Gav's View

So Mr Cameron, our resurgent leader, believes it is up to society to solve the crime-crisis does he?

Well let me tell him that that’s not right. Society is told by the police not to intervene; society watches as the police chase car drivers for speeding offences (which by themselves hurt no-one) while not appearing to do anything about muggings, common assault, petty vandalism or theft. Does society have anything to gain getting their collected selves killed trying to intervene in the stead of an absent police force (sorry it’s ‘police service’ these days)?

Mr Cameron needs to propose a disincentive element to the justice system rather than, the current, corrective emphasis. The people would respond well to a punishing justice system that not only tries to release effective members of society (as is apparently the aim of the current system) but also tries to make those people scared and respectful of the state’s rules (that are there to protect, afterall, the rest of society).

When I first heard that there were televisions in prison cells (I was very young) I was amazed and asked my parents whether prison wasn’t about punishment. But now television is the least of the benefits. Don’t misunderstand, I don’t think prison would suit me at all, but if you were the bully at school, another school-like setting where you can rule those around you is hardly off-putting.

If people were not punished for intervening, if people could be sure the law would protect those who were acting in society’s greater interest, if people could defend others and themselves with force that the law currently considers ‘unreasonable’ from the safe confines of the courtroom, then (and only then) would people and society start to turn on those among them who were antisocial, violent and intimidating.

Like many things, it doesn’t seem that hard so long as you purge the pink fluff which takes the place of a spine in many politicians.

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Current Affairs, David Cameron, Democracy, Liberty, Politics

This entry was posted on Friday, August 24th, 2007 at 1:22 pm and is filed under Gavin Ayling's blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.