kids these days
- Thread starter rockypoppy2
- Start date
john eden cannot hold his drink and got violent at the end of what i had previously thought was a sedate and restrained night at scritti politti's local pub. just ask paul meme or martin, he does it all the time. man's a total liability.
no, seriously, we'd gone for a couple of drinks and decided to walk home, i was on the end leg of my journey, took a shortcut downa badly lit and not especially picturesque street, where two guys decided that they had better relieve me of my wallet and phone. i put up a bit of a fight, then a knife got drawn, at which point i gave my stuff up. i got home safe and it's all ok, was a couple of month back now.
no, seriously, we'd gone for a couple of drinks and decided to walk home, i was on the end leg of my journey, took a shortcut downa badly lit and not especially picturesque street, where two guys decided that they had better relieve me of my wallet and phone. i put up a bit of a fight, then a knife got drawn, at which point i gave my stuff up. i got home safe and it's all ok, was a couple of month back now.
Shit, was that after we went to the Turkish? Really sorry to hear that
damn i always get you two confused.
i was held up with a knife in downtown LA once. gave the guy my 3USD watch with a smile and he ran away.
muggings are almost entirely unthinkable in berlin. there are like, 2 random stabbings a year. and the unemployment is what? last i checked 25%. no homeless, no suffering, no desperation. the streets feel absolutely safe at all hours of the night.
imagine 25% unemployment in LA... fuck. it'd be a war zone 24/7/365. people would get sprayed sprayed with AK's every half hour.
i was considering living in london for a while next year... but stuff like this makes me a little nervous.
i was held up with a knife in downtown LA once. gave the guy my 3USD watch with a smile and he ran away.
muggings are almost entirely unthinkable in berlin. there are like, 2 random stabbings a year. and the unemployment is what? last i checked 25%. no homeless, no suffering, no desperation. the streets feel absolutely safe at all hours of the night.
imagine 25% unemployment in LA... fuck. it'd be a war zone 24/7/365. people would get sprayed sprayed with AK's every half hour.
i was considering living in london for a while next year... but stuff like this makes me a little nervous.
nah this was before that, probably more like three months ago. anyway, it wasn't a big personal discolsure thing, more just to say that it's a serious problem that you can't really pussyfoot around. being all understanding about these things is ok until you encounter the reality of the situation, i suppose. i think there should be a mandatory jail term for carrying a knife, a much bigger one for using one and a lot of work done with communities, too, because despite having plenty of libraries(!) london can be a pretty tough place for kids to grow up.
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don't worry about it zhao, i've been walking around london late at night in various states of sobriety/inebriation for well over a decade and this was the first time anything bad has ever happened. it's not a regular thing for people not involved, just something that's good to be aware of. i'm much less worried about getting hurt myself than i am kids in my neighbourhood seriously hurting each other over something that probably doesn't even warrant shouting over and at worst deserves a a few noble fisticuffs, queensbury rules-style, like what would have happened when i were a lad in 1932.
rockypoppy2
wtf?
i wasnt suggesting the problem was only dominant around social housing schemes above, but i think one of the solutions proposed about the caretakers on estates is a good one, and getting rid of crackhouses on estates is also good.
the report about youth gangs in waltham forest needs to be read - someone posted the name upthread - something like Reluctant gangsters, youth gangs in Waltham Forest
in that report it estimates the number of people directly involved with gangs (as in commiting crimes/ participating/ looking out etc - not gang crime victims) at 1 or 2% of the population of 14-24 (roundabout) year olds, about 700kids in waltham forest - which isnt the worst borough in london apparently.
im not sure harsh sentencing is the way to go for kids carrying knives because they are scared. maybe harsher sentencing for those who use said knives for intimidation/robbery/stabbing - but punishing someone because they are scared shitless isnt cool either.
Mr. Tea
Let's Talk About Ceps
Just goes to show that while money (or the lack of it) certainly has something to do with it, it's not the whole story by a long shot. Even the poorest people in Britain have been steadily getting better off over the past 10 years or so - something many people overlook in their hatred of Blair and all things Nu-Labour - and there's been a corresponding fall in overall crime levels: something like a third since 1995, apparently. So if poverty levels are falling, why is this particular kind of gang-related violence on the increase (which, even taking media hysteria into account, it undoubtedly is)?
Mr. Tea
Let's Talk About Ceps
That's an understandable sentiment, but don't your chances of getting stabbed massively increase the moment you pick up a knife yourself? I mean, suppose someone mugs you with a knife and you are yourself unarmed: unless your attacker is a genuine psycho you're going to be badly shaken up and lose your phone and wallet, but that's all. If you pull a knife, one or both of you is going to end up stabbed. And even if you start out carrying a knife (let alone a gun) purely for personal protection, how long is it going to be before you start to get used to and even enjoy the 'respect' (read: fear) you in turn induce in other people?
yeah, those sentences would have to be handed out judiciously. after all the CPS gets to say who actually gets prosecuted anyway. the fact is kids shouldn't have to carry knives for protection so the reasons for this should be removed, they should also be scared of getting caught.
rockypoppy2
wtf?
very true mr tea.
so what do you do about knife crime - isnt gun crime going down aswell?
well how about shock therapy, taking schoolkids to morgues, a&e's, prisons? dunno, just an idea. didnt prince charles do that with his kids over cannabis - maybe visits to rehab centres should be part of the school curriculum?
or maybe instead of excluding kids for carrying weapons into school - simply confiscate the weapons (they search for them now) and give the child a choice between enrollment on extra curricular classes (i dunno, plumbing/life painting/boxing classes/whatever) or a stretch inside, the idea being to tire the child out with extra classes - take him/her off the street whilst at the same time get them participating in something more practical and rewarding, with a threat of prison if the child a)re-offends, b)bunks courses
i dunno. maybe they wouldnt be workable. i'd like to see polytechnics re-instated though along with more practical courses for people once they finish the school system,
Mr. Tea
Let's Talk About Ceps
That could be a really good idea. And I agree totally about the polytechnics, as well.
2 relevent articles from our favorite hipster publication: the future of weapons an d how to rob
funny about the future of weapons, my grandad told me to put carefully shaved off rose-thorns between my knucks, but we were from the country i suppose.
Thanks grandad, never had to do it though.
rockypoppy2
wtf?
i think vice needs to start charging for its shit. that way no one will bother to read this crap
Recipe for disater:
1) Take young person who asks 'Who am i ... what am i worth and who too? where do i fit in, what is my role?' i.e. how can i get laid(or have others want to me)?
2) Mix a culture that minimizes the communication between child and loving adults. (i.e. key life individuals that have emotional response-ability - make the child feel adequate/loved)
3) Eloquently advertise an unattainable material value system that functions on peoples desires to be who they are not, and then identify objects as a replacement for core emotional loss.
cook for 13 years and get some low self-worth, unable to communicate how they feel to themselves(i.e. what is the cause of their pain or happiness, and so how to go about changing it) or others . i.e. "no one else gives a shit, whats the point, its not fair, fuck you, bang '
----
somewhere in this mix community is important but i'm too fucked up to emotionally understand how.
r.
Mr. Tea
Let's Talk About Ceps
For the love of God, will somebody PLEASE think of the fucking children?!?!?!?!?
Two items in today's news that struck me as somehow complementary to each other...
When you wrap kids up in cotton wool and treat them Innocent Wonderful Angels: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7062424.stm
this is the sort of thing that happens: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/7061658.stm
Two items in today's news that struck me as somehow complementary to each other...
When you wrap kids up in cotton wool and treat them Innocent Wonderful Angels: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7062424.stm
this is the sort of thing that happens: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/7061658.stm