The England Riots and Social Breakdown

[Valin]

The Weekly Standard:

DINA GOLD
8/15/11

Last week there were four nights of rioting in London and other English towns and cities. I was shocked, but not surprised. The sense of incipient violence and a breakdown of society were high on my list of reasons why I left London and immigrated to the United States three years ago.

(Snip)

When I was visiting her earlier this summer, my mother acknowledged that Ealing, once described as "the queen of the suburbs," had changed over the years, and not for the better. But she refused to lay blame. As someone who had come to Britain in 1936 as a refugee from Nazi Germany, she remained fiercely patriotic and deeply grateful to the country that had given her sanctuary.

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I had discovered that our daughter was travelling an extra two stops on the Tube, London's underground railway, and then a bus, so that she could avoid the more direct route because she feared being mugged.

Her two teenage brothers had each been mugged, several times, by groups of boys. On one occasion this happened right outside the local tube station. What was horrific was that adult men walked past, on their way home from work. None of them intervened, though a gang of youths had pinned my son against a wall and were rifling through his jacket and backpack, and it was obvious what was happening. Cowardice is the order of the day.

(Snip)

[Argyle58]

I truly is amazing to me. As individuals, Brits are the most polite and genteel of people. Conversely, any gathering of 10 or more has the potential of turning into a mob.