Riots, Reebok and Rousseau!

Fire. If ever there were a destructive element it would be fire. A symbol of chaos and anarchy or as we have seen in the UK this week, a symbol of opportunism and the lowest of our society flicking two grubby fingers at the law. Part of me wanted to cry for all those undeserved individuals whose businesses, lives and faith in humanity was burnt to the ground this week. But, an even bigger part of me just wanted to strip off and run through the streets of Brixton with a massive, “I’m with stupid” painted on, surrounded by arrows pointing at every single trainer-teefin’ moron. Obviously I would have also been carrying a boom box blearing Prodigy, Firestarter just for the irony and to drown out ignorant voices waging war. But what we have seen over the last seven days was not war simply a statement reading, ”you’ve cut our benefits, you’ve taken away our youth clubs, I think some breh in Tottenham got shot, you pretty much don’t give a shit about us. So, we have no respect or care about your authority… SOZ!” Hedonistic and nonsensically at best, these foolish people stormed through our cities destroying everything in their paths for nothing except a need for existence. And we must not forget there are countries worldwide where men and women are currently taking to the streets to fight for their freedom not just a pair of Reeboks!



However, I’m aware that I am sitting on a massive high horse right now. And next to me is every other person who has been blessed enough to live a life beyond necessity. It is easy for us to look down upon these people for the mindless damage they have caused but not so easy to look past it and see what the real reasons were for this premeditated aggression. Mark Duggan’s unfortunate death provided the perfect catalyst for rebellion… And as we sit in our four bedroom houses, with our caring families secure in the comfort of employment, I feel we can easily overlook the discontent of others. I am not excusing this reckless behavior but the fact is the gap between rich and poor is widening, for some unemployment lasts a lifetime and whether you are brave enough to admit it or not, racial discrimination does exist.



As with anything; if you suppress the volatile for long enough, they are bound to explode. And when the flames raged through Reeves Furniture Store in my native Croydon, it was obvious that a lighter and some aerosol may have started the fire but the fuel behind it was something far more terrifying… Morals replaced by Marlboro’s. British philosopher Thomas Hobbes, told us that humanity’s natural condition is a state of perpetual war, constant fear and a lack of morality, it is only authority that controls this. He believed we are an innately violent and cruel race and as we saw, shop after shop, once this side of humanity is unrestrained – monsters run riot. However this cynicism is - well - soul destroying, so instead I take my good friend Rousseau’s view that man is turned into a self obsessed beast by modern society and materialism. It is interesting… these rioters made no attempt to hide the opportunity the riots provided for them, to unjustifiably steal things they cannot afford. But what would be the need to loot if material worth was not so enticing?

The riots were yet another dark moment in history and reminder that there are many people out there whose morals have been compromised by disillusionment. However, the valiant clean up was a beautiful display of compassion and community in the face of fire. I’m not a Godly person or a fan of the apocalypse but let me leave you with this…
Matthew 24:6, “Before the year of destruction, the human race will do the unthinkable and destroy their own community, along with themselves.” Don’t mean to scare you but… uh ooo!

Kirstie Eden
Follow Kirstie: @Edensepiphany

The Arrogance

Follow us: @The_Arrogance

Say Hello: mail@thearrogance.co.uk