Smoke over London

From the sea of opinion about the recent London riots, Ian Jack's piece in the The Telegraph (Calcutta) today is worth a read. Drawing on reactions from the full length of the political spectrum Jack arrives at his own conclusions through a rigorous analysis where social networking sites, gangster culture, unemployment, an uncertain economic future and the creed of greed all add to  the poisonous kedgeree that many western societies have become. Celebrity lifestyles and the creed of greed is important in his analysis. Here he points out how consumerism and the pressure to become a walking Christmas tree of brands and trends, this lust for the latest defines our times -  ` “Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you who you are,” wrote the French epicure, Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, a maxim since abbreviated to ‘You are what you eat.’ Today, and not just in Britain, you are what you buy — the hippest trainers, the coolest sweatpants, the most fashionable mobile, the cutest handbag, the widest TV screen. You can’t afford them? Then all that separates them from you is a pane of glass. Smash it and you become more like the person you want to be — that advertising (from Nike, Adidas, and so on) suggests you need to be.'  Read the full article at The Telegraph website. 


London map courtesy Google Maps.