The Spectator

Violent by nature Sir: Amongst the sociological why-oh-why-ery trying to explain the motivation of the rioters, the simplest explanation has been overlooked: human nature is utterly violent and wicked. Conservatism — the heir of Christianity in this respect — realises this. Recent work on violence in hunter-gatherer societies has demolished sociological explanations of violence: it is not society that makes people violent but our nature, evolved over the last 100,000 years. Forty per cent of Rousseau’s ‘noble savages’ in primitive hunter-gatherer societies die at the hands of another. We are all descended from successful rapists.

Bishops and rioters From the Scarman report to ‘Faith in the City’, no British riot is complete without politicians and churchmen weighing in with the answers. It was no different in the 13th century. In 1272 the townsmen of Norwich rioted after the prior to the city’s monastery refused to allow the arrest of monastic servants charged with murder. The cathedral was burned down. In response, the bishop excommunicated the townsfolk, but two years later the Pope was asked to pass judgment. He deferred to Edward I, who besides ordering the townsmen to pay 3,000 marks towards rebuilding the cathedral, produced an agreement with a phrase worthy of a primary school headmistress: ‘That all parties should be real friends.