The Gray Monk

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May 28, 2005

More thoughts on yobs ....

My thanks must go to a commenter on my post on the Yob Culture affecting Britain. He has provoked some further thoughts which I think I should share. His comment can be found by clicking here, but I will reproduce some of it right here in this post.

Firstly, he disagrees with me that "poverty" is a factor in this yobbish culture we are suffering. In fact, he says:

".... there is no poverty in the UK. Poverty means not
having enough to eat, or not having rags to wear. Whatever factors have
influenced this behaviour, poverty cannot be one of them, because it
simply is not there."

I agree fully with his statement; our welfare society has in fact created a situation where even the most impecunious and idle are "cared for" by one of the many handouts available under the system of benefits. They can get housing, assistance with income, with their heating, lighting, and water. The money handed out in cash is sufficient to live on if you are careful and don't spend it on drink or drugs. Sadly, many are not so careful and will buy drugs or drink before food, but they are still able to make that choice! If they lived in the real poverty one meets in Africa or the Far East (for example), they simply do not even have the ability to choose between food and drugging themselves. Nor do they get housing or shelter - this they must make shift to do for themselves!

No, the "Charities" in the UK who make such a fuss about "poverty" in the UK and its being the root of all our social ills are using such measures as "do the children have a VCR, Mobile Phone, Game Boy, Designer Jeans" and so on as their measure of "poverty". What nonsense.

As my commentator says:

"Similarly if you go to poorer countries, countries with far greater
wealth disparity, countries where people are really poor you don't find
this delinquency."

You do find crime is a major issue in some of these, and banditry is a problem in others; however, you simply do not find the "yob" mentality. For one thing, many of these countries deal with such behaviour very swiftly and often harshly. The key issue is one of respect - respect for authority figures, respect for parents, and respect for those with more life experience or perhaps a more orthodox approach to life. That is what most countries as yet uncontaminated with the socialist "vision" of a world in which everyone earns the same, shares the same values and the same resources - all equally, of course with the exception of those running this paradise.

There has to be a recognition as well of the fact that "adult" crimes, committed by "young people" is still a serious "adult crime"! It cannot be treated as anything else, and the punishment has to reflect that. The boys who murdered toddler Jamie Bulger will live out their lives protected by the society that they rejected. Why? Why should a murderer be shown leniency? Recent studies have shown that children as young as 7 do understand the difference between right and wrong - and that they also know that the law cannot touch them! This needs to be recognised and addressed if we are to restore "respect" for the law. At present we have gangs of children who regard the award of an Anti-Social Behaviour Order as a badge of honour. They know exactly what it takes to get one and they think it is an achievement deserving of respect. This has to change. Poverty is NOT and cannot be the root cause of this behaviour; it is the result of an over protected criminal element which is encouraged to have no respect for anything and anyone.

I agree entirely with this view expressed by my commentator:

"The poverty argument is an excuse to hide the delinquency resulting
from the obvious failure of socialist control games with the family and
society."

"Poverty", particularly in the industrialised nations of the West, has become the smokescreen used to hide the complete paucity of the socialist dream. It simply cannot deliver and is based entirely on the false premise that everyone is of equal ability, equal initiative, and equally values the worth and contribution of all others. It is also a smokescreen which hides the failures of a "universal" education system, the rising destructive influence of bureaucrats, and "social workers" impacting on families, of cretinous politicians promoting "single parenting", gender dysfunctional parenting, and a host of other anti-family measures and concepts - all of which have failed miserably, and have contributed mightily to the rise of this disrespectiful underclass of young criminal thugs.

Interestingly, they seem to regard "respect" as their "right" - something again promoted by the socialist idealists who push the "no discipline" line. Respect is now not something to be earned, but something - in the view of the yobs and their supporters in the "protection" lobbies - which is theirs by right! You can get beaten up for "dissing" one of them - in other words for not showing them the respect they feel they can demand.

Respect is earned; it is not a right, whatever the politicians like to think. Until there is recognition of this, the situation will not, and cannot, improve.

Posted by The Gray Monk at May 28, 2005 08:58 AM

Comments

Posted by: skipjack at May 28, 2005 11:32 AM

Posted by: urthshu at May 28, 2005 02:36 PM