We can barely imagine what drove this mother to take her own life and that of her daughter. OK, some of these 'street urchins' do get on our tits but the thought of suicide, I hope, never crosses our minds. Clearly the mental state of the mother had a part to play in this ghastly tragedy, as well as the utterly reprehensible behaviour of the youths in question.
The questions we need to ask are why the police felt there was nothing they could do about this situation- is it because they couldn't (say due to legal restraints) or because they simply didn't want to (why?).
And here's another question- why the hell didn't the neighbours make a stand or show any kind of empathy with this woman. Didn't they have the guts to stand up to a few oiks?
Or is it because they simply didn't give a toss? Did they just shrug their shoulders and think "well it's not my problem so I don't give a fuck".
I'm not being rhetorical here, I'm simply asking why there was no communal solidarity at work here?
The police should be ashamed of themselves.
And so should the residents of that particular street.
It's very simple, and if you doubt what I'm saying, I'll tell you how to prove it.
The reason there is no communal solidarity is that the state has made itself into the ultimate arbiter and provider of all things. If you don't believe me, have a look for local problems in your area and then talk to locals about it. It doesn't matter whether it's yobs, flytipping or graffiti, the answer will be the same: "The council just doesn't care," or words to that effect. They won't ever say: "You're right, let's go sort it out." And why should they? They pay richly for the council to do this kind of crap, unfortunately, the council is too fucking busy "pursuing green and diversity agendas" to actually do the things that people want them to do. It doesn't matter whether your local council is Red, Blue or Yellow, the focus of the political classes is not on our priorities.
And on the national scale, for example, people won't go and talk to their kids' teachers about school standards or anything, they'll sit and wait for Ed Fucking Bollocks to decree how to make things better.
Locally and nationally, the state has positioned itself as the fount of all goodness, all wisdom and all discipline.
Unfortunately, the state's mouth is writing cheques that it's arse can't cash.
The state doesn't actually have the nous or the resources or the fucking intelligence to perform all these wondrous tasks that it's claimed ownership of, but the vast majority of people have been brainwashed into accepting that "the government needs to do something," and not "I need to do something."
The particularly nasty side effect of this is that the police have become refocused from worrying about crimes against individuals, to worrying about "crimes" against the state or the political orthodoxy. When last did you see a policeman actually doing something constructive? Or at fucking all? The only representatives of law and order that I ever see are:
- plastic plod
- speed cameras
- jumped up uniform-clad jobsworths (who aren't police)
The only time I ever see a pukka policeman, is when I pass one walking to the local McDonalds or M&S to buy lunch. And then the fuckers are all tooled up like it's Compton or something. No, you cockwads, it's a genteel market town. But they never do fucking shit. They just sit in their offices, filling in forms and then drive home in the company Transit. Cunts.
And God forbid you should actually stand up to any of these little shit-kickers - the police will be round in a flash, alright, but they'll be there to bang you up for kiddy-fiddling. And take your DNA.
So there are actually many reasons why the people in the street didn't do anything.
And to be honest, I don't judge them. We had a bit of trouble in my street, nothing like as bad as the Pilkingtons. The police dropped heavy hints that I was wasting their time. The council said it was a matter for the police. I knew that if I went out and did something, I'd be on the wrong end of the stick. I was lucky, the troublemakers fucked off somewhere else. But if they hadn't, I would have either had to wait for the impotent and uncaring state to do something, or I would have had to face possible criminal charges.
Just for "standing up for my local community."
31 comments:
I had some trouble with the old bat next door,she attacked my friends kid with a broom handle. We couldn't really give her a kicking so we called plod.....all they said was "she is old" and did fuck all so being old gets you off too.
Next time its revenge in kind and fuck calling the plod.
If I had done it to her its assault and jail WTFF!!
Excellent post Obo.
"The only time I ever see a pukka policeman, is when I pass one walking to the local McDonalds or M&S to buy lunch. And then the fuckers are all tooled up like it's Compton or something. No, you cockwads, it's a genteel market town."
Like word here Epping?
"The state doesn't actually have the nous or the resources or the fucking intelligence to perform all these wondrous tasks that it's claimed ownership of..."
But when your kid is running for its life from ther kids acting like a pack of animals, they will open up the Town Hall for him to take shelter in, like a medieval peasant.
So, there's that..
Your poster should try and intervene any type of incident. He will find he ends up with a criminal record and his DNA on file.
Ask the dinner lady who broke the omerta in a school in Essex.
Obo, thankyou for honouring me with an entire post here. I almost shat myself- but in a nice way!
The question I was tryng to explore was why nobody, either police or residents, seemed capable or willing to help this woman. I was pissed off about this story last night hence the intemperate language but even in the cold light of day I have to ask what is it about us as a society that has turned so badly rotten in this instance? It's this "don't give a fuck" attitude which really pisses me off.
I do not accept, as you seem to suggest Obo, that we've all somehow been "brainwashed" into believing the state is "the fount of all goodness, all wisdom and all discipline". If the people I talk to are anything to go by the state is the fount of all ineptitude, incompetence and general fuckwittery, summed up in the phrase "they can't do anything right, can they".
Now I wasn't proposing solutions because I don't have any- and neither does anyone else at this point in time. Hinting at some kind of poitical program will be little better than pissing in a hurricane.
No. We have to start by asking ourselves some pretty basic questions about who we are, what we are, what we think of each other then move, slowly, onto questions such as what should we do that the state shouldn't and what the state should do that we shouldn't.
And what we should do instead of looking the other way when a mother and daughter are in such pain...
One of your best Obo.
A old lady up the road from me is mercilessly persecuted by the local kids.
She's a crank but that's not a crime - her home is like a fortress/front windows boarded up from stone throwing.
The police have done nothing so her paranoia has spiralled upwards.
Mine would too if I were trapped in my own home and scared too.
@Weston Bay: Accept it or not, it is your choice. However, you have proved my argument by saying that people think the state is useless at doing these things without then saying "we should just go out there and sort it out ourselves."
People DO think the state is useless, but they also think that all these problems should be solved by the state. It's implicit in their acceptance of the frustration.
They are not going out there and trying to solve the problem themselves. The fact that they pay hugely for the state to do these things for them also discourages them from spending their own time and money on fixing these things directly.
Great post, Obo.
The neighbours were probably too scared to act. Plus, the police say it's a council matter but the council don't want to get involved.
Many people feel that they have no protection - at all. The police won't help, the council won't help, the neighbours won't help, and you can do nothing. There really is a sense of, 'well, put up with it. We don't want to start a war'.
And so it goes on. Some people just move.
Putting real coppers back on the beat does cost money, but surely one of the few things the State is supposed to do is protect the citizens. Instead we get poundstretcher plod.
It's disgusting what happened to the Pilkingtons, but not surprising.
I'm ever so slightly baffled by the reactions here. It is basic socialist dogma that citizen/citizen relationships are replaced by citizen/state ones. It's tragic, I know, but you might as well complain about the existence of welfare, etc, it's an implicit part of the system.
And while I'm being annoying, families used to have fathers who sorted this stuff out. Those were the days, eh?
@Obo. One of the things we have a right to expect from the state is a police organisation that can respond quickly and effectively with criminal behaviour and can do so with the consent and support of the public, freely given.
But equally we also have to accept our responsibility to get together with others to actively discourage anti-social behaviour. Now if you try to do that alone, without any support from your neighbours etc then that is probably too risky and will lead to charges of you being some kind of 'lone ranger' and you'll probably get your head kicked in for your troubles.
"The fact that they pay hugely for the state to do these things for them also discourages them from spending their own time and money on fixing these things directly".
What are you suggesting here Obo? Some sort of vigilantism? Private police forces with private courts and private prisons?
Or is it some kind of collective community sanctions? Doesn't that go against libertarian principles what with it's elevation of individualism above all other considerations?
@Roue le jour. Y'know, I'll let you into a tiny little secret.
Not all socialists are statist. Shh. Don't tell anyone! I'm a citizen/citizen man myself. ;o)
@Weston Bay: I am not specifically speaking about policing, but rather about any community issue, whether it be litter, graffiti, yobs, or whatever.
We pay so much to our councils and government, and they have assumed so much onto themselves that we have lost the spirit and will to do for ourselves.
In 1998, the bastard Labour government changed the law. Yobs are now the business of the local counci, NOT the police. So of course the police won't do anything. And as you say, the councils don't give a shit. Now if I go out and deck a yob, I will end up in the cells and in court, not the vile yob. It would however be worth it IMO.
Obo, you seem obsessed purely with the financial cost of it all. Even if we were paying sfa we would still have to address the problems I outlined.
Even if we were paying SFA (which would never happen) it is still true that the state has assumed this role for itself. The fact that we pay so heavily for it, however, reinforces the feeling that people have that the council should take care of it.
If you tell me that it's your job to wipe my arse, and then tell me that I'm legally obliged to pay you thousands of pounds a year so that you can do it, I'd be absolutely fucked if I'm going to do it myself, even if it does mean that I walk around smelling with a crack full of clinkers.
Good post. Don't agree with it all, but it was good to read. It's a bit superficial to say that people have been brainwashed into thinking government is responsible for everything - institutions like police (but also banks, supermarkets, local government etc) have been endlessly "rationalised" so they've lost all contact with their local community. So everything always gets deferred upwards. This inevitably disenfranchises the people on the spot, including the average citizen. It's not a left-wing fault, but one of managerialism.
@Obo. I shudder at the thought I should ever have to wipe anyone's arse, let alone one as illustrious as yours!
You can keep the money! ;o)
I think the fear of repercussions, following any sort of intervention against yobs, is the root cause of this apathy.
Also, the belief amongst the yobs that nothing will be done to stop them, so they become emboldened.
What can be done about this vicious circle? Fucked if I know.
@Weston Bay, does this mean you're doing it for SFA? :o)
When we were kids, me and Owen burned down the Vinny Jones Church-in-Wales Primary School, called 999and when the tree-hugging twats from the caring-sharing Fire Service turned up to put the fucker out, we pelted them with bottles.
Fucking brilliant, it was.
Your first poster answers your question. Some old bat ( disrespect for age ) attacked my friends kid ( so its not even your kid, but your mate's kid. Butter obviously wouldn't melt in his mouth) with a broomhandle. Hardly a Smith and Wesson really.
And thats the root of all this. Once upon a time if little Darren came home from school having been caned, you kicked his arse for getting caught. No complaint to the LEA. No automatic assumption the teacher had got it wrong. Because until he was a teenager, and perish the thought, earning his keep, he had no rights viz his elders.
Now we have the instant assuption that all authority is to be questioned. No-one is due any respect, and 5 year olds have rights.
Little Darren is often a cunt. The old bat might have attacked him because she was sick to fuck of him. Or his mates Kevin or Terry. But she will have got it wrong cos Darrens a nice kid, not like them others boys from the estate next door, the ones with a lot of half brothers.
Read Lord Of The Flies.
In the absense of authority, thats what happens.
Mitch should go round and see what he can do to help that old bat with her neighbours problem kids. And this mates kid should stay the fuck away from her.
As to the rest of us? I cannot see the clock going back any time soom, so get a gun, and make sure you get the whole fucking gang. We need more folks like Tony Martin in the UK.
Spot on Obo, like you say people don't give a damn.
Spot on Obo, like you say people don't give a damn.
Fucking epic post - love it!
Mitch @ 11:37 said...
"I had some trouble with the old bat next door,she attacked my friends kid with a broom handle."
Could it have been because the brat deserved it?
Maybe if Ms Pilkington had done the same, there'd have been no need for Obo's post.
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang, but a whimper.
(The Hollow Men by T S Elliot, 1925)
Social cohesion is what we used to call 'community spirit': it is people looking out for each other, just like Coronation Street used to be when I was watching it four decades ago.
It seems so much of our beloved government's rules and regulations are designed to kill 'social cohesion' so that our beloved government can make laws to Fix It for us (at vast expense, of course). We shall have Rules on Social Cohesion, we will have to learn all these rules and take tests on them, we shall have to register on Registers to prove we are Worthy and not kiddy fiddlers/granny bashers/expense fiddlers (oops sorry, expense fiddlers are OK).
The brand new shiny Independent (of what?) Safeguarding (of whom?) Authority (oh yeah, whose authority?) is only the latest example of government's insidious undermining of social cohesion, otherwise known as social fabric, otherwise known as Life.
I accidentally came across this just now: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8277378.stm
The 'victims' are paraded as being OK because they are both women police officers. Had they not been, would the Thames Valley Police Federation have given the two their 'full support'?
The real questions are: what the ... has it to do with Ofsted? What the .... has it to do with government? What the .... has it to do with the Thames Valley Police Federation? This sounds like a baby sitting circle to me (albeit a small one of only two (2) mothers). Baby sitting circles are widespread, common and of no concern to Ofsted. Or have they expanded their empire? The answer would seem to be 'yes' and the consequences of that expansion is further destruction of 'social cohesion'. The ISA (see above) is another nail in the coffin of 'social cohesion' as are CRB and ‘enhanced’ CRB checks for people working with children or ‘vulnerable’ adults.
We are all criminals until we have proved our innocence to the ISA: all the child abusers and granny bashers will be queuing outside their door to get the ISA's certificate of non-abuser. And when an ISA certified non-abuser abuses anyone, whose side will the ISA be on?
In a totalitarian state we are all vulnerable.
Why. Do. We. Pay. Taxes?
Anon 21:53
"Why. Do. We. Pay. Taxes?"
To enable all these Fake Charities to expand.
@Weston Bay
Agreed, but most statists seem to think of themselves as socialists. I'm also citizen/citizen, that's why I don't live in the UK anymore.
My badly expressed point being it's deliberate, like 'owning the means of production' not an unexpected side-effect.
Also, It's extremely corrosive. I find people in counties without an intrusive government behave more reasonably to each other.
Bucket of Tongues said:
(but also banks, supermarkets, local government etc) have been endlessly "rationalised" so they've lost all contact with their local community. So everything always gets deferred upwards. This inevitably disenfranchises the people on the spot, including the average citizen. It's not a left-wing fault, but one of managerialism.
It is a problem of socialism, since it tends to be socialists who create monsters like the FSA, various elfin safety regulators and Tradind Standards regualtors, and who then vastly increase their budgets and manpower to ensure they can interfere more.
And becuase bureaucrats are arguably bureaucrats because they're the world's natural Righteous and Know What's Best For The Plebs, they create in their turn "penalties for breach of regulations". Draconian, in many cases.
Banks, supermarkets, local government and other targeted groups respond by withdrawing discretion from the front line and controlling everything centrally, to avoid the regulators.
That's why your "bank manager" is likely 23 years old, covered in acne, has brylcreemed spiky hair, couldn't find his own arse with a map, compass, satnav and detailed user manual, and has no decision making power whatever.
The job's been de-skilled to protect the bank from FSA breaches.
> "Why. Do. We. Pay. Taxes?"
We don't pay taxes, they are extorted.
The government is the final remaining mafia group in an area. Some mafia bosses do a better job than others.
Don't expect anything from the state that doesn't advance their interests. The only thing honest yuo'll get from the state is a bill.
Hide your assets and pay what's visible.
Not going to get into the debate....happily don't work in social services anymore and I fully understand how Local councils work, I’ve worked in or supposedly with them for 16 years.
It's definitely about the white paper of the day. Hitting that remit ensuring more or repeat funds for the next financial year, self promotions and keeping hold of departments...or trying to close down or merge departments for more of the wealth. They don't give a cock for the community no matter what their foyer pamphlets portray.
It's one of the MANY reasons I walked out of it ....
Nicely written Obo...
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