X Factor culture fuelled the UK riots, says Iain Duncan Smith (UK labour sec'y)

[alp227]

Source: The Guardian

A "get rich quick" celebrity culture exemplified by The X Factor and the dysfunctional lives of footballers has created a society "out of balance", the work and pensions secretary, Iain Duncan Smith, says today in an interview surveying Britain after the summer riots.

Duncan Smith, who as chair of the social justice cabinet committee is one of the key figures shaping a coalition response to the riots, warned there was "every chance" riots would recur unless structural reforms were made to repair "communities in which so many families are broken".

He is due to call next week for major investment from the private sector to help prevent social breakdown. He will argue that public-private spending can reduce social failure.

In an interview with the Guardian, Duncan Smith welcomed this newspaper's research into the disturbances, carried out jointly with the London School of Economics, and argued that some of the looting and robbery was fuelled by an acquisitive consumer culture. "If you look at the footballers, you look at our celebrity culture, we seem to be saying, 'This is the way you want to be'. We seem to be a society that celebrates all the wrong people," he said.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/dec/09/x-factor-culture-fuelled-riots

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The X Factor, a British singing competition show, now has an American version that premiered in the US on Fox this year.

[msongs]

1. Evidently Mr. Duncan Smith cannot sing or dance lol. BTW the UK X factor is much more

entertaining than the US version. Those brits are not afraid to talk back to the "judges"

[scentopine]

2. Bullshit. It's the unrestrained greed and corruption of the ruling class...

corporations run by corrupt CEOs are allowed to rape and pillage ordinary people and the government turns a blind eye and interferes with justice.

For christ's sake - they hacked into murder victims cell phones!!!!

He is right about one thing, there will be more riots as long as the rich escape justice and income disparity continues.

[dipsydoodle]

8. The issues you've mentioned

are unassociated from the August riots.

[scentopine]

9. Yes it did - bad economy, right wing politics, exessive force

people are fed up with poverty and institutional racism. Police corruption, government protection of the wealthy.

It all came to a head. People are angry. Rightly so. The example of police conspiring with newspaper to hack the phones of murder victims is just one indisputable piece of evidence of how sick the culture has become.

By the way, here in US we are not that far away from the same conditions and same anger.

[dipsydoodle]

10. If you had at least had the sense to check

to enable your brain to be in gear before opening your mouth you'd have found that the incident with Prince Charles car occurred during the evening of the student protests against university fees. It happened 9th December 2010 - not August 2011.

[scentopine]

11. wtf?...here is what this article is referring to. I read it all. Again.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/series/reading-the-riots

If your point is that the students were a precursor and warning about the seriousness of discontent, you have completely failed to articulate this.

[dipsydoodle]

12. Yes, apologies,I'd confused your reply

with what started at reply #3 - the drivel about the Royal car window which was actually this time last year with the university fees protest and nothing whatsoever to do with the August 2011 riots.

Don't change the fact I don't agree with your reply #2 onward either. That rioting was sheer opportunistic looting which started between Tottenham and Wood Green with attendance by police only trained in crowd control - mainly for when the Gooners or the Headhunters are away against the Yid Army. Soon as word spread that the police didn't contain that situation the looting spread. The police have not since made that mistake as was demonstrated last week when Occupy England's Churches broke into some offices in Piccadilly last week and a territorial support unit was on the spot in minutes.

For the other deterrent see here : http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x2457892

[scentopine]

14. Rage at injustice is at the root of this. Opportunities stolen by corporate greed...

put people to work for decent wage and fair benefits and the probability of riot goes to zero.

Send jobs to India and China, while sending tax money to banks and crooked CEOs, while scolding young people for being lazy just pours gas on the fire.

People are learning to live with less but they have a breaking point where rage boils over.

Police better learn to keep it holstered or there will be more of this. Word on the street is that cops in England are even more crooked and racist than US.

Perfect ingredients for a riot when the economy is in the shitter by the very people calling young people lazy and worthless.

No one should believe this is a spontaneous event. I predict things are going to get worse before they get better. The simmering rage and resentment is still there.

[Shoe Horn]

3. God save the Queeeen!

Weren't the journos falling all over themselves when her window got cracked?
Meanwhile, thousands and thousands of people have their livelihoods and future
education 'shelved' and no one says doodley doo.

[Boudica the Lyoness]

5. What the hell are you on about?

Queen...window cracked?

[Shoe Horn]

6. Opps, sorry, I don't have the entire royal family memorized just yet...

...still working on it.

Also, am I supposed to curtsy when I speak about the honorable Queen Mother Poo Bah?
And look back on colonialism (that she represents) with a fond, wry smile?

:rofl: :spray: :patriot:

[dipsydoodle]

7. am I supposed to ?

Not really. It would however help if you managed to the grasp the actual subject in a post which in this case was the August riots - the ones which followed the shooting in Tottenham.

The issue to which you referred was the tail end of student protests earlier in the year.

[Boudica the Lyoness]

13. British people have healthcare

no matter where they work or their financial status...you don't...you lost hahahhahahahhahahahhahaha now bugger off!

[Tunkamerica]

4. That show def. makes me want to smash some stuff