Cameron blames riots on "slow-motion moral collapse"...of the rioters.

[dixiegrrrrl]

"Britain is in the middle of a "slow-motion moral collapse" that must be reversed if the country is to avoid a repeat of last week's riots across England, Prime Minister David Cameron said Monday as he promised tough new measures to crack down on lawlessness and promote a responsible society."

and
"Cameron identified a culture of selfish indifference and greed behind last week's rampages throughout London and other major cities, which killed five people and caused more than $300 million in damage over four days that rocked the nation. He said he would direct his entire Cabinet to look for ways to combat a "broken society" in which fathers had abdicated responsibility for their children, schools had given up on discipline and crimes had gone unpunished."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-britain-riots-20110816,0,4116258.story

ohhh..looks like maybe he did make a swipe at the "moral failings" of the more wealthy:

"Despite the growing division between politicians over how to move forward, both Cameron and Miliband on Monday sounded a theme that has gained currency in the last few days: that selfishness and contempt for the rules are not the province of the rioters alone but are also seen in powerful echelons of British society — the bankers who squandered billions in search of profit, the politicians caught abusing their expense accounts, the journalists who hacked into cellphones.

"We've seen some of the worst cases of greed, irresponsibility and entitlement," Cameron said. "The restoration of responsibility has to cut right across our country."

[JVS]

1. "Cameron identified a culture of selfish indifference and greed behind last week's rampages"

But on whose part?

[dixiegrrrrl]

3. See last part of OP and in article.

He DOES, sorta, say the "moral decay" is widespread and at all levels,
but
notice that the punishment actions are all directed to the looters, even tho many of those arrested were of the middle class.

Sort of like when people in flooded New Orleans were taking food out of grocery stores, they showed pics of blacks and called them looters and showed a pic of a white couple and called what they did a need for survival.

[saras]

2. The poor imitate the wealthy, not the middle class.

It's the job of the middle class to keep the rich in line. The poor will follow.

[Fumesucker]

4. There's no doubt that the poor and powerless will be cracked down upon..

That is a foregone conclusion.

The only slight doubt is whether anything beyond strongly worded reprimands and strict wrist slaps will be applied to the wealthy and powerful.

[malaise]

5. What about him hiring Murdoch's goons so that he

could win an election and even that didn't give him a majority. What about his coalition partner Nick Cleg - those fuggers are bereft of a shred of decency let alone morality.

[dixiegrrrrl]

6. Impoverish the people and then blame them for getting angry about it.

Have you noticed how the heads of states in 1st world countries are unanimously labeling the poor as
unworthy, unfit, not valuable?
This is a concerted attack, the meme is being put out there.
Blame the victim, blame the helpless, blame the poor as being "unworthy" and "less than".

If you are not rich and white, you are less than nothing.

[malaise]

7. 100% correct

:fistbump:

[hifiguy]

8. About what I'd expect from an upper-class twit of the year

whose upper-class university "dining club" specialized in trashing restaurants. Basically blame the poor and say "tut-tut" while wagging his finger at his fellow plutocrats.