I've spent the last two days knee-deep in the coverage of the London riots. I've read lots of explanations as to why the kids are revolting. Below, is the one I find the most convincing. It's from author Clive Bloom at The Financial Times:
"the spread of riots ... is exclusively a function of economics, not racial tension. These are events devoid of political intent: they have little in common with the student violence earlier this year, except their use of social media as an organisational tool – although this time by the disenfranchised poor, rather than the educated, politically aware white elite. These are riots marked out by the looting of Foot Locker and Nando’s – the shopping places of Britain’s new underclass. Those who have grown in a world where social identity comes from consumption find themselves barred in times of economic hardship, except by theft."
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