Joblessness, rising inequality, and a frustrated underclass are all being blamed for the violence that's sweeping Britain. But will the United States be next, asked Raymond Bonner in an article on the website of The Atlantic on August 9, 2011.

Pundits and commentators are in full swing in search of the causes of the London riots, the worst urban unrest in the country in at least 25 years, said Bonner, correspondent for the New York Times. Stafford Scott wrote in the Guardian newspaper that it boiled down to the belief among the young and poor that "they have no stake in the neighborhood and consequently no state in wider society".

A column in The Telegraph, a conservative newspaper, went further with a headline that read: "London riots: the underclass lashes out. London's rioters are the products of a crumbling nation, and an indifferent political class that has turned its back on them."

The real causes are more insidious, noted Bonner. Britain today is less equal, in wages, wealth and life chances, than at any time. "Last year alone, the combined fortunes of the 1,000 richest people in Britain rose by 30 percent to ￡333.5 billion (around $543 billion)." The epicenter of the immediate economic crisis is the eurozone, but successive British governments have colluded in "incubating the poverty, the inequality and the inhumanity now exacerbated by financial turmoil".

One of the most tragic aspects of London's meltdowns, said Bonner, is that they need this ruined generation to heal if Britain is ever to feel prosperous and safe again. "If there are no jobs for today's malcontents and no means to exploit their skills, then the UK is in graver trouble than it thinks."

But isn't it what is happening in the US today, with the widening gap between rich and poor, no jobs, and a frustrated underclass, asked Bonner.