Public Opinion- A Blueprint for Sociopathy?

A little while ago, well, in fact, quite a long time ago, we at the Pathways Group, for some reason, began discussing the "Jeremy Kyle Show". We, most of us, said how we detested that show. Kyle's obvious right-wing opinions, how he berates and, literally, shouts his guests into submission. And yet, one in our group, a student nurse, said, "well, I like it, because he always seems to say what you're thinking yourself." To which, of course, me and my leftist mate replied, "well, he doesn't say what I'm thinking!" However, I was somewhat taken aback by the possibility that anyone of intelligence could possibly share Kyle's belligerent attitude.
But, it seems, more and more, public opinion is becoming intolerant. I have written of this before in previous posts, but nothing made this more apparent than the reaction to the recent riots which erupted throughout England.
Of course people have launched out on various waves of speculation as to what actually caused the riots. Was it the fault of parents, as most who took part appeared to be young people? Was it a lack of discipline throughout society? And, what should we do about it? For many, throughout the rioting, so disgusted were they by the acts of wanton destruction, that they called for police to bring in water-cannons and to use "plastic bullets", both of which have been used in Ireland, but neither ever on mainland Britain. Even the police were reluctant to take such drastic measures, but the public cry for them was alarmingly evident.
Now, the government, always apparently keen on "listening" to the public, seems to be capitulating to demands to withdraw all benefits payments from those who took part in the rioting, and some councils are considering throwing out people who were involved from their council houses. This would, it seems, assuage the public demands for a swift, decisive and severe response.
However, to my mind, such drastic measures could only serve to make a bad problem worse. As the gap between rich and poor grows ever wider, and in a world where justice seems to be an outmoded concept, is it really any wonder that anger and resentment ferments amidst the lower echelons of our society? That is not to excuse such behaviour, and of course one's sympathy goes out to those whose property was destroyed and who even lost relatives amidst the mayhem. But, it still seems to me that both the public and government are having a "knee-jerk" response to all this, and some within the legal system have remarked that, out of this situation, some particularly "rough" justice may be being meted out.
But, to return to public opinion for a moment, one only has to go to the government's "e-petition" page to see how intolerant we seem to have become. By far the most popular petition at present is the one to withdraw benefits payments from those involved in the rioting. By far the most repeated petition (I think it appears in around five different guises on the site) is one to bring back capital punishment. There are also calls to get rid of all European human rights legislation. OK, so some of the petitions on the site are not to take such retrograde steps, and they are really quite varied. I, however, do find it worrying that the public hold such apparently barbarous beliefs. And, even in our local paper, one letter concerning the riots argued that how can we expect anything else than such behaviour from people when we can't even smack children in schools anymore? Some even called for a return to conscription.
It would seem, then, that the majority of us increasingly see the world as one constrained by political correctness, where discipline, values and morality have eroded to such a degree that people behave like "feral", mindless criminals. But, is that really all there is to it? Indeed, that is not the world I see. I see a place where the gap between the "haves" and "have-nots" is getting bigger, where those in the lower-classes and even vulnerable people are increasingly demonised, where bankers, who we must remember brought about the economic collapse which the world faces, continue to award themselves obscene amounts of money and seem to have escaped any retribution for their actions, and where expensive wars are fought on particularly dubious grounds.
So, as the public cry out for increasingly cut-throat measures, should we really listen to them? Should we just throw people on the streets, withdraw their benefits, start hanging people, go back to smacking our children, and get rid of human rights legislation which prevents us from acting in such inhumane ways? Or is it that we should actually start listening to what our young and disaffected people are saying and afford them a little respect in the hope that it may be returned. If we don't do this, the public mentality will come over to some, me included, and as one "Observer" commentator suggested, as a virtual "blueprint for a sociopathic society".