The London bombings: Why did it happen here?

[IndianaGreen]

The London bombings: Why did it happen here?
By Chris Marsden
15 July 2005

The four alleged bombers may not all be from the most impoverished layers, but in their social being they reflect conditions affecting broad sections of the working population that have developed in Britain over the past decade-and-a-half. They live in a part of the country, Yorkshire, that has been devastated by the mass closure of mines, textile mills and factories. A small number may have prospered, but most new jobs that have been created offer only low-wage employment in the service sector.

Beeston is an example to the type of urban deprivation that has been created. A July 2004 report by Leeds City Council states that Beeston has “failed to benefit from the growth in the economy of the city, leaving wide gaps between the ‘have’ and ‘have nots’.”

Immigrant communities make up only 22 percent of the population. Most residents are poor whites struggling to make a living. Unemployment stands at nearly eight percent, and only a third of the total population are in full-time employment. Nearly one in six residents suffers from long-term illness. Two-thirds of residents rent rather than own their homes.

This social polarisation has been accompanied by the growth of all manner of social and intellectual backwardness, of which the growing influence of religion and its most apocalyptic variants, in particular, is one manifestation.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/jul2005/lond-j15.shtml

[heidler1]

1. We're sitting on a powder keg of our own making and refuse to see that

the British suicide bombers are only a symptom of the problem. If we insist that the bombing is the problem it will only delay facing the reality that the Ayn Rand/Thatcher/Reagan/Bush system of governance leads to riots, suicide bombers and or revolt.

[Demeter]

2. I Wish OUR Unemployment Was Only 8%

Sigh. Maybe moving to England wouldn't be so bad, once Tony is put down like the old dog he is.