Tuesday 22 April 2008

A criminal record?

For a bin lid that doesn't quite shut? How, exactly, is that proportionate? How, exactly, does having a permanent CRB problem reflect the scale of his offence? Why are we letting the people who claim to be our servants revel in ever increased punishments: while we teachers are told by experts that children do not learn through punishment, the theory is being pursued with genuine enthusiasm when it comes to adults by those who claim to be working for us. The extremity of this treatment, and the blank faced assumption of moral superiority by the enforcers of draconian punishments fills me with horror. And I really would be proud of being called a purple faced Daily Mail reader by those who should know better - the Guardian readers don't seem to give a monkey's about the harsher treatment of citizens by its so-called "public services". Yes, the scare quotes are completely necessary.

Assuming that the BBC website and Radio 5 reports are correct, I don't think I am alone in finding this kind of case frightening: minor infractions being treated in a way that means you can never escape them; spying; the deliberate conflation of a minor misdemeanour with putative global tragedies; the cynical application of power in the name of service. It is, surely, taking us places we don't want to go.

But obviously enough people do want to go there, because they're taking us. And I'm not sure we're going to have any choice in whether to join the ride or not.

_Please_ someone find me a link or some evidence to show that I am overreacting and this man does not have a criminal record for leaving his bin open.

6 comments:

CFD Ed said...

No you are not overreacting it's just the sheep underreact.

Oh - and don't forget about the school nurse who was arrested placed on the child protection register and sacked because of that. All for smacking her unruly teenage son for swearing at her.

Baht At said...

actually I think people who do things like that should at the very least be subject to summary execution

http://www.bradfordvision.co.uk/node/13171

the problem is that the rubbish blows out of the bin as can be seen here:

http://www.bradfordvision.co.uk/node/13154

Bill Haydon said...

Well...summary execution seems a bit harsh but at least it would expose the totalitarian nature of our "public servants" rather than allowing them to appear to be working for our benefit.


I understand that rubbish blows out of bins on occasion but I think the apparatus of spying & contstant enforcement is more a control device and less of a genuine attempt to keep the country clean.

CFD Ed said...

Sounds like a positive incentive to fly tip. Oh and spawn a whole new industry providing bin locks and security cameras...

Wolfie said...

Conversely career criminals seem to be able to escape harsh justice for heinous crimes. I don’t see an end to this tunnel either.

Bill Haydon said...

Yes...like the two cunts who went down for a whole 5 years for forcing a kid into a pool of water then throwing rocks and sticks at him as he struggled. And get this: the finest minds in the country agreed they did not mean to kill him. Fucking fucking hell. They did not mean to kill. So what the fuck did they mean? They were grown ups, not infants. And how long is the 5 years anyway? 2 and a half maybe?

Punishment is extremely important and our culture only believes in it for certain things. Like throwing apple cores or leaving bin lids open. Or hate crimes. When someone kills someone else for non hate related reasons, we think they need compassion and understanding.