Posted by Smartarse
on Fri 24 Aug 07, 10:42 PM to Smartarse's blog.
Why?
Why does no one want to live in Britain anymore? Why are we descending into a nation of thugs?
These are the questions being asked in the media this week and I've yet to hear the argument that agrees with my thinking on that, so here it is..
Could it be that we live in a nation of oppressive regulation and surveillance? A country where you can do nothing without falling foul of some rule, be observed and recorded doing it? Is it because every organisation has become wise to what they can get away with; how they can impose rules and trap unsuspecting customers in their webs of regulation.
For example, traffic cameras - Whether they are catching speeders or imposing congestion charges - the point is, authority is always with you. It can be the dead of night, Boxing Day morning - the roads can be deserted but the cameras are still there imposing the rule of law.
Tried phoning the bank on behalf of your elderly relative? You won't get past the jobsworth security. No one has the authority to go out on a limb and sort out your problem for you. They only have the authority to impose their petty rules.
Authority backed by infallible technology that knows who you are and where you live. Good or bad we live in a country that has reached rule saturation point.
I can't think of any more examples right now. These things aren't major annoyances, more minor, low level irritations. BT charging me 18 pounds a year for the luxury of paying quarterly. Not being able to reinstall Windows without having to phone up Microsoft for a new keycode. But they add up to a feeling of: 'they hate me, they don't value me, they don't trust me, they only want my money, and they'll do anything to make sure they get it.'
So how do I draw the connection between an over regulated authoritarian society with our problems with petty crime and thuggery?
Your average adolescent boy - and to a lesser extent girl - wants nothing more than respect. They are at an age when they are finding their place in the world. But we treat them all the same - as threats and potentially troublesome. Ten times a day this is underlined. Every time someone gets out of their car and it peep peeps to show the alarm is set. Every time a camera swings to follow a hoodie as it walks through the park. Young or old, we are all treated the same - as potential criminals and people who must be mistrusted and kept in line. But kids feel this oppression without knowing how to deal with it and at a time when they have an almost physical need to gain some kind of status. Clearly the world in which they live has no respect for them. They hear their parents grumble about being fined for not recycling, they see the hoops needing to be jumped through by their single mothers to get benefits, their estranged fathers harried by the CPA for maintenance, the restrictive curriculum that teachers abide by, the disrepect and suspicion of the medical profession and retail. And they soak it all up.
They don't get respect from this world that hates people, so they turn to their peers and look for their respect. It might result in a bit of bravado - a broken bush, some grafitti, some disrespect of an innocent bystander. It might escalate to something more.
And respect is gained by owning things. Who's got the latest gadget, the best trainers the deadliest weapon? We need to get back to respect being given to those that are charitable, compassionate and public spirited.
No one has yet drawn the link between the authoritarian society we've created and the resistance to authority that our youth shows. I believe those into M/s might recognise it as reactance. (There's your BDSM ration BTW)
What do we do about it? For those who don't want to emigrate, perhaps things need to change. Perhaps a little less reliance on technology to solve our problems. A stronger resistance to overbearing rules. A recognition of our own role in creating this atmosphere and a realisation that better security isn't neccesarily better lifestyle.
I don't really expect anyone to read beyond the first paragraph of this. And I strongly doubt anyone here will agree with me anyway. People love their gadgets and if you've not experienced the thrill of being woken at three in the morning by a party of drunken 15 year olds camped on your front lawn, you just won't feel the same about it. But I feel I have to say something about this and point out what to me is obvious: the things that are supposed to make things better and keep us safe are making things worse.
| 24 Aug 07, 11:31 PM condemned UK(M), 11 yrs  |
Hi.Well i read the full piece.Firstly i would like to congratulate you on a well thought out and intelligent piece of writing.Secondly i would like to say you are WRONG WRONG WRONG!!! For over 40 years we have trodden this path.Looking for root causes.Understanding the yobs,the criminals.Making every excuse in the book for their vile behaviour,from their hamster died when they were 5,to being called fatty,thinny,big ears or 4 eyes at school.Don't punish...understand.Offer them the hand of friendship.And watch as they break it then jump on your head as you fall in agony and suprise to the floor! Let us get one thing straight.The only thing they recognise and respect is....FEAR.They have to fear the consequences their behaviour will bring down upon their head.Asbo's,behavioural contracts.They laugh at them and piss in the face of the poor sops trying to enforce them. I was brought up and lived and drank amongst such people.They know every trick in the book and the law better than the solicitor who represents them.The only thing they respect is someone bigger and badder than them.That is why the villians houses never get broken into or their mothers mugged.Because they know a whole lot of pain and terror will be visited on them if they do! Some political party has to wake up from their cosy mollycoddled world and have the bollocks to become bigger and badder than the thugs and put the fear of God into THEM! Until they do savage murders and beatings will go on and on and poor decent people will live their lives like they do now...in constant fear that taking the wrong turning,catching the wrong bus or train,looking at the wrong person will result in them booted into a vegatable or worse!! | |||
| 24 Aug 07, 11:36 PM sasha_811 UK, 4 yrs |
I wouldn't mind the cameras and all the security stuff if it actually made me feel safe. I experienced a period of a 2 year attack by kids. I'm frightened again because after a year's break, they are starting to gather outside my home again. Move to another country? Absolutely, I was planning on that, until I met Master Cyanide. My plans have changed, but with the fear which is now deep within me because of the attacks I experienced on my home, I know Master Cyanide will be able to protect me once we are together, so I'm not rushing for the 'Exit Britain' sign any longer. Besides, the road cameras do seem to be a good idea in practice, but I've yet to actually recieve my photos! | |||
| 24 Aug 07, 11:38 PM RastaPasta 9 yrs |
Hey! I managed to get passed paragraph one, and read every single word of this fine weblog....do I win a prize? A misunderstood hoody perhaps? who can camp out on my front lawn/ drive as long as he/she promises to mow it the next morning!? <Nah! Just kidding you. I will adjust my sensible head. Having worked with 'Yoofs' professionally I understand totally your mention of , what is basically, the misrepresentation and subsequent fear of teenagers and young adults in society and the media. I live in a small village, where the majority of the local population is made up of either teenagers, or older folk who have been here since 1644! Naturally there is a suspicion amongst each group towards the other. The older members of the community see the younger as a threat. Hanging around in gangs (even when there are physically only two) talking loudly (enthusiastically) dressed with faces covered by hooded tops (fashionably)Skulking about (walking dead slow) and daubing graffiti on private property (showing artistic.....er, Sods! daubing graffiti on private property!) The younger member's feel they are being watched and can't put a foot right! A couple of times I have had to ask some young local lads not to play ball by our drive because they might hit and damage our car, or to not climb our apple tree ( which is on the lawn at the top of our drive) I ask politely and always thank them when they comply. I also say they can help themselves to apples if they knock and let me know they are around. They always say hello when they walk past me or see me. 'I' personally have no problems with them but that's because they don't have problems with me. Are teenagers really any different anywhere else if they are not shown respect?
Babble babble! bitch bitch! rebel rebel! Party party! sex! sex! sex! and don't forget the violence Blah! blah! blah! got your lovey dovey sad and lonely stick your stupid slogan in and everybody sign along!...... (Marilyn Manson/This is the new shit) | |||
| 24 Aug 07, 11:40 PM sasha_811 UK, 4 yrs |
hmm 'fear', like in the old days when a copper would wack a kid for smoking. We need more police on the streets, with powers to wack the little buggers! | |||
| 24 Aug 07, 11:43 PM sasha_811 UK, 4 yrs |
'Respect'. I used to show them respect, as soon as my back would be turned would get a brick thrown at my back. Exterminate the little sods, that's the answer. | |||
| 24 Aug 07, 11:48 PM RastaPasta 9 yrs |
<WOW! I have never experienced or witnessed anything like that thank goodness. Of course there will be those amongst the decent ones who are little shits! Respect would be lost on them, treated with contempt perhaps. I say give 'em a chance and see what they are like. If they dissapoint, bitch slap 'em by all means! Babble babble! bitch bitch! rebel rebel! Party party! sex! sex! sex! and don't forget the violence Blah! blah! blah! got your lovey dovey sad and lonely stick your stupid slogan in and everybody sign along!...... (Marilyn Manson/This is the new shit) | |||
| 25 Aug 07, 12:08 AM condemned UK(M), 11 yrs |
''<WOW! I have never experienced or witnessed anything like that thank goodness.'' Sorcha.....with respect to yourself lots of people who work with youths don't. Most [except for the odd reformed jailbird who gets involved]are nice middle class people who live in nice middle class estates.The reality for thousands of people in this country in housing accomodation and council property is 24/7 hell, by gangs of drunken drugged up scum, who couldn't give a flying fuck for the terror and misery they cause their victims.In fact......they quite enjoy it. | |||
| 25 Aug 07, 12:14 AM Smartarse UK(CM), 7 yrs |
How would you implement that policy? | |||
| 25 Aug 07, 12:16 AM MissP UK(EN), 8 yrs  |
Ressurect The Krays
Clicky here and SPONSOR ME PLEASE! | |||
| 25 Aug 07, 12:28 AM condemned UK(M), 11 yrs |
Not far wrong Miss P.The government have to BECOME like the Krays,feared.Before we try to help them mend their ways we first have to PUNISH the crime.Let them know beforehand what will happen if they commit a certain crime.Then apply it HARD and without mercy when they do!The soft approach has brought us to the state we are in today.11 year old kids blasted to oblivion for no reason. |
