I live in a country populated by idiots and run by buffoons
Last year parts of the UK were blighted by riots and looting.
Last week the more feeble-minded of the country’s car-driving population started panic-buying petrol and diesel. This was sparked by concerns over a possible strike by lorry drivers, and was exacerbated by remarks made by Francis Maude – a government minister – who advised people should stock up on fuel for their cars. This was stupid and dangerous advice, driven by an idealogical desire to thwart the impact of a potential fuel strike.
Our less-than-impressive Prime Minister, David Cameron, echoed these sentiments.
What happened next was an explosion of the same attitudes and outlook we witnessed in last August’s wave of arson and theft – a complete breakdown of perspective and an overwhelming sense of utter selfishness. I’m all right Jack is the attitude du jour.
To begin with there was fear over a shortage of fuel at the pumps over the Easter weekend, brought on by striking tanker drivers. But it soon began to sink in to these fretful idiots, many of whom had queued for hours at petrol stations to fill their cars and their many portable containers, that there would not be a strike-prompted shortage of fuel over Easter. After all, no strike had been called. Added to which, in the event a strike is called, seven days notice would be given prior to the actual strike.
On Thursday 29 March, sales of petrol and diesel were up 172%.
The queuing and panicky behaviour extended into Friday, with long queues, petrol stations running out, tempers fraying and people generally carrying on like confused, frighted children.
Why continue to panic-buy fuel when there is no impending problem?
Perhaps because if you don’t go and buy as much as you can there won’t be any left when you need it, because other people will have bought it all.
In the wake of last August’s riots, David Cameron said: “For me, the root cause of this mindless selfishness is the same thing that I have spoken about for years.”
He was right and his home-spun truism works well here too.
Back then I wrote:
He went on, as politicians often do: “It is a complete lack of responsibility in parts of our society. People allowed to feel that the world owes them something, that their rights outweigh their responsibilities and that their actions do not have consequences.”
You can read the full post here.
All of this has left me more convinced than ever that there is a bitter streak of unpleasantness that runs through people in this country. We do not stand together. We squabble and complain. We are mistrustful of others. We put our own short-term wants and needs ahead of everything.
The UK gets more like a Lord of the Flies LARP with each passing year.
