THE YOUTH RAGE IN THE STREETS OF LONDON

Croydon, London

Last night, through the BBC site, I wat-ched parts of London burning. A peace-ful protest in Tottenham on Saturday became violent, and the violence spread to other parts of London and even other cities. Masked groups of young people moved around destroying, burning and looting. A lot of people have lost their homes, business and livelihoods. They were attacking and destroying their own communities.

Nothing can justify the violence and the destruction that affected the lives of so many people. But we should ask ourselves why? Why so much violence? Why all this rage? Is it a cry of revolt? Is it a protest and a rejection of the society we live in? Or is it just crime? Arson and looting are more a crime than a protest.

We must make an effort to understand, and there are so many factors that may contribute to what we see in the streets of London.

·      Several times, an appeal was broadcast to the parents. They must know where their children are. We live in a society where the parental authority has been eroded. It is a permissive society, in which the children can do whatever they want. The parents are not willing or able to set rules of behaviour for their children and then they cannot enforce them. They must ask themselves: are we good role models to our children? How do we bring them up? Freedom goes together with responsibility.

·      A lot of young people have nothing to do; they are jobless, and without much hope for the near future. However, they have needs, and they would like to possess the latest electronic gadgets and to enjoy life. If the quality of life is measured by the pleasure that you get and by the goods that you possess, then if you cannot afford them, you grab them. Most of the people in the Western societies have been living beyond their means, on borrowed money that they cannot pay back.

·      We must question ourselves about the type of development we have been pursuing. Technological development is not the same as human development. Looking for higher and higher profits, without consideration for people creates and it will create ever-bigger groups of marginalised people, who have nothing to loose and who will not allow others to have what they cannot have. Big finance is ruling the world, and the big finance is ruled by the markets, which means greed. Greed is the ruler and it is the big cause of the present financial crisis.

·      Many times, it seems that our society has decided to destroy all traditional values, as if they would be false, just because they are traditional. We speak so much about personal rights and so little about responsibility and the respect for others rights. We have created an individualistic society with little concern for the family and the community. And responsibility goes together with participation and sharing.

·      To this hopeless society, we need to bring the light and the Good News of Jesus Christ.