Incidentally, I make no apology for keeping this subject alive. Thanks to the swift work of local authorities and the civic-minded majority, only the most damaged spots remain burned-out or boarded-up from the riots, but this doesn't mean that the impact of these (potentially) crowd-sourced, flash mobs has disappeared.
For those affected - the businesses that were destroyed, the people who lost their homes, the emergency services, the courts and even those who find themselves being processed by unexpectedly swift and harsh justice - the memory and impact of the wide-ranging and willful destruction is still fresh. But as the riots slip down the news agenda and gradually fall off the front pages, does this mean that we are losing the momentum to make the changes that could stop similar riots?
I hope not, not least because sustained public pressure is vital if we are to make a real difference. In my opinion there are three main changes to be made if we are to reduce the chances of such an obscene drama being played out again in our communities.
First, and this is why organisations like BiTC are so important, we need more enlightened capitalism to create community well-being, as well as individual wealth. As Raksha Pattni, Regional Director for BiTC, put it: "healthy high streets need healthy back streets." This means we need employers who make their staff feel proud of their work, rather than make it feel like a drudge. We need employers who take risks by employing people who otherwise would have no stake in society. We need employers who make volunteering part of their culture, so that wealth and well-being can be more widely distributed. And, vitally, the more the public and the public sector commissioners can recognise these enlightened businesses and buy from them, the greater the overall movement in the spirit-level bubble that measures fairness and engagement.
Second, the media cannot forget the part they play. The lionising of the lifestyles of the feral rich across acres of newsprint and billions of pixels has set the aspirational level of the disengaged of our generation. When yachts are bought from the billions that are sheltered from tax in off-shore accounts*, looting a pair of trainers hardly even registers as small change - it can't be wrong can it? It's essential that the government don't see their role as waging a war on the less wealthy members of society - it has to be a war against wrong-doing in all its many forms. A smashed window is a crime whether it was broken by a member of a street gang or the Bullingdon Club.
And, finally, for the politicians. As Deborah Orr in this week's Guardian explained by quoting Tony Blair, both main political parties "miss the point". We need more than the mantras of "erradicate social deprivation" from the left, or "take personal responsibility" from the right. The evidence base that either works is at best sparse. In fact, there is very little evidence of what does work - and for one striking reason. There is no agreement on how to measure "what works". Social return, happiness, well-being have all been floated and found wanting.
So here's a challenge to the bankers out there who want redemption and something more meaningful to put on their corporate-social-responsibility statement: use your team of mathematicians and analysts not to create new esoteric financial instruments that nobody understands and fewer want, but to give us an agreed, universal measure of social value. Then businesses, politicians and society can have a true barometer of success and prosperity - and, who knows, perhaps it might even get reported in the media.
*but - credit to HMRC - not in Swiss accounts
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