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Originally Posted by martyh
the little money that the dole gives them will only account for a small part of their income .Those who are career claimants don't just get dole ,they live mainly on the proceeds from crime eg drugs ,robbery ect so stopping their dole won't make that much difference to them financialy .Also quite a few don't even bother claiming because they earn enough from their criminal activities to not have to ,instead they shack up with some bird who gets housing benefit so they have somewhere to live for free and stay off the benefits radar so not having the inconvenience of having to look for work to keep benefits.
Stopping the rioters benefits will make the honest tax payer feel a lot better but won't make that much difference to the career claimant/criminal
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I don't think all, or even most, of the looters were career criminals. They acted with criminal intent, they have committed a crime, and they are indeed now 'criminals' but in a lot of cases I think they were simply opportunistic and stupid. A career criminal would undoubtedly act with more careful and measured intent, concealing their faces, their tracks, and ensures the more violent element bore the blunt of attention.
MPs won't revoke benefits for those found guilty. It's too drastic and if the violent scenes of the last week had it's seeds in the poverty and social exclusion found in deprived areas then increasing that divide isn't going to make matters better.
None of which excuses the criminals. They didn't want to make a political point about not having much of a future or stake in society, they didn't want to make a point about poverty, or a mutual lack of respect between 'them' and the rest of society. They just wanted to steal and burn. They alone are responsible for their actions.
However we must address the root causes in order to stop future generations falling into the same situation. As well as dealing with those that fall foul of these crimes facing suitable punishments.
---------- Post added at 08:31 ---------- Previous post was at 08:29 ----------
Quote:
Originally Posted by danielf
Secondly, I'm still wondering what the background of these people is. I have absolutely no time for the mindless thugs that are simply in it for the money and kicks. However, I also wonder about the extent to which there is genuine resentment that breeds this kind of behaviour. Watching Question Time, someone asked: why does this stuff never happen in Norway or Sweden? And the answer that was given was: because it's a more egalitarian society. Having grown up in Holland, I think there's a lot of truth in that. There are a number of deprived areas in Holland, but they are nothing like the sink estates we have here. I'd be very surprised to see this type of thing kick off in the likes of Sweden, Norway, Holland or Germany. They're more egalitarian societies, where you don't get the levels of deprivation that you get in the UK.
That's not to say that deprivation is an excuse. Just saying that deprivation is likely to be a catalyst. If you make people live in ghettos, people will revolt.
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Completely agree. Again, never to excuse their behaviour. It was neither an excuse or even their motivation. Instead it's a possible cause into how these people came to be like this, what corrupted them to the point they became a feral criminal mob.