It seems like the smoke is clearing and the dust is settling after a week of rioting on the streets of our UK cities. Most of us have been shocked, outraged and even scared by these events, and there has been widespread condemnation of the perpetrators of the violence throughout the media, social media, and by politicians and other commentators. Words have been used varying from 'criminals' to 'scum', and the public have been united with an almost wartime spirit into a heightened state of 'us and them': 'us', brooms held high, keeping calm and carrying on, 'them', thugs, hooligans, cretins, low-life, and mindless yobs. This kind of polarised language makes those of us on the right side of the fence and the law feel good. It is comforting to know that the badness, the nastiness, the violence, belongs 'out there', to somebody else. Why should we care about such people? But let's pause for a second, and take an imaginative leap. E...