British Students Riot in London Over Tuition Fee Rises

[cowcommander]

Source: AOL

LONDON (Nov. 10) -- A huge protest against the British government's plan to triple university tuition fees descended into violence today after hundreds of angry demonstrators smashed their way into the London headquarters of Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative Party.

An estimated 50,000 students, lecturers and supporters took in part in the demonstration against the ruling coalition's policy of charging students up to $14,500 a year for their education from 2012.

That might seem like a relatively small bill when compared with the cost of an American college degree, but it's a massive and unexpected hike for ordinary Brits, who currently pay just $5,300 in annual fees. As the government also intends to slash funding of university teaching budgets by up to 40 percent, most of that extra money will be used to plug the gap left by the withdrawal of state funds. That means students will be paying more from their own pocket, but won't see a corresponding rise in the quality of their education


Read more: http://www.aolnews.com/world/article/students-riot-in-london-over-tuition-fee-rises/19710751

[dkf]

1. It seems the anarchists are the ones inciting violence.

"I am against the cuts. I am against the Tories," one unnamed masked anarchist, who had just thrown a glass at a riot police officer, told the Financial Times. "But I am more against the system as a whole. It needs to be burnt down and started again from the bottom up."

[notesdev]

3. Technically that one is not an anarchist

Anarchists say the system needs to be taken down but don't look to build any new system in its place. If they have a new system in mind they'd like to put in as a replacement, they are a something-else-ist, depending on what they want the new system to look like.

[Kolesar]

5. Supreme executive power yields from a mandate from the masses! ... eom

[Rozlee]

4. We don't need this kind of anarchy in the U.S., but...

It would be nice if American youth was motivated enough to care so passionately about things like extortionate rises in tuition and privatizing of student loans that they'd take to the congressional offices of their local elected representatives who are backing such measures or marching in some kind of peaceful demonstrations against it on campuses. And above all, voting out any bastards who propose any student loan privatization and the banks, credit card industry, etc that are paying their campaigns to pass legislation for it. But, no; they just blithely go their way, not even paying any attention to the politics surrounding the whole thing and cry into their useless diplomas when their 12% interest student loan payments kick in.

[dipsydoodle]

2. That was yesterday

:shrug:

[alanquatermass]

6. Wish they wouldn't resort to violence...

-- as it makes it harder to criticize the Right when THEY protest.

Example, there have been practically NO acts of violence or destruction at the various Tea Parties (unfortunately). And reports say that the Tea Partiers are not only non-violent, but fucking CLEAN, too: They actually leave their protest areas cleaner than when they found them!

We need to do the same goddamn thing, folks. Protesting is great... when it's done non-violently (I'm talking to YOU, G20 Protesters!)