There are those who have nothing, and there are those who steal Nikes.

The commentary I have heard regarding the current lawless mess of cities across the UK has been interesting, as across all perspectives one thing seems constant. No one quite understands what the hell is happening. Journalists and commentators are now starting to weave their own hypotheses into analysis, in lieu of anything more substantial I suppose. 'Disenfranchised youth', 'The forgotten generation', 'London's underclass' ... and it goes on. Is this the case? I'm not sure, as there doesn't seem to be any commonly held or apparent ideology underpinning these actions, and indeed there are no public representatives or spokespersons for the rioters. There are just a lot of people making a big mess and stealing shit. Society will not look kindly on them (not that society generally embraces young people wearing hoodies I suppose); but the footage of people trying on shoes before they steal them and lining up to get the security tags gives the whole picture a particularly offensive hue.

The point of it all? Maybe there is no point - which is pretty hard to stomach. What does it say about life and culture for these young people? There seems to be zero connectivity to the wider communities in which they live, they have been able to disentangle themselves from society to enable them to behave as though they have no public responsibility or obligation. It's pretty incredible, because even though people do it tough in the UK - they still live in a free society with police that will protect them if they need it, hospitals that will treat them if they get injured, in say - a riot, and schools that will educate them. But perhaps they are not doing this for any sense of disenfranchisement, maybe they are just doing it because everyone else is.

Whatever the reason - it is so disappointing and ultimately so pointless and wasteful.

In PNG, I would like to see a few more people rioting. I am almost ready to get the ball rolling on behalf of the endless numbers of people who endure and re-endure hardship at every single corner. The thing that is so hard for me to understand is the blanket acceptance of the status quo. People have been worn down, and there they stay.

A mother with a sick daughter takes the day off work to take her daughter to the doctor. They spend all day on public buses and several hours waiting at two locations to be told that one place does not have the right medicine, and the other closed down months ago. They can't afford to go anywhere else. They go home and ask their church for a blessing to improve health.

A man drives his friends home after a game of football. His car gets stopped by a few guys who say they are going to steal it. He says "WTF?". They stab him and he bleeds to death. He has a wife and 4 kids at home.

These are two stories of people in my circle, or outer circles this week. The death of that young man is absolutely heartbreaking and infuriating. Please, someone - start a riot!

And for everyone here who is sitting at home watching loved ones get sick with no idea what is wrong with them (and no money to find out) - please start a riot!

People who have close to nothing spend so much of their time just trying to stay at zero, constantly working to escape falling back and going into deficit - whether it be health, finance, school, food, housing, staying out of jail etc.

People who have a lot more than nothing just want more and more.

Oh the imbalance. It's getting under my skin this week.