As Donald Rumsfeld would have it, there are the known knowns, the known unknowns and those damn tricky unknown unknowns. That seems to encapsulate the Mark Duggan tragedy perfectly. Was Duggan part of London’s gang culture? Almost certainly. Was he carrying a gun at the time of his arrest and murder? Possibly. Did he have the gun in his hand at the time of his murder? Almost certainly not. Could the police have detained Duggan without shooting him dead? No doubt about it. Have the police covered up and lied about the whole affair. Very likely. These sort of questions and answers pretty well cover the known knowns and the known unknowns.

But the really interesting questions are the unknown unknowns. For example, what will it take to prevent other young lads like Mark Duggan getting caught up in gang culture? Why are young Black men far more likely to be stopped and searched than their white counterparts? Why do so many black people die in police custody? When will the next riot break out in London? Why is there fifty percent youth unemployment across Europe? What do we have to do to stop the Metropolitan Police being institutionally racist? And perhaps the most unknown of the unknowns; what will it take to finally remove racism from the European psyche?

It doesn’t take a genius to work out that all of the above, even the most intractable of questions, are related. Unemployment is a debilitating cancer that eats away at both the unemployed and the employed alike. Each resents the other. The employed are forever looking over their shoulders seeking to blame the unemployed for all their ills and insecurities. The unemployed despise those in work because they remind them of what they themselves are being denied; the right to earn a decent living. And if that isn’t a corrosive enough mix, throw in racial prejudice, and the final product is truly toxic.

But what comes first in this chicken and egg syndrome? The answer to that is something of an unknown unknown. By the very nature of capitalism there will always be unemployment, or to use the more scientific term, the reserve army of labour. Nothing works more than the threat of unemployment to keep labour rates to a minimum. If you don’t toe the line there are plenty of unemployed workers just waiting in the wings ready to take your place. But that is only half the story. The other tried and tested method of controlling the workforce is divide and rule on the basis of colour, nationality and religion.

Mark Duggan and thousands like him fit perfectly into this toxic mix of entrenched unemployment and a deep seated institutionalised European racism. From the earliest age, they cannot help but feel surplus to requirements. They sense the racism all around them. They sense the unemployment that awaits them. They feel excluded from an early age. Excluded from the mainstream, they seek status and satisfaction in belonging to a gang. Here, notions of respect, honour and justice can be played out on the street. Mark Duggan is no more mean and violent than those running our banks and industries. Possibly is darn sight more compassionate than those crooks in suits. But there is little or no opportunity for him at the official table so he had to take his talents and energies elsewhere.

Duggan and his fellow gang members are just small businessmen really, trying to make their way in the urban capitalist jungle. A few of them will make it big and then put on some fancy suits and hire some fancy lawyers. Most will spend a lifetime ducking and diving, trying to stay one step ahead of the state. A few, like Duggan get blown away by the cops and the whole thing is covered up with lies and cheap bourgeois sentiment.

Mark Duggan may have been on his way to kill some other marginalised and excluded youth. There again maybe he wasn’t. Either way, both he, his fellow gang members and their gang rivals are, while culpable for their actions, victims of a barbaric and inhumane economic system. There have been plenty of Mark Duggan’s in the past and there will continue to be plenty more until something fundamental changes. Unknown unknowns.

In tribute to the unwarranted, illegal State murder of Mr Duggan and all those who have perished in similar circumstances, and to all those who will follow, I offer some apposite lines from Mr Linton Kwesi Johnson.

Liesense Fi Kill

Yu cyan awsk Clinton McCurbin bout haxfixiasham
An yu cyan awask Joy Gardner bout her sufficaeshan
Yu cyan awsk Colin Roach if im really shoot imself
An yu cyan awsk Vincent Graham a im stab imself

But yu can awsk di commishinah bout di liesense fi kill
Awsk Sir Paul Condon bout di liesense fi kill
Yu cyaan awsk Ibrahim bout di CS gas attack
An yu cyaan awsk Misses Jarrett ow shi get her hawt-attack

Yu cyan awsk Oliver Price bout di grip roun in nek
An yu cyaan awsk Steve Boyce bout im det by neglect
But yu can awsk di PCA bout di liesense fi kill
Awsk di ACPO bout di liesense fi kill

Yu fi awsk Maggi Tatcha bout di liesense fi kill
Yu can awsk Jan Mayja bout di lesense fi kill
Yu can awsk Mykel Cowad bout di liesense fi kill
An yu can awsk Jak Straw bout di rule af law

Yu fi awsk Tony Blare if im aware ar if im care
Bout di liesense fi kill dat plenty poleece feel dem gat.