Echoes of Alexandria.

Once, there was a great library that held virtually all of the world’s knowledge. Barbarian thugs burnt it down.* That library was, of course, Alexandria.

Today, I learnt that, amongst all the buildings set afire by Britain’s own barbarian thugs, were two libraries – and a College. Gloucester Library and the former Salford library were both set ablaze by Britain’s rioters. So, too, the Gloucester College of Art and Technology, has been burnt to the ground.

Now, assuming the choice of these buildings was deliberate, it does say something telling about the psyche (such as they have them), of the rioters. They choose to destroy that which they are personally unable to appreciate, presumably through a combined lack of intelligence and interest in learning. These thugs are typically uneducated, largely by choice, since the opportunity of a free education was given to them all. That they should burn libraries shows that they resent the written word, as something that somehow offends their “sensibilities”. To them, perhaps, the written word and books represent a kind of oppression: it is something that caused them great difficulty in school and required effort (which is the last thing they want to make), so, when faced with an innocent, vulnerable library, their first response is to set light to it. Watching all those books burn, no doubt fills them with glee. If these rioters had their way, there would not be a single book left in the world – and then everyone would be equal in their ignorance. The rioters are unable, intellectually, to “level up” with everyone else, so they would rather level everyone else down to them, through depriving them of the books, the rioters always resented.

That Gloucester College of Art and Technology should have been set afire is also very revealing of their mentality. It seems as if they blame the education establishment, in some way, for their own predicament. Perhaps they think that the education “system”, prevented them from gaining qualifications, by some trickery, or deviousness. In truth, of course, they prevented themselves from gaining from education by making no effort within it.

The rioters’ choice of two libraries and a College to burn, is evidence that we are really dealing with barbarians here, in the truest sense of the world. Although they grew up within British culture, they are not part of it – they have their own subculture, a barbarian world with no place in our own. There are only three choices when dealing with these people: reform, exile, or containment. Of course, there is the fourth alternative: death – and perhaps it might even have to come to that, if this blight upon the British people persists in mayhem, violence, looting, arson and, I now understand, murder (three and counting).

The means must be found to reform the character, nature and outlook of these thugs. If the means cannot be found (and, in fact, it would be difficult to educate such bestial people) then we should look to long term containment of them, until such time as they are no longer a threat to society. As for exile: who would have them? Would it be fair to inflict them on anyone? If, however, a rioter should be an immigrant from another country, a fair punishment would be for any visa, or indeed citizenship of Britain, to be revoked, and for them to be sent back to their country of origin – with a permanent ban on any return. Anyone who strives to destroy society – as these thugs have – deserves to be exiled from society, forever. I intend to write a fuller approach to dealing with them, in another post.

Given that two libraries and a College have been set alight, it would seem wise if the police took particular care to set a guard at the leading libraries in the UK. I cannot, for instance, imagine the loss to the nation, were the British Library to be set on fire – or indeed, any of the major University libraries, containing, sometimes, millions of books each.

The rioters have anger. They are evil, in the sense of not seeming to know what good is, or not caring about it, at least. All that they lack, is intelligent guidance. Should there arise among them, an intelligent leader able to guide them, so as to do maximal damage, then Britain will be in a very grave situation, indeed. It is fortunate that, so far, they appear to be as stupid as they are thoughtless of others. Perhaps, in a way, we should be thankful for their lack of seeming effort in the education system. Had they learnt more about the world, they would be a greater danger to it.

Then again, it must be said, I never thought I would live through times, in which people set libraries alight. When I was a young boy, in school, the idea that anyone would actually burn down the greatest library in the world, Alexandria, destroying the heritage of humanity, appalled me. I couldn’t understand how anyone would so lack appreciation of knowledge, art, literature, culture, science and history, that they would be able to do that. Now, however, Britain has a bred a generation of thugs, able to do just that: burn libraries, destroy knowledge, wipe out culture (given a chance). The burning of libraries, often signals the fall of civilizations and the ending of Old Worlds. Let us halt the advance of these particular barbarians and not be fearful of dealing with them in the manner they deserve – before their violent creed becomes the new norm, for a fractured British society. Personally, I would rather see the rioters burn, than our libraries. The real danger, however, in the present British political and social system, is that the rioters will be treated too gently, too kindly and too respectfully ever to teach them to be civilized. These rioters are a threat to Britain as a civilization. They should, therefore, be approached as an existential threat and dealt with, with an appropriate and punitive level of harshness. They should come to learn that Britain will not tolerate barbarians on its soil – not now and not ever (again).

* There are four possible historical culprits for the partial or complete destruction of Alexandria's library. I am not going to disentangle them here - except to say that although not supposedly all barbarians, their attitude to knowledge was certainly barbaric (except for Caesar, who might have burnt it by accident!)

Posted by Valentine Cawley

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