As the riots appear to calm down so the discussion about the causes of it rises. This won’t die down in a hurry. Here are some early thoughts from around and about but an early contender appears to be consumerism.

• Early on it seems agreed that these riots became principally about sheer naked greed. Certainly the Bad Samaritans make it seem that way. As Giles Fraser comments, ‘But underlying so many of these problems is a general culture of acquisitiveness that has come to shape our society…Many of those rioting have been brought up on this debased philosophy, and have become increasingly angry at the feeling that they have been locked out of the world of material possession.’
• Mike Ovey writes, ‘A Christian explanation could begin with one of the more sensible secular comments. These are “consumer society riots”, says Dr Paul Bagguley, who is a sociologist at Leeds. This is very perceptive. It points clearly to the consumerist, acquisitive nature of the looting, and it hints that these are the kind of riots that a consumer society (and let’s not forget, that’s all of us) has.’ (HT: Tim Chester)
• And it’s not just Christians using this kind of language. In this FP article the very first quote is, ‘”There’s just a lot of very frustrated, very fed up, young guys around,” reflected Logan Wilmont, an advertising director from Belfast, which has certainly seen its own fair share of unrest. “They’re living at a time where they can’t have anything. We’re living in a broken moment.” (emphasis added).
• And I’ll add this one in because I think it’s revealing. Guess which shops didn’t get attacked? Bookshops. Because kids don’t want to steal books.