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What on earth is so wrong about Laurie Penny's piece ?

>>""A riot," said martin Luther King Jr, "is the language of the
unheard." There are an awful lot of unheard voices in this country. What
differentiates the rioters in Picadilly and Oxford Circus from the rally
attendees in Hyde Park is not the fact that the latter are "real"
protestors and the former merely "anarchists" (still an unthinking
synonym for "hooligans" in the language of the press). The difference is
that many unions and affiliated citizens still hold out hope that if
they behave civilly, this government will do likewise."

What's wrong with that ?

>>"A large number of young people in Britain have become radicalised in
a hurry, and not all of their energies are properly directed, explaining
in part the confusion on the streets yesterday. Among their number,
however, are many principled, determined and peaceful groups working to
affect change and build resistance in any way they can."

What's wrong with that ?

>> "One of these groups is UK Uncut. I return to Fortnum's in time to
see dozens of key members of the group herded in front of the store and
let out one by one, to be photographed, handcuffed and arrested."

What's wrong with that ?

>>"UK Uncut has embarrassed both the government and the police with its
gentle, inclusive, imaginative direct action days over the past six
months. As its members are manhandled onto police coaches, waiting
patiently to be taken to jail whilst career troublemakers run free and
unarrested in the streets outside, one has to ask oneself why."

What's wrong with that ?

>>"‘'These young people are right to be angry. I don't think people are
angry enough, actually, given that the National Health Service is being
destroyed before our eyes," says Barry, 61, a retired social worker."

What's wrong with that ?

>>"That's a tough question in a country where almost every form of
political dissent apart from shuffling in an orderly queue from one
march point to the other is now a crime."

What's wrong with that ?

>>""I don't have a problem with people smashing up banks, I think that's
fine, given that the banks have done so much damage to the country,"
says Barry, getting into his stride. "Violence against real people -
that's wrong.""

What's wrong with that ?

>>"The young people being battered in Trafalgar square, however, are
neither mindless nor violent. In front of the lines, a teenage girl is
crying and shaking after being shoved to the ground. "I'm not moving,
I'm not moving," she mutters, her face smeared with tears and makeup.
"I've been on every protest, I won't let this government destroy our
future without a fight. I won't stand back, I'm not moving." A police
officer charges, smacking her with his baton as she flings up her
hands."

What's wrong with that ?

Actually, all this sounds TAME in comparison with what happened in
France in October. We had workers blocking major highways and railroads,
launching fireworks at the police, overturning police vehicules, cutting
off power supply to paramilitary units, ...
And this small protest by the UK youth is deemed an infantile
ultraleft/anarchist disorder ?
So what DO you want ? NO expression of popular discontent as this could
frighten the middle classes ? Vote Labour at the next elections in three
years time ?
And do you think UK workers are not FED UP with the austerity budget ?
Do you think they are not actually looking towards France and Greece for
inspiration ? Do you think British students can not FEEL this trend, and
act accordingly ?

Are we eternally to bemoan the fact that those who are in their teens
and twentys in 2011 are not well-versed in Marx ?


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