England on Fire – LewRockwell

Exactly a week ago, Axel Rudakubana, the 17-year-old son of Rwandan immigrants in the UK, killed three children and injured eleven others in a knife attack at a community centre in Southport. Since then, widespread protests and riots have broken out across the UK, the worst unrest the country has seen since the migrant riots of 2011.

From The Independent:

More than 400 people have been arrested after far-right violence erupted across the country, with the prime minister setting up a “standing army” of specialist police to deal with further attacks.

Sir Keir Starmer held an emergency Cobra meeting after far-right mobs carried out racist attacks and torched hotels housing asylum seekers in Rotherham and Tamworth.

Speaking after the meeting, the Prime Minister said: “We will have a standing army of specialist public service officers so that we have enough officers to deal with this situation where we need them.

“The second thing is that we are going to strengthen criminal justice. Hundreds of arrests have already been made, some appeared in court this morning.

“I have asked that consideration be given as soon as possible to naming and identifying those involved in the process who will face the full force of the law.”

Last night, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer condemned the “brutality of the far right”:

I strongly condemn the far-right violence we have witnessed this weekend. Please do not worry: those who participated in this violence will face the full force of the law. Police will make arrests, people will be remanded in custody, charges will be laid and convictions will be handed down. I guarantee that you will regret having participated in this unrest, either directly or through those who fomented this action online and then fled.

This is not a protest, this is organised violence, which has no place on our streets or on the internet. Right now, attacks are taking place at a hotel in Rotherham. Marauding gangs are intent on breaking the law, or worse. Shop windows are being smashed, fires are being set, residents and staff are in absolute fear. There is no justification for such action. And all right-thinking people should condemn this kind of violence. The people of this country have a right to be safe. And yet we have seen Muslim communities targeted. Mosques attacked. Other minority communities singled out. Nazi salutes heard in the streets. Attacks on police, gratuitous violence and racist speeches.

So no, I will not hesitate to call it what it is: acts of far-right brutality. For those who feel targeted because of the color of their skin or their faith, I know how frightening that must be. I want you to know that this violent mob does not represent our country and we will bring them to justice. Our police deserve our support in fighting any violent disorder that breaks out, regardless of the cause or apparent motivation, we make no distinction. A crime is a crime and this government will deal with it. Thank you.

The most violent riots took place in Rotherham, where paedophile gangs sexually abused thousands of young girls in 2013, all with the discreet complicity of the police and local authorities. Attempts to attribute the riots to Tommy Robinson’s social media agitation are unconvincing; they were an organic uprising of people who opposed the consequences of mass immigration and who felt that their own government had sided with them.

This is not to say that these protests are a good idea. In fact, I fear that these riots will most likely be catastrophic for everyone involved – basically the equivalent of the January 6 Capitol protests for our British friends. Disorganized uprisings are unlikely to achieve their political goals, they are often a gift to the regime, and participating in them greatly increases your chances of going to prison.

Please understand that I am not trying to make you out to be a blackmailer; I am not saying that political change is impossible. am In other words, many protesters have been sold a false vision of how this change will happen. If you buy into this mythology too much, you may end up doing the opposite of what you set out to do, and you may end up in a very difficult situation.

Liberal democracy is based on the theory of “popular sovereignty.” According to this theory, elected representatives derive their mandate from the voters who voted for them. In exceptional circumstances, the people can also exercise their mandate directly, for example by taking to the streets and demanding change. In democratic mythology, elected leaders will then respond to popular pressure and implement the policies demanded of them.

This all sounds simple enough, but it’s almost exactly the opposite:

In the rich and developed Western countries, democratic governments function as crypto-oligarchies, in which a political elite exercises power and manages popular opinion. Part of this management of opinion involves maintaining elaborate political illusions. We are witnessing a superficial representation of the forms and orders of democratic politics, as well as a good deal of dishonesty about what is really going on. Liberal democracies thus present perhaps the most confusing and disconcerting political system that humanity has ever known, and I hope soon to write a small book in which I will collect my thoughts on how they actually work.

I would like to simply talk about protests here. All political movements need two things to succeed. They need a strong organization and clear alliances with the elite or a viable counter-elite faction. Since our states devote considerable resources to subverting all potentially hostile political organizations, it is usually difficult to achieve the first goal without also having the second.

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