Sam Han | Eportfolio

The problem is that the tacit control and sense of the common good based upon personal relationships upon which social order finally depends has started to break down in British inner cities, which are often fragmented into different racio-religious and cultural ghettoes. (Though it is notable that the Muslim communities behaved particularly well during the recent troubles.)

In the face of this breakdown normal policing cannot substitute – and unfortunately only a police-state could, an option with which too many British middle-class people seem all too comfortable.

The long-term solution, therefore, must have to do with re-creating ethos and self-respect – this also being the key to local economic renewal. For the time being, the rioters, however bad their actions – and actually because they have been so bad – must be seen as the victims of a wider national malaise as well as responsible actors who momentarily took some very wrong decisions.

A response to the happenings in England by theologian John Milbank. He’s a major intellectual resource of Phillip Blond, a favorite of PM David Cameron and chief architect of Red Toryism. This response, however, pleasantly surprised me, especially with regard to taking to task the liberal-left demand for more policing.