The Chant of Savant

Wednesday 17 August 2011

Is Britain cascading into third “worldness”?


What recently transpired in the UK, unearthed a hidden malady of racism and hypocrisy. We used to believe that the UK is an ideal society that promotes and protects human rights, prosperity and equality. We goofed. UK we used to superficially know is different from the real and true one. Had this happened in Africa, it would be highly touted as revolution and thirsity for human rights. Riots resulting from police shooting, poverty, racism, unemployment, even corruption are mainly experienced in third world countries, which Britain is not.

Indeed, what transpired in Britain recently, especially in the capital city, London, speaks volume. Unrest first flared on Saturday after a peaceful protest in Tottenham over the fatal shooting of a civilian by police.

The Brits and other so-called civilized and developed countries used to cheat us that everything is spiffy. Who knew that racism and inequality are still rife in the UK? Unfairly enough, UK is among countries whose journalists go to third world countries and take nasty photos to show the world how the third world, especially Africa, are still living in pre-adamic era, little knowing that they are living in the same manner and time. If anything, what happened in UK, just like what happened in the US during Katrina mayhem, has opened the eyes of many people in the third world countries.

Tottehnham, the black spot of poverty, was the core and trigger of this entire imbroglio. All this, despite the police shooting dead a civilian, resulted from pent-up anger against the government that has always ignored inequality among the citizens. Areas occupied by poor people, understandably, are not taken care of. There is no policing in their areas compared to affluent ones. This is why rioters went on a rampage.

Poverty and unemployment are swelling as the authorities slash social benefits under the pretext of having no money. People do not subscribe to this. They query, how can government say it does not have enough money, whereby the monarch just recently extravagated millions on nuptial party of the grandson of the queen? What if this money would have been chanelled to the needy in lieu of making meriments?

Questions are many more than answers. How the authorites are able to feed the whole nation of queen’s clan they take care of at the tune of millions by just bilking money out of treasurer? Is Britain cascading into third worldeness it created? Currently the economy of Britain is on the standstill. Unemployment is rife, not to mention social and cultural rot resulting from decay of the whole system governing Britain.

When unrest broke out in London, before spreading to other regions, police termed it as just mere criminality. Looking at the core of this unrest, one finds that it’s nothing but inequality and uneven distribution of wealth. If what police termed as criminality, indeed the criminal is more a state than the citizenry. Police and politicians pleased themselves for the while before things got out of control. They thought the riots would be contained in the poor areas. When the riots broke up in Camden where the rich live, police found themselves with nothing to do.

If you mention Islington, Hackney, Croydon, Clapham Junction, Peckham, Lewisham, Stratford and Ealing, you mean poor communities by European standards.

Though Britain is regarded as the mother of democracy, looking at how things are unfolding, the citizenry is now tired of monarch and the way it exploits them, not to mention a do-nothing government that has always turned a blind eye on racism. The monarch is stinking to the core. It is getting older and older by days so as to force the citizenry to start the beginning of the end of it.

Those who are aware of the difference between who haves and who have nots noticed that London has been under fire for long save that the fire that was burning it was anger but not real fire. Now that the anger of the poor has exploded, should we expect to see the more flames? Politicians on behalf of the monarch need to put their acts together. True, what is going on can be contained. But again, the cracks on the monarchy are now visible and tangible.

Looking at much force employed by the government, African dictators are laughing the all way home. For this gives them a pretext of butchering their people who will think taking to the street to demand they be kicked out. In Uganda Yoweri Museveni, as well as Paul Kagame in Rwanda, they are laughing heartedly.

The difference between police and the way they sometimes act in Africa and Britain, is the fact that not all police are motivated to take on rioters-cum-looters as we all evidenced in London. This was evidenced when people looted whatever they put hand on as police witnessed. Nick Davidson said: “We’ve had enough of police just standing there while people are looting and ruining the whole area. Everybody here pays taxes and has had enough of it. We’re sickened by police doing absolutely doing nothing.”

Importantly, it must be noted. When demonstrators in Egypt used social media to bring down their long time strong man, the west was laughing and chestbeating that this is the tool that will emancipate third world. Unfortunately for them they were not aware that the same can be used against them. Riots in Britain is said to have succeeded due to the use of social network as it was in Egypt.

Again, being sacred lamb, Britain is no longer saying that social media is the tool of emancipation. Instead politicians and police were calling the new wave of protest thuggary and criminality. If it were in Africa, it would be referred to as revolution. What double standard under the sun!
Is UK cascading into third worldness it created? Time will surely tell.

Source: African Spear Toronto.

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