Riots in the UK are to my mind, in part, a symptom of global changes. Last Thursday's Guardian had an interesting article written prior to the rioting much of which I think has relevance to what has happened since:
"we are living through something epochal ... part of a more general social and economic crisis sparked by the financial crisis ...
Every semi-stable form of capitalism also needs some sort of settlement with the wider population, or at least a decisive section of it. While the postwar Keynesian settlement contained an explicit deal linking rising real wages to rising productivity, neoliberalism contained an implicit deal based on access to cheap credit. While real wages have stagnated since the late 1970s, the mechanisms of debt have maintained most people's living standards. An additional part of neoliberalism's tacit deal was the abandonment of any pretence to democratic, collective control over the conditions of life: politics has been reduced to technocratic rule. Instead, individuals accepted the promise that, through hard work, shrewd educational and other "life" choices, and a little luck, they – or their children – would reap the benefits of economic growth.
The financial crisis shattered the central component of this deal: access to cheap credit. Living standards can no longer be supported and, for the first time in a century, there is widespread fear that children will lead poorer lives than their parents. With the deal broken, parochial ruling arrangements in the UK have started to lose coherence."
This breakdown in parochial ruling arrangements has sown itself in a series of scandals; most recently Hackgate:
"Hackgate cannot be treated in isolation. Since the financial "meltdown" of 2007-08 we have witnessed similar scenes, and similar outrage, around MPs' expenses and bankers' bonuses. We have witnessed not one but two media feeding frenzies around the repression of protest. The first followed the police attack on the G20 protests in 2009 and the death of Ian Tomlinson, with the second erupting around the outing of undercover police officer Mark Kennedy, leading to the unprecedented unmasking of another five undercover police officers acting within the environmental and anti-capitalist movements. The refusal of the Metropolitan police to investigate the full extent of phone hacking is, then, the third scandal revealing the political character of contemporary policing."
These scandals are therefore part of a more general social and economic crisis sparked by the financial crisis. What we have then is a significant crisis of confidence in our 'authorities' combined with an awareness that the era of cheap credit which has meant that we could have what we wanted when we wanted. One response to this situation is what we are seeing on our streets; to take what we want while we can because the 'authorities' are compromised.
"The response from politicians, bankers and business leaders is more of the same – more of the same neoliberal policies that got us into this situation in the first place ...
Unless there is a dramatic recomposition of society, we face the prospect of decades of drift as the crises we face – economic, social, environmental – remain unresolved."
Some prophetic words from Sam Norton, written five years ago in a post on Prophecy and Peak Oil, are apposite at this point:
"We live within a Pharaonic system of oil based consumerism, and we are taught
that it cannot be challenged, for to do so is to threaten the prosperity on
which we all depend. It seems to me that the task of the Christian in this
situation is to renew our prophetic imagination and to speak words of praise and
hope which enable the development of a community which reflects the freedom of a
loving God.
Specifically, I think we must:
i) identify the Royal
Consciousness in all its aspects, not just Peak Oil, although that will
inevitably be central;
ii) articulate the pain of the marginalised and
oppressed who have no present voice or witness;
iii) challenge the claims to
power made on behalf of the Royal Consciousness, with a view to demonstrating
their emptiness;
iv) labour with confident expectation towards the
dismantling of the present structures;
v) develop new communities which break
away from obeisance to the Royal Consciousness, and which offer the opportunity
of free life in the image of the free God;
vi) articulate a vision of hope, a
promised land, on the other side of Peak Oil, which will sustain us through the
transition period in the wilderness; and
vii) trust in God."
In light of recent events FaithAction has connected with a number of partner
organisations to provide support to members and to give a reaction to events.
they have been working with the Race and Equality Foundation to provide a
facebook page (www.facebook.com/pages/Communities-against-violence/247922231904668) intended to give BME groups and faith
groups a space to join together in response to current events in London and
other UK Cities.
Althought the main news headlines
are focused on the destruction. Many communities have come together in 'Riot
clean-up' groups. Many Faith Groups were already active with constructive
responses yesterday and this has continued today. Some community leaders have been encouraging parents to keep young people
close to hand to avoid them being drawn into negative activities and instead
families to work together on the clean up.
While a small initiative, it provides an opportunity to keep others posted on how organisations/communities are responding
to this situation and could potentially help in developing new communities which break away from obeisance to the Royal Consciousness, and which offer the opportunity of free life in the image of the free God.
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The Clash - London's Burning.
2 comments:
:)
Nice to be reminded that I once talked sense...
Not once, at least twice, and regularly across four blogs - quite an achievement!
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