Ethics is rooted in empathy. The conservatives, including Cameron, have encourage lack of empathy for the poor, and have castigated those who do express empathy. The inevitable result is a decrease in ethics in society.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/aug/15/david-cameron-riots-broken-society
Allegra Stratton, political correspondent
guardian.co.uk, Monday 15 August 2011 12.10 BST
David Cameron says the riots have put his broken society analysis 'back at the top of my political agenda' Link to this video
David Cameron pledged his government would "turn around the lives of the 120,000 most troubled families" by the next election as he said his broken society analysis is "back at the top of my political agenda".
He made the ambitious commitment in a speech delivered on Monday at a youth centre in his Witney constituency in Oxfordshire, in which he described the rioting as a "wake-up call" for the country. He said his ministers would use the summer to ensure their departments' policies address the causes of broken Britain.
The government has assessed there are 120,000 families across the UK that cause much of the disturbance in communities across the country – and he is now to use the government's success in turning around their lives as a benchmark against which he should be judged in 2015.
Cameron made the pledge as he reasserted his analysis that Britain is broken, but he joined Ed Miliband in drawing a link between the riots, and recent scandals in banking, parliament and journalism, his words almost precisely mirroring those of the Labour leader.
Cameron said: "In the banking crisis, with MPs' expenses, in the phone-hacking scandal, we have seen some of the worst cases of greed, irresponsibility and entitlement. The restoration of responsibility has to cut right across our society.
"Do we have the determination to confront the slow-motion moral collapse that has taken place in parts of our country these past few generations?
"Irresponsibility. Selfishness. Behaving as if your choices have no consequences. Children without fathers. Schools without discipline. Reward without effort.
"Crime without punishment. Rights without responsibilities. Communities without control. Some of the worst aspects of human nature tolerated, indulged – sometimes even incentivised – by a state and its agencies that in parts have become literally de-moralised.
"So do we have the determination to confront all this and turn it around? I have the very strong sense that the responsible majority of people in this country not only have that determination; they are crying out for their government to act upon it. And I can assure you, I will not be found wanting."
Cameron made the pledge as he reasserted his analysis that Britain is broken, but he joined Ed Miliband in drawing a link between the riots, and recent scandals in banking, parliament and journalism, his words almost precisely mirroring those of the Labour leader.
Cameron said: "In the banking crisis, with MPs' expenses, in the phone-hacking scandal, we have seen some of the worst cases of greed, irresponsibility and entitlement. The restoration of responsibility has to cut right across our society.
"Do we have the determination to confront the slow-motion moral collapse that has taken place in parts of our country these past few generations?
"Irresponsibility. Selfishness. Behaving as if your choices have no consequences. Children without fathers. Schools without discipline. Reward without effort.
"Crime without punishment. Rights without responsibilities. Communities without control. Some of the worst aspects of human nature tolerated, indulged – sometimes even incentivised – by a state and its agencies that in parts have become literally de-moralised.
"So do we have the determination to confront all this and turn it around? I have the very strong sense that the responsible majority of people in this country not only have that determination; they are crying out for their government to act upon it. And I can assure you, I will not be found wanting."
Cameron said he wanted to look at making tougher the welfare reform bill going through parliament. "I'm not satisfied that we're doing all we can. I want us to look at toughening up the conditions for those who are out of work and receiving benefits … and speeding up our efforts to get all those who can work back to work." [Weird. If people are behaving badly because they can't get a job, make sure they don't have any income at all and are totally desperate.]
[...]
"These riots were not about government cuts: they were directed at high street stores, not parliament. And these riots were not about poverty: that insults the millions of people who, whatever the hardship, would never dream of making others suffer like this. No, this was about behaviour. [Stupid statement. The rioters attacked the areas they did because they were close by and easy to get to. How would they get access to attack Parliament?]
"People showing indifference to right and wrong. People with a twisted moral code. People with a complete absence of self-restraint. [Like Murdoch, Wall Street finance people, the police who provided Murdoch's papers with info to help them hack phones, the police and goverment officials who covered up the Murdoch misdeeds for years.]
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