I really don't know what Britain is coming to.I've just been browsing the BBC news 24 website and I'm genuinely shocked and angered at the level of violent crime in this country. It's staggering.
Shakilus Townsend, 16, stabbed and murdered in broad daylight.
Ben Kinsella, 16, stabbed and murdered in the street.
Hamouda Bessaad, 34, stabbed and murdered in Old Kent Road, London.
Dee Willis, 28, stabbed and murdered in Peckham, London.
And the most horrific:
Laurent Bonomo & Gabriel Ferez, both 23, stabbed, in their own home, over 240 times then set on fire.
Those are all just from London and from the last week.
Where do I begin?
I suppose I should feel lucky. I live in a nice town, with a good record against violent crime. The local beat constable is The Demon's brother, so is often to be seen at my home, thereby (possibly) deterring a criminal or two. If only those same criminal masterminds knew that he usually drops in to take a shit in my toilet because the one in his station has "the wrong kind of paper"!
But I don't feel lucky. I feel fucking blind rage that the government in this country has allowed our society to degenerate to the stage where jail is no longer a deterrent, where offenders carrying out community service cannot be singled out by bright orange jumpsuits for fear of psychologically damaging them, and where a prison inmate can successfully take the Government to court because he has to slop out his own shit from his cell.
ITS. ALL. FUCKING. WRONG.
No one should be afraid to walk down their own street, and I apologise for sounding like my dad, but things were different when I were a lad. The thought of punishment for doing something wrong, be it by the police or my dad, scared the shit out of me, still does, but today couldn't be further from that 1970's truth.
Jail is no longer a deterrent, it's an inconvenience.
Community service has never been a deterrent, it's just a chore.
Fines aren't a deterrent if you don't have the money to pay in the first place.
I don't know the answer, but maybe Jaggy wasn't far off the mark with Jaggy Island.
It's not a deterrent if it's easy.
"But what can I do, I'm just an ordinary member of the community?" I hear you say dear reader.
Well, here's what I'm going to do. Come the general election in 18 months or so, my vote will be based solely on antisocial behaviour and what the main parties propose to do about it.
Forget the economy, that's the Bank of England's job.
Forget Afghanistan, we're already there, have to make the best of a bad job.
Forget the environment, that's a job for business, industry, and God.
Forget the NHS, it's terminally ill itself.
Make your voice heard. Make this the number 1 priority. Let these lying fuckers that play Monopoly with us know that an ASBO or an electronic tag doesn't constitute punishment.
Here endeth the sermon.
P.S. - I'm now on holiday for a week. Sweet.
P.P.S. - This week I'm liking 'Time To Pretend' by MGMT.
12 comments:
Funny, I was talking about this with the wife the other day (well, not so funny really given the current TV saturation)... much tougher sentences on people caught carrying weapons are needed. None of this namby-pamby social championing bollocks. Get the knives and guns off the streets first, then sort out people's lives from a position of safety.
I'm just wondering which one of our mighty political parties has the balls to make the strong radical decisions needed sort out the mayhem on our streets.
How about a mandatory 5 year sentence just for carrying a knife?
And for fucks sake, lets build more jails, it's not rocket science, just because there's no more room indoors doesn't mean they can't be put in marquees outside. So fuck if it's cold and wet, it's not a fucking holiday camp. Just don't release the fuckers early as has become the norm.
They should just let you have guns and be allowed to use them in defence of yourselves, your families and your property.Certainly makes me feel better.
Funny coincidence #2. I just downloaded the MGMT album and am currently of the opinion the "Time To Pretend" is a piece of genius.
Steve, Jaggy - I agree, a mandatory 12 month sentence if found carrying a knife would be the way forward I think, unless you're also carrying a fishing rod and a box of tackle at the same time.
Ron - I'm not sure about the gun thing. It's not life indoors that's under threat, it's the second you step out your front door where it starts to get risky. I think guns in the UK would cause more problems than they'd fix.
MGMT - Great minds, and all that.
I carry my Glock 26 with me everywhere I go. Licenced to carry a concealed firearm, I am. So next time some surly, pimply youth decided to try and pull a knife on me, I take off at speed (as any right minded person should) whilst drawing my 9mm semi-auto. If he descides to pursue me with said blade, he dies. Simple really.
I recommend it as a deterrent. If these turds who go around being a pain in the arse to everyone (and I know how it is, they were one of the reasons it was not difficult to leave the UK for me) had the notion that the next guy they pulled a knife on might just (legally)blow them away it may give them pause to think, no?
Recent laws passed in Texas now also allow the use of deadly force to protect your life AND property. So if you get into it with the local chavs and they decide to brick your house, you'd be well within your rights to shoot 'em to protect your home too.
Not bad, eh?
I can hear the sound of Mr. Inchy's suitcases being packed as we speak.....
Ron - You have tattoos and are 'packing heat'. No wonder the chicks dig you.
Dont forget the bike.
As if!
I'm wholly behind any campaign to clean up the streets and reduce the level of violence that is taking its toll.
I can't recommend arming the population though. Anyone in the States who feels that legalising gun ownership and the use of "deadly force" will reduce violent crime hasn't looked in any kind of detail at the statistics. The evidence is that legalising guns here would be likely to lead to an escalation of guns being carried by the criminal element ("if I'm likely to come up against a gun, I'd better have one myself"), a huge number of accidents and ... death, death, death.
It might make an individual feel safer I grant you ... but the overall effect is negative.
Stepping off my soapbox now!
Ok everyone, Ro's finished with the soapbox. Anyone else fancy a go?
Yep, can't argue with the statistics. If all the guns in this crazy country went away tomorrow, I'd be OK with it but seeing as most of the population is armed to the teeth, it would be foolish of me not to be.
Again, it's a bullshit arguement to suggest that to give everyone guns and the criminals then have them. Of course they do. The difference is their victims do too. Given the choice between being an armed victim and an unarmed victim, I will choose the former every time. Why do these little scrotes carry knives and stab you and me? Because they know that you and I aren't allowed to carry knives or any other weapon to defend ourselves and as law-abiding citizens we comply and don't. That gives the criminal an immediate advantage. All arming the population does is levels the playing field. If that means a rise in casualties because criminals are getting hit back, fine by me. Keeps me in work too, of course, because Im a registered nurse....
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