I walked the Tottenham-Edmonton axis of rioting and destruction. I have seen a lot worse poverty elsewhere, including in ex-urban area ghettos in North America. The British welfare state is one of the most munificent and overbearing on the planet. Everything exists in the Tott-Ed corridor. Parks. Public schools. Play grounds. Health services. Illimitable government offices offering this or that help and support. Churches aplenty. Charities are legion. Public transport, rail networks, wide avenues and lots of police stations. There is no civil breakdown there. Neither is there a lack of compassion, concern, caring, or worry about the children's future. The area is poor, but not desperate. Poverty does not cause crime anymore than Co2 causes GlobaloneyWarming. Crime causes poverty. Culture causes poverty and crime. This are the 'root causes' of London burning. It has nothing to do with White racism, cuts to welfare [of which there are none], or a lack of jobs.

A sick, sad, twisted culture, manufactured by post-modern cultural Marxism, in alliance with the welfare state has caused modern Britain to become a spiritless, pointless, statist entity crushed between self-loathing and endless immigrant demands for welfare and more services. Tottenham for example has the following characteristics according to the local MP's home page full of the usual multicult bromides. It is not racist but only obvious to say that the culture of the area is a bloody shambles. The attributes of this failed culture will always lead to violence.

“The constituency of Tottenham is one of two seats in the London Borough of Haringey in north London, and in 2001 had an electorate of 64, 888. ......
Unusually for a London parliamentary seat, Tottenham has a strong industrial nature. Engineering, clothing and confectionery firms are all well represented. Hi-tech industry is also flourishing, most notably at the Lea Valley Technopark, along with the service and cultural industries. Tottenham is home to three centres of early years excellence and two higher education establishments, The University of Middlesex and The College of North East London. Tottenham has a young age profile, with less than 15 per cent of the electorate aged over 65, and 50 per cent aged under 40.

Tottenham is one of the most ethnically diverse constituencies in the country. Almost 40 per cent of the population belongs to ethnic communities and over 200 languages are spoken. It is home to large Cypriot, Turkish and Irish communities, as well as a significant proportion of people of West African and Caribbean origin. Although Tottenham is one of the most deprived constituencies in the country, it is rich in its diversity and multi-faith, multi-cultural community.”

When I read the above I don't think about poverty, oppression, white-racism or stealing hope from children's future. Here we have a community with a diverse economic base, colleges, infrastructure and a proximity to all that London offers.

Millions of pounds of damage along a 2-3 km stretch. The looting and brigandage was indiscriminate. I met an 80 year old barber whose store was ransacked and smashed up. Not sure what one hopes to find in a tiny barbership but I suppose the hair gel is compelling.

I wandered around the area a grenade's toss from the carnage. BMWs, Mercedes, Land Rovers and lots of homes which did not look that impoverished. Sure some estates are dismal and some town row homes in sad shape; but just outside you find shiny new Fords, VW's, and SUV's. Living large in da hood. A lot worse poverty exists elsewhere in Britain and the world. Blaming a lack of welfare or 'opportunity' for this violence is about as relevant as calling Al Gore a disinterested passive scientist. It is bollocks. All within a grenade throw of the riots:

Cool cars

Below – 4 BMW's and 2 Mercedes nestled outside of a subsidized state owned ghetto.

Nice Merc in front of your standard poor apartment bloc. A molotov toss from some areas of the biggest carnage.

Shabby but not falling down:

Near the Hotspur Stadium below. An area of stores ravaged by the thugs. The High Road is wide, and surprisingly clean.

Yes the area is poor – culturally that is.

Daily Mail photos and story on the violence in Croydon here.