Where the Wild Things Are

By: American Decency Staff

By Chris Johnson In the last few days, across the pond, British youth, some reportedly as young as nine, have been wreaking havoc on the UK's big cities – setting buildings on fire, destroying property, breaking storefront windows, looting – there have even been people killed trying to defend their property from the out-of-control mob of young people. The London police have been obliged to cancel all leaves and deploy their full force of 16,000 officers to attempt to gain control of the situation. British columnist Max Hastings discussed the situation in a column for the British "Daily Mail" news website. "They are essentially wild beasts. I use that phrase advisedly, because it seems appropriate to young people bereft of the discipline that might make them employable; of the conscience that distinguishes between right and wrong. They respond only to instinctive animal impulses — to eat and drink, have sex, seize or destroy the accessible property of others." He goes on, "The depressing truth is that at the bottom of our society is a layer of young people with no skills, education, values or aspirations. They do not have what most of us would call ‘lives’: they simply exist… Today, those at the bottom of society behave no better than their forebears, but the welfare state has relieved them from hunger and real want. When social surveys speak of ‘deprivation’ and ‘poverty’, this is entirely relative. Meanwhile, sanctions for wrongdoing have largely vanished." Asked about the motivation for the looting, one looter explained that they were showing "the rich" and the police that they could "do what they like." Conservative and Christian leaders have been saying for years that America is just several years behind Europe socially. Europe has broken the ice on raising kids in schools which teach that there is no moral anchor, only different beliefs that must all be equally respected, and that it's the  responsibility of the taxpayers as a whole, not as individuals, to take care of the less fortunate. That's how England opened the door to the mess it's in now. Neither their upbringing, nor the rules of society imposed by having to be a decent human being in order to get a job have forced Britain's brats to adhere to even the most basic and accepted moral principles. Max Hastings continues his analysis. "Of course it is true that few have jobs, learn anything useful at school, live in decent homes, eat meals at regular hours or feel loyalty to anything beyond their local gang. This is not, however, because they are victims of mistreatment or neglect. It is because it is fantastically hard to help such people, young or old, without imposing a measure of compulsion  which modern society finds  unacceptable. These kids are what they are because nobody makes them be anything  different or better." If Europe has broken the ice on this problem, America has gleefully skated into the hole. The following excerpts from a Fox News story could be right out of the London Times: " The same technologies that for years have brought together the mostly benign and goofy "flash mobs," in which groups suddenly break into dance at a mall or stumble around like zombies at train stations, is being used to plan and execute bold robberies. Called “flash robs,â€Â these crimes are being organized by young teenagers through various social media outlets, most notably Twitter. Police say the suspects select a time and place and enter the store in droves taking what they want and leaving before security or police can catch them. Some of the most brazen robberies take place in the light of day and on busy streets despite all the security cameras and the watchful eyes of workers." (Blackberry Messenger and social networks were also used during the UK riots to plan looting.) Here’s a look at some of the most recent robberies. Chicago Last week, four violent assaults and robberies occurred in Chicago’s upscale area of Streeterville. One man was dragged into the street and beaten by a group of 15 to 20 teenage males after a baseball was thrown so hard at his head that his motor-scooter helmet was knocked off. Another man was robbed of his cell phone and camera after being knocked off his bike and punched by a group of teenage males… Washington, D.C. On April 25, G Star Raw, workers at a retail store in Dupont Circle were caught off guard as a group of about 20 teenagers swarmed the store, stopping to look through sizes, taking over $20,000 worth of merchandise and promptly exiting the building… Las Vegas In May, 20 teens were caught on camera as they robbed a convenience store and stole about $600 worth of merchandise and the clerk's cellphone. They were in and out in a matter of minutes. "It became a feeding frenzy," store owner Jon Athney told KLAS-TV. "They were in the store for three minutes and 30 seconds. … It's a pretty scary thing… St Paul, Minn. On Feb, 19, 50 teenagers swarmed a busy convenient store causing confusion and panic among the store’s employees. They stole anything they could get their hands on, food, candy, soda, juice. Although police are not sure if the two events are related, shots were heard a few miles away from the robbed store, and two young people were rushed to the hospital with gunshot wounds… There have also been larger scale flash mob attacks at the Iowa and Wisconsin state fairs which were reportedly racially motivated. Max Hastings' description of these kids as "wild beasts" reminded me of some of my favorite books. In C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia, Aslan, the Christ figure, chooses animals who will receive the gifts of speech. He tells them, "Creatures, I give you yourselves. I give to you forever this land of Narnia. I give you the woods, the fruits, the rivers. I give you the stars and I give you myself. The dumb beasts whom I have not chosen are yours also, but do not go back to their ways lest you cease to be Talking Beasts." To unravel Lewis' allegory, God gives his people many good things, including their own selves and Himself and the dominion over the dumb animals, with the caveat that they don't act like dumb animals themselves. As Lewis explains in a later book, "Everyone of them had been taught – when only a chick or a puppy or a cub – how Aslan at the beginning of the world had turned the beasts of Narnia into Talking Beasts and warned them that if they weren't good they might one day be turned back again and be like the poor witless animals one meets in other countries." In all of the Chronicles of Narnia, Lewis only describes this happening to one creature, a cat who betrays Aslan and is part of a scheme to enslave the creatures of Narnia. "What followed was rather horrible. Tirian felt quite certain (and so did the others) that the Cat was trying to say something: but nothing came out of its mouth except the ordinary, ugly cat-noises you might hear from any angry or frightened old Tom in a backyard in England. And the longer he caterwauled, the less like a talking beast he looked." The cat becomes feral. Hastings also quotes a London police chief as having called the youth, "feral children." They have not been warned "that if they weren't good they might one day be turned back again," and indeed, they are starting to look more and more like animals, as Hastings describes. "They respond only to instinctive animal impulses — to eat and drink, have sex, seize or destroy the accessible property of others." Lewis' story drives this point home. Mankind was created to glorify God. That is what separates man from the rest of the animal kingdom, not just opposable thumbs. That is where we find true liberty – within the protective boundary of God's law.

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