Serial comment writer Molly does not like the look of Britain’s future
The poster of the ‘kindly’ authorities watching us that Perry de Havilland wrote about on Wednesday scared the hell out of me. Is that really how they see themselves? Do they really think we want to have our movements watched? Do they actually think that a bunch of gobshites full of beer on a bus are going to be made to behave by a camera?
The fact is if you have ever had your house broken into in Newcastle (and I have lost count) then you know that the boys in blue, when they turn up a day later to take down your details, are never ever going to catch them. They are just going through the motions. If you are assaulted and raped by someone you do not know, they will take a statement and look around for evidence for a few minutes (like, maybe he dropped his f**king business card perhaps?) and then give you the telephone number of some tax funded and utterly pointless ‘counsellor’ to talk to who will keep forgetting your name.
And yet if you take a baseball bat to a burglar, they will throw the book at you because they know who you are and where you live. Of course they do because you foolishly called them to come.
All the people who live off my taxes, both the ones who empty my meagre bank account to ‘provide me with services’ and the ones on the dole who break into my house to steal what I have left, seem to me to be on the same side most of the time. David Carr is right that if ‘security’ is why the state is watching us, it certainly does not seem to be our security.
No, I am not sure why the cameras are going up but it sure as hell has nothing to do with my safety. The people who put them up do not give a f**k about that, this much I know for sure.
Molly
The future?
I was perusing the London Metropolitan Police website and I found a few interesting posters. There’s this one advertising the 2 year prison term for carrying a knife on the streets. I find that one rather interesting considering how often I carry a pocket knife or more often a multi-tool with a knife on it, good thing I don’t live in Britain.
Then there’s this lovely poster, which seems to encourage the public to fight gun crime via keeping their ears open and their finger nails sharp. I’m sure that’ll work.
Then there’s this one encouraging CCTV operators to keep their cameras and tapes rolling as the front line of defense against terrorism. Though that campaign seems to be of only equal importance to the reporting of suspicious bags to police. I’m sure between those they’ll stop terrorism.
Interesting comment Robin! However the last one is indeed very sensible. On many occasions sharp eyed members of the public have spotted IRA bombs left in bags and alerted people, hence avoiding any or as many casualties. I am not against posters of this sort per se, just ones which presuppose the benevolence of a Panopticon State.
Another poster that sucks is the “you wouldn’t flash your cash so don’t flash your mobile” one. Like, the Official Advice now is “don’t look worth burgling”. Because they won’t be there to save you and you mayn’t save yourself. Bleh.
I thought that Clockwork Orange (the movie) was banned in Britain. I could be wrong; it’s just something I heard, urban legend style.
Julian: Not looking worth burgling is probably the best way to prevent robberies. Much like not looking like raping is the best way to avoid rapes. That doesn’t, in either case, mean it’s the victim’s fault, but you can do things to keep crimes from being committed against you. The best solution would be some self-defense training, but it sounds like someone with a blackbelt in Karate could be fined in Britain just for walking down the street 😉
Much like not looking like raping is the best way to avoid rapes.
Well that is certainly one way, but do you really think it is the BEST way? Surely not going out of your house and if you do, wearing a burqa is where that logic leads.
Why should you have to tolerate hiding yourself? I have a much better ‘best way’: live in a society where you can carry a gun, a society in which people refuse to tolerate either criminals or the state (but I repeat myself) victimising you by either attacking you/enabling attacks against you by making you defenseless.
…and btw, Clockwork Orange was not ‘banned’, it was withdrawn from the UK by talented arch weirdo Kubrick for many years (this is no longer the case). I saw it first time around in any case.
I have no doubt that reporting unattended luggage is an important part of forestalling terrorism, as can being a witness after the fact for a gun homicide, what struck me most was the overall passivity of the actions in all the posters. Don’t defend yourself, be a good witness, keep a low profile, etc.
No, it just means if you do defend yourself on your property or against muggers, make sure you cause maximum damage and don’t call the police.
I wonder how many career burglars may have been mulched by farmers who, taking note of the Martin case, dispose of the evidence in any number of imaginary ways. Must be a few by now.
Interesting comment by Lucas above on martial arts. Indeed, one wonders how long it will be before practitioners of karate, judo etc will be banned from practising the art?
It’s far too late to start worrying about mere poster images when Teletubbies has already completely conditioned our children to rely on Big Brother to keep them happy and safe and tell them exactly what to do.
Indeed, it has been obvious for a long time that the Tubbies was a kind of sanitised version of 1984 as told by creepy marketing people.
The poster with its eyes in the sky will look very comforting to anyone raised on current Western television fare for kids.
Well blow me sideways! I had my article posted on Samizdata! 🙂 🙂 🙂
Get a gun and use it if you have to, and if metropol gets in the way, use it on them