We are a civilized nation.

On 25th May 2001 peaceful protests began in Greece. By the 29th of June they had turned violent; bins were set on fire, police were attacked with stones and Molotov cocktails. But why were they protesting/rioting in the first place?

Reasons for the Greek riots:

1. Austerity measures. The Greek government planned to save 30 billion euros in one year through a combination of spending cuts and tax increases.
2. The people were angry. Politicians mismanaged the economy, why should the public have to pay?
3. High unemployment:
1. Over 40% of young Greeks are unemployed.
2. 15.8% of Greeks are unemployed in comparison to the Eurozone average of 9.9%.
4. Failing industry (negative growth for the past three years)
5. Failing economy -4.5% growth in GDP in 2010
6. Many commentators also said it was partly due to underlying social tensions i.e. the rich-poor divide.

Closer to home everybody has seen the current riot situation in Britain. What are the rioters reasons for doing what they’re doing?

1. Mark Duggan was killed by police in an undercover operation. He is suspected of being a gang founder and a Crack dealer.
2. Austerity measures? About 20bn a year (Analysis’s say that this is unlikely to be fully implemented.). Much less than Greece particularly as the Greek economy is much smaller.
1. The majority of people on the street are not big tax payers.
3. The UK economy fared relatively well through the economic crisis considering it is heavily dependent on its financial sector. UK GDP set to grow about 1.4% this year.

Some people have pointed to underlying social tensions being the main cause of the riots. In his infamous interview on BBC news Darcus Howe said that politicians were “out of touch” with the youth and that riots such as these were only a matter of time.

So, what they both go about responding to these problems?

The Greek Riots started out as peaceful protests in May. They were not party or union organized but organised by social media, mainly facebook. The protests were well controlled and caused little damage, they held up placards and chanted slogans attacking the heavy cutbacks. It was over a month before the protests turned violent (29th June).

The British riots on the other hand, went violent almost immediately. Whilst they were organised using the same tools as the Greek riots the looting in the UK has been much more sporadic and disunited. The rioters have not stated a purpose nor do they hold placards against..well whatever they’re protesting against (if anything).It appears that the British riots are made of groups of people who feel they can take advantage of the police being over stretched to loot and pillage.

A greek protester when asked why she was protesting said:

"You will see families going through the rubbish looking for food....This is a European country, how can this be happening in a European country?"

Having viewed the scenes on the streets of Britain over the past few days I ask myself the same question , how can this be happening in a European country?"