Have we become too tolerant in the name of tolerance? Have we become too politically correct to demand orderly conduct from the electorate? Have we gone too far out of our way to make everyone feel warm and fuzzy to the point at which we can no longer enforce our way of life and our laws in our civilization? I would submit to you that that is the case in a good number of countries in the industrialized world, including here the United States.
I would like to use the example of the protests, riots, and looting that went on in London in August of 2011.
Things got so out of hand that the police lost control of the city, and other cities as well.
The media blasted all over the television that there were riots and protests going on, and others felt it their duty to march in protest for supposedly; reasons of inequality.
Yes, after the 2008 global financial crisis the UK along with many other nations throughout Europe went into deep austerity measures to reduce their government's budget, debt load, and find a way to live within their means.
That is to say to not spend more than they were able to take in from taxation.
Like any population, having to cut back and watching jobs disappear didn't sit too well with Londoners.
And the gaps between the rich and poor obviously grew as those in the middle class were pushed down, and those in the lower class pushed down and out on the street so to speak.
There were two very interesting articles in the Wall Street Journal on August 16, 2011 on this topic.
One was a very interesting editorial by Joyce Lee Malcolm which was titled; "The Soft on Crime Roots of British Disorder," which stated; "in a civilized society people would be able to defend themselves with guns, not baseball bats.
" Since the police were overrun, and unable to control the mob, they told the citizens to back off, and allow the hooligans, and looters to do whatever they may, and to stand back so they would not get hurt.
In essence telling looters they had free run of the city, to do what they may.
In this case citizens were unable, or not allowed to defend themselves or their property from the mass mobs of criminality.
The second article was titled "UK Leader Blames Riots on Moral Collapse," by Alistair MacDonald.
Apparently, the UK government blames social networks, flash mobs incited by social media, and the advent of these personal technologies allowing large groups of people to amass very quickly and overrun the police.
Yes, that is part of the problem surely, but it denies the underlining failures of the government to fix the economic situations, and proves they were ill-prepared for the onslaught of looting, riots, and firebombing with Molotov cocktails.
Indeed I hope you will please consider all this and think on it.