Me, Myself and Over 6 Billion Others...

I stayed up until way too late last night watching the footage of the riots in London. Some of it happening not too far away from my house...

Such a mixture of emotions: disbelief, fear, anger, disgust, judgment (lots of this!) before finally, overwhelming sadness. These young people are totally lost and what we are seeing is the overflow and symptoms of a much bigger issue.

We live in a time where ‘me’ is king; what I want I should be able to have; if you can have it then so can I. The gap between the rich and poor grows ever wider as people’s levels of greed and sense of entitlement dwarf any sense of humanity they might have had. I’ve heard it said that we have the Thatcher era to blame for this. I can see where they’re coming from, however the point of this blog is to say that: “people, we need each other.” We have to stop the ‘them and us,’ point the finger culture and start realizing that what you do affects me and what I do has repercussions for you.

Last night there were repeated calls for parents to find out where their children were. I don’t know about you but rightly or wrongly, my first thought was the kind of kids out lootin’ an’ pollutin’ are not going to have the kind of parents who are going to 1) give a damn or 2) be able to do anything because clearly something is missing.

Actually, a lot of somethings are missing: jobs, fathers, discipline, aspirations, positive peer groups, opportunities, role models, respect, empathy, hobbies, education (I could go on) but most of all LOVE.

Not the romantic, 'la la love' but the, “I will put you before me, love.” The, “I will discipline you because I love you, love.” “I will fight for your future, respect you, give you boundaries, values and drag-your-ass-off-the-streets, love.” Love that is tough, robust, unconditional, transformative, and empathetic and not all about me, myself and I. Love that means that we will recognize and fund good youth projects and relationships and sexual health programmes, because we care about our communities and families of the future…(had to put that one in)

Fierce love.

Whether we like it or not, the success or failure of our society is built on the strength of our relationships with one another…

But who is responsible for instilling such ideals?

It’s not solely the responsibility of the government, the schools, the youth projects, Romance Academy Leaders or even the parents. We all are.

I love that African Proverb: “It takes a whole village to raise a child” – So, you don’t have great parents (probably because they didn’t have great parents either), but here I am as a positive adult in your life who is going to seek to teach you and shape you. Taking responsibility is costly, no doubt. After all they ain’t my feral kids but in reality condemnation and judgment are dead end. Young people need more than Tesco Value Basmati Rice (apparently amongst the looted last night) and they are more than hooded hooligans.

Don’t get me wrong, riotous action needs to be publicly condemned. People have lost their homes and businesses, I don't think anyone is excusing this behaviour. BUT the context does have to be addressed. We need to go deeper and ask why?

People working together to restore their community shouldn’t be something that is just reserved for times of crisis but a fundamental part. SO massive respect to everyone that has mobilized themselves today and does so anyway. You are amazing. Our hope at Romance Academy, is that as we face potentially another night of lawlessness that bravery, integrity and wisdom will become the victors of our society. Public Sector we salute you. 

• If you want to play an active part in the village, you too can become an RA leader. Take a look at our training dates for the Autumn.

Training Dates

For another take on the riots see: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/aug/08/context-london-riots