Zandar's Thought Of The Day

Yes, the riots in England are pretty visceral.  They are however not shocking if you've been paying attention.  I want to highlight two very different reactions to the events this weekend in London.  First, Steve M.:

I don't want to see it happen in England or in any other country. But what I do want to see happen -- a real reckoning for the worst abusers in the global financial system, accompanied by "shared sacrifice" that's actually shared, all the way to the top -- apparently will never happen through peaceful means.

(If you think I'm exaggerating, consider the wrist-slaps that have been doled out in America for large-scale economic crime, and then read Joe Nocera's New York Times story about a guy who's doing serious time for taking a "liar loan" during the economic boom. Think of this as like the drug war, except we've made a conscious, overt decision not to jail any leaders of the cartels, or even mid-level soldiers -- only the customers.)

Yeah, the riot in England was awful. Want to avoid more of it, authorities? Do the right thing. (And yes, I say that knowing you won't.)

The primary goal of a democratic government, by and of the people, is justice for all, according to Steve.  Compare that with John Hindraker's response:

The first duty of any government is to maintain order. Peaceful demonstrations are fine, but mob rule is incompatible with civilization. Any government that cannot maintain order deserves to fall, and will. Napoleon had his faults--well, to be blunt, he was crazy as a loon--but he had the right prescription for dealing with mobs: a whiff of grapeshot.

When left to their own devices, any conservative eventually turns to the iron fist that must be used on "them" in the name of "maintaining order".  No, the mob mentality in London is wrong.  But the wise government leader would ask "Why is this happening?"

I mean it's funny, Hindraker has no problem calling Qaddafi authoritarian and saying that he supports our efforts to liberate Libya, as armed rebels fight a war against a dictator, but if people protest and cause damage to shops in London, well it's an unruly mob that must be put down by any means necessary.

Conservatives always come back to using force to maintain the class status quo, given enough time the arguments, reasoning, and debate will always, always devolve into "anything that might disrupt America's moneyed elite will not be tolerated."