posted. It was enlightening, scary and funny all at once.

Rumor, painted full of tongues, says Manchester is intermittently tricky now as well. I don't need to tell any of you sensible people to take care or how to handle yourself, but I am thinking about you, and all the Bats and their friends-and-relations and several iterations out from there.

[legionseagle]

Well, we're between the Manchester centre of disturbance and the Salford centre of disturbance and I could see smoke from my bedroom window last night (might have been the Renault dealership, but no-one says that's been touched) but touch wood it doesn't seem too bad at present and it is, thank God, now raining, which always helps.

I saw someone throwing a brick last night, and it looks like the Tesco Express nearest our office has been looted and various places in the City Centre, but we won't get much of an estimate as to damage until we drive in this morning (and hopefully get a chance to fill up - they'd premeptively shut all the petrol stations last night and we're into reserve fuel level).

But, to be honest, the closest I've come to violence is when I see yet another USAian opining that clearly the answer is for the UK Government "to grow a pair" and "send in the Army." Like that worked so excellently well in Ulster. In fact, it's been quite a refreshing change that whatever else was wrong about these riots, at least no-one was yelling "Troops Out!" during them

[commodorified]

the closest I've come to violence is when I see yet another USAian opining that clearly the answer is for the UK Government "to grow a pair" and "send in the Army."

OI. I've managed not to see that.

Given that I caught myself trying this morning to work out the odds that this was going to go on long enough to overlap the anniversary of Peterloo, NEVERMIND the other thousand reasons, I cannot blame you in the slightest.

I am lost in admiration of the impromptu clean-up squads, I tell you what.

[legionseagle]

I know, I've emailed a friend who's with the Peterloo memorial campaign (it took God knows how many years of campaigning to get the "M" word on the plaque) to see what they're doing and to see if I can turn up. It's on my mother's birthday (that is, my mother was born on the 101st anniversary of Peterloo, which figures) so previous years I've usually been doing something.

Obviously, I'm avoiding the Bujold list - I really don't think guns would have improved last night's events.