Human Nature

First off, I'm sorry. I know that the London riots of last year have already been analysed and overanalysed to death. I'm getting sick of the left wing justifications. I'm getting sick of the right wing condemnations. But most of all - and this is the reason that I couldn't help but stick in my two penneth - I'm getting sick of everybody suddenly becoming self-professed moral saints.

So here it is, I don't buy that you are above what the looters did; or at least not in any meaningful way. This post isn't going to fail to condemn the actions, nor is it going to seek to justify, or understand them. I will honour the rules I set out for myself and, controversially, argue here that the way that we are built means that 99.99% of people would, and probably already do, act indistinguishably from the looters. It’s the looting that I’m talking about here, not the violence, arson or murder.

This is an argument about human nature. I will argue that very, VERY few people (and almost certainly not you) would act in a different manner if presented with the following circumstances: opportunity, ease, a slim chance of getting caught and lastly, and least importantly: greed.

I was in London during the riots, I was turned away from a cinema in Brent Cross because the rioters were ‘on their way’. Masked, hooded youths strolled past me as I waited at the bus station to get the hell out of the area. Meanwhile, shops 150 metres from my brother’s house were being torn out in Clapham Junction. I was scared for my family. I was scared for my friends. I was scared for me. I was throwing around all sorts of right wing reactions. I've since tried to reconcile my left wing sensibilities.

Later, I watched as friends labelled all involved ‘scum’, and later still, I listened to politicians from all parties condemn the ‘unjustifiable actions’, and promise the harshest of consequences. A custodial sentence, they have said, is what these people deserve. They must learn that you can’t take what isn’t yours and get away with it.

Those in the dock apologised and explained that they just got caught up in what was going on, but these excuses were waived away by the magistrates, who sent them to the Crown courts, with harsher sentencing powers. The people rejoiced; this is the way to show these people that you can’t just go around taking what isn’t yours just because it is easy, and because you thought that you wouldn’t get caught.

These looters saw an opportunity to get stuff for free. It was easy, you just had to walk into the empty shop and take it. There was a very slim chance of getting caught, so long as you protected your identity with a mask. I’m not the first person to point out that this is the exact same mentality that almost all MPs had, whilst they took money that didn’t belong to them through a corrupt expenses system.

It was easy, and they didn’t think that they would get caught. An apology, and perhaps paying back some of what they had taken seemed to suffice here, however. There was no talk of custodial sentences. Only 6 MPs or peers, out of the hundreds who took money that didn’t belong to them, were jailed. We were happy to get outraged at the MPs, and now we are revelling in being outraged in the looters.

The parallels there are obvious. But, I wonder whether you have ever illegally downloaded media, or watched TV or films on streaming websites? I wonder if you’ve ever gone over the speed limit? I wonder if you’ve ever received too much change, and not bothered to go back in the shop? I wonder if you would be happy to do any of these things? You can dress up each of these with justifications, excuses, film and music studios taking too much money, they won’t feel the effect, blah blah...

But is the behaviour really dissimilar to the looter? They saw an opportunity to take something that they hadn’t paid for, and they knew that they probably wouldn’t get caught. They too, if pushed, could reach for the same justifications, the same excuses: “I was robbing Currys, they charge too much anyway, and they will be able to absorb the losses.”

So here’s what’s scary: it appears to be built in to humans to take stuff that they haven’t paid for, as long as the following circumstances present themselves:

1. It is easy
2. You probably won’t get caught

The difference with the recent behaviour is how public it was, how observable. But literally millions of ‘normal’ people behave in this way in the privacy of their own homes. They take films and songs and television episodes, without having paid for them. It is easy. You probably won’t get caught.

There is a conflict in social philosophy as to how man would behave in a fictional ‘state of nature’. Thomas Hobbes, writing at the time of the English Civil War, believed men to be brutish, and that this natural state would result in a war of ‘all against all’, with the strongest and ballsiest taking what they please. He believed that we could combat this by erecting a strong, powerful force, which would be respected, and terrify people into respecting it, and respecting each other. He called this the Leviathan, but today its name is probably the police.

Over the last week, we have caught a glimpse of what happens when people lose respect for the Leviathan, when the fear of acting in an unnatural state evaporates. They showed their true colours. They took whatever they wanted.

You will distinguish yourself from these people. So have the MPs. So have investment bankers. But just because they have to cross glass shattered window frames to take what they please, whereas you have to simply log on to a computer, or file a dodgy expense form, the behaviour is still the same. You are taking stuff that does not belong to you, just because the opportunity is there and you think that you can get away with it. You can probably come up with a half decent justification afterwards. So can they.