Monday, December 12, 2005
Keep Hands Inside Escalation At All Times
I'm wondering what a comic like Richard Pryor would have to say about the riots and pointless violence in Sydney on the weekend and I'm stumped. They were born of bad circumstances (anger, grog & heat = bad mix) and no good came of them. There's already talk of round two being organised for next weekend; what good can come of that? It doesn't look like the mob is waiting though. As I write, a mob has gathered around the Lakemba Mosque and the late news is saying that car-loads of people are moving down to Cronulla again.
Pointing out the hypocrisy isn't going to cool anything down, but it seems to be filling a lot of press & blog copy. Try pointing out to a raging mob that pack-hunting individuals after complaining about groups of guys who can't/don't fight one-on-one isn't on. Try explaining to some of the good old boys that attacking girls doesn't exactly gel with the complaint that the others "don't respect our women". Will anyone listen to the talking heads and the politicians? I doubt it. Does an every-mum have to come out and tell Sydney off with a "I'm not angry, I'm just very disappointed" before people will stop and look at what they're doing?
I don't know what to do, I only have more questions. Is the best that we can hope for in the next few days for the cops to track down the sources of the text messages and start throwing some incitement charges around against the stirers on both sides? Will ASIO and the cops crack down on the PYL, or will this be a boon for extreme-right recruitment? The rest of the country is watching, but is there anything that anyone outside of Sydney can do?
The world is watching and taking note (MeFi, FDB, Wikipedia) and we all look the worse for it.
[Tags: Riots, Cronulla, Sydney, Australia]
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ABC RN's Australia Talks Back is discussing the riots - specifically if they could happen in other parts of the country - right now. You can tune in over the net.