you cannot provide any justifiable ‘reason’ for their behaviour aside from them being ‘thieving little ********’ , which is in my opinion is entirely the case.
I may agree if we're talking about two or three guys. But here's a bigger thing at hand. No terrible personal situation justifies what's going on. The psychologist Phil Zimbardo (who was responsible for the terrible prison experiment in the 70s) explains how situations makes the devil alive in almost all of us. To call those people ‘thieving little ********’ makes it a little too easy. By calling them names it's easier to distance ourselves from them, when in fact the situations have their own momentum. (As I said, this is not an excuse for anything.)
By the way, only a minority of those '********' is younger than 21.
Thanks for the link, it was an interesting watch but I don't think it contributed to the crux of the discussion much.
It may be a little dismissive to call them 'thieving little bastards', as I'v said there are many factors which have contributed to the despicable attitude these looters are showing, but they do not deserve to be considered in relation to these actions.
I consider myself to be quite left wing, but a 'bleeding-hearts liberal' approach to this situation is entirely the wrong way to go. Searching for excuses on their behalf is quite ridiculous, there are people who are in just as bad a situation as some of the looters but have not gone out there ruining their own communities. When does personal responsibility come into it?
I keep hearing 'theres no justification for their actions but...' or ' I'm not defending them but...' and its quite infuriating. Its known that the rioters are disenchanted, but the fact is that there are no justifiable reasons for acting like a bunch of yobs and endangering your own community. Picking out social injustices that they may suffer is the point of a different, though extremely valid, discussion.
Also, the majority of the looters were under 21. What are your sources which made you think otherwise?
