Re: Trials Yobs - Wtf Uk?

[durkie]

So, that whole thread brings up something I've been really wondering about the UK, since I'm from the states and don't really know what it's like to live in the UK. And I'm sure a lot of you are wondering if it's all fatties and SUVs over here, so feel free to ask away about that.

But my question is: what the hell is going on in the UK? from an outsider's perspective, the country seems to be getting totally f**ked as far as surveillance, paranoia, distrust, inability simply to talk to people, assuming the worst, anything that's different is dangerous/wrong, etc.

I present to you the following to make my point:

Police identify 200 children as potential terrorists

Anti-teenager "pink lights to show up acne"

New campaign to urge Londoners to report specific activity

London imposes de-facto 9PM curfew for under 16s

That stuff is all from one website within just the month of march. The trials yobs thread then brought up citizens spying on each other, and people being accused as pedos for taking pictures, and I'm sure there's all sorts of other weird stuff going on over there that the rest of the world doesn't know about yet.

So really: what the hell is going on over there? To be honest, one of the weirdest parts about this is that it isn't happening in the US (as much), and that it's hit diverse, liberal Europe instead. And to be fair, it's probably happening to some degree everywhere. But Britain seriously seems like it's on some crazy fast track to spy on everyone their entire lives and encourage people to fear things. Does anyone seem to care? Do you even notice CCTV cameras these days?

And not to be too cheesy, but probably the most recent popular states-side movie set in England is V for Vendetta, and it is somehow very fitting.

Genuinely curious.

Craig

[Pashley26]

So really: what the hell is going on over there?

Genuinely curious.

Craig

The UK is a mess, I won't bother to go into why because I'll get banned (again).

Chavs, a shit government, immigrants, corruption high up in business vital to the UK's survival, laziness through out the nation (why go to work when you can get a house paid for and £60 a week ?) Just to name a few...

Edited April 1, 2009 by Pashley26

[Tomm]

I present to you the following to make my point:

Police identify 200 children as potential terrorists

Anti-teenager "pink lights to show up acne"

New campaign to urge Londoners to report specific activity

London imposes de-facto 9PM curfew for under 16s

1) Yeah, that's pretty worrying. That's the first I've heard of it.

2) That's just funny. I remember they did a similar sort of thing on the estate near me. There was a Spar (local shop) and all the local scallie kids used to hang around there. They weren't particularly abusive or violent or anything, just a nuisance and fairly intimidating. So to stop them from hanging around outside the shop, the manager decided to play classical music really loudly. The kids hated the classical music so they went away.

3) Yeah, that's also kinda worrying. I saw the ads on the internet first, and thought they were a joke, but I actually saw them the other day on a board in an airport.

4) Hmmm. I don't really know what to think about this one. I guess the thing is that in the UK, we have a lot of problems with teenagers just simply hanging around looking menacing. I don't think you really have that in the USA? So those papers are presumably for this reason specifically.

There is a pretty bad culture of fear here (those London Metropolitan adverts are particularly bad though), but I'm surprised that you think that - coming from the states. I was under the impression that the US was really bad for inciting fear with the whole 9/11, Guantanamo, Eye-raq and the 'War on Terror' things.

You hear facts that Britain has the most CCTV per person in the whole world. I'm sure that's true but I don't really believe it's too different to anywhere else. Also remember that the UK is a tiny area compared to the states but still has 60 million people. Proportionally more people live in urban environments so that may go some way to explain why there is more CCTV around per person.

I don't know. I guess it is worrying but I've not noticed a big change recently.

[Muel]

The UK is a mess, I won't bother to go into why because I'll get banned (again).

Chavs, a shit government, immigrants, corruption high up in business vital to the UK's survival, laziness through out the nation (why go to work when you can get a house paid for and £60 a week ?) Just to name a few...

Careful... I believe you're referring to illegal immigrants, and you'll be meaning the few that don't get jobs and just claim benefits. The fact is that very few acutally do this, most work there arses off, a lot of the polish workers who live round here do double shifts 6 days a week in the factory up the road and send most of the money home.

The rest though are true to a certian extent, everyone it seems is either way over PC (to the point of being racist) or openly racist. The whole neibourhood watch thing gets on my tits aswell, and people getting sent to prison then getting let out after 6 months for stealing cars or robbing houses, then serial killers being put away for life? They should bring back the death penalty, only for certain cases but still, they go on about how we've got no money, yet pay thousands per year to keep them locked up...

What do the prisoners do all day anyway? The government should turn the prisons into basically labour camps, then the scum and villains would think twice about commiting the crimes if they thought they were going to have to work hard. I mean like sticking them on excercise bikes for 15 hours a day to generate electricity or something, or turning the prison into a call centre or something, basically making the prisons profitable instead of costly! Or playing on the weakness of the pound and getting them to make stuff that we can then export, making loads of money and boosting the economy.

Just some ideas I've had, they'll probably never work though.

Edited April 1, 2009 by Muel

[Joe_Elding]

The main problem with this country is that the people with all the knowledge to sort it are actually working full time in bike shops and buying too many cars to do anything to sort it out

[Tom Booth]

[Bol Maaaaaaing]

They make damn funny comedies though!

[hI-OOPS-CAPS]

i was speaking to some foreign friends of mine who were hit regularly (weekly or so) by their parents. and ofcourse they live in healthy societies. parents here can give a little slap, but not cause a bruise. i mean wtf is that? im not saying parents hitting us will straighten this country out. its just lost the plot with being overly tolerant.

who can relate to todays society? if i were to speak to some stranger like id talk to my mates id probably get some claims put against me.

[Papa Manual]

Saying all that, the USA is responsible for the massive bugger off chip in my passport. It creeps me out a bit.

[MadManMike]

Careful...

Yes, that my friend is the reason this country is going down the shitter.

Everyone is scared to state simple facts. If a white guy in a hoodie is searched or arrested that's that, if a black guy is arrested it's racism.

Political correctness is ridiculous - the reason violent crime and everything is so high is because the legal system is crap.

[Mark W]

What Muel was refering to as being "Careful" wasn't him being "Politically correct", it was just pointing out that Jarrod's massive blanket term was misleading and pretty false. If I called you a massive fanny and someone said that I should be "Careful", that wouldn't be them being "Politically correct", and it's exactly the same with what was happening with Muel/Jarrod.

[Sneakers O'Toole]

Big Brother man, just like Orwell predicted!

[Revell-Bikes]

In london, most of the crimes committed were people from a foreign background.. or in other words, immigrants. Basically it gets on my nerves, them thinking they can get away with it and all.. If i was Prime Minister, i would do a hard-lining rule- those who are from overseas and living here, do a crime and get a warning, do it again.... deportation. it makes sense- keeps them on their toes. we've got too many thanks to tony blair.. and those claiming asylum for benefits or government support for their sole reason- no f**king way.

[Hendrix]

Yes, that my friend is the reason this country is going down the shitter.

Everyone is scared to state simple facts. If a white guy in a hoodie is searched or arrested that's that, if a black guy is arrested it's racism.

Political correctness is ridiculous - the reason violent crime and everything is so high is because the legal system is crap.

Spot on. I was watching Street Crime UK a week or so ago, and they had a bit on it which shocked me with the stupidity.

A white girl didn't hear what a Pakistani woman had said, and said excuse me - the Pakistani woman replied "2.99 you f*king cracker sh*t" - to which a fight start. When the old bill turned up, they didn't do anything about the woman in the shop, but after the white girl swore twice, the arrested her. Nothing was done about the Pakistani woman being racist. If it'd been a white girl saying it to a Pakistani girl, or a black girl, the shop worker would have been arrested.

That pissed me off somewhat.

[Pashley26]

What Muel was refering to as being "Careful" wasn't him being "Politically correct", it was just pointing out that Jarrod's massive blanket term was misleading and pretty false. If I called you a massive fanny and someone said that I should be "Careful", that wouldn't be them being "Politically correct", and it's exactly the same with what was happening with Muel/Jarrod.

What I mean to say is, that the country is bending over and taking it from foreign types in a vein effort to get in the good books of other countries.

For instance, they come here and we put up Mosques and shit to accommodate there traditions and beliefs. But if we went to there countries and COE Churches started popping up everywhere there would be outrage.

And as Mike says, every time you say something to a colored person it's racism. But if you say something to a white person then it's fair game.

Hows that right ? I've had many an argument with colored people and though "I better not say too much, they'll play the racism card." And to be fair, it extends further than the black/white barrier. There will always be that effect when crossing social boundaries, but when you look back to the 50's when england was a straight laced white majority country things were allot better, you could go out for a walk in the evening, you could leave your back door unlocked, you could leave your bike in the garden and everyone was friendlier. Now a days I wouldn't trust someone to make me a sandwich let alone all the other things in life...

[Rich J]

Happened ages ago in London with us on a trip some black girls were getting abusive towards some girls from our school who were white, they kept saying your all f**king white bitches. If we had responded with shut up you black bitches, thats racist. How come?

Its fair though, I am white, a black person is black, gay person is gay, fat people aint skinny, yet it cant be said incase it hurts peoples feelings.

Englands f**ked up, they pick on people who are less likely to kick up a fuss. We have so many cctv cameras to protect us, why is more crime going on now then?

[Hendrix]

This brings up another point. In an islamic country, women would have to follow the rules of the country and wear a headscarf (or what ever they're called), they would have no choice in the matter.

Over here, they get the choice - but yet still complain? To add to this, when a woman in a hairdresser asked one of her staff to remove the headscarf, so the customers would be able to see her hair and relate to her hair (good example on the company etc), she sued her employer, and won.

[yoyoyo]

t when you look back to the 50's when england was a straight laced white majority country things were allot better, you could go out for a walk in the evening, you could leave your back door unlocked, you could leave your bike in the garden and everyone was friendlier. Now a days I wouldn't trust someone to make me a sandwich let alone all the other things in life...

Admitedly back then not many houses had big tv's, games consoles, £1000+ bikes hanging round inside

[Hendrix]

Admitedly back then not many houses had big tv's, games consoles, £1000+ bikes hanging round inside

They did have the equivilent though?

When we moved to Portsmouth, the area we were in was very safe, so safe infact you could leave the cars unlocked at night, and leave back doors open when you went out. Now, the younger generation of black chavs/gangsters wanabees (and some white), and the eastern europeans have decided that they're "'ard ball brovas with knives who r gona shank you, n steal ur sh*t'" and have turned into the London style gangsters of the old days.

This is to the extent now that we have to have a big f**k of lock on the shed. That's in 5/6 years.

Bit worrying that..

Edited April 1, 2009 by Hendrix

[Pashley26]

Admitedly back then not many houses had big tv's, games consoles, £1000+ bikes hanging round inside

As Tom tried (badly!) to say it's all relative.

A bike cost exactly the same as it does now back then, A bicycle might only cost £23 but you only earnt £5 a week or whatever.

And there was always the same incentive to steal something from someone else, but you knew there would be consequences if you were caught; A good beating and a bit of time in nick, followed by social isolation because nobody trusted you.

If you go to jail now you get fed and watered better than most people would at home, and your life is relatively "care free" as long as you keep your head down.

Edited April 1, 2009 by Pashley26

[Hendrix]

As Tom tried (badly!) to say it's all relative.

A bike cost exactly the same as it does now back then, A bicycle might only cost £23 but you only earnt £5 a week or whatever.

And there was always the same incentive to steal something from someone else, but you knew there would be consequences if you were caught; A good beating and a bit of time in nick, followed by social isolation because nobody trusted you.

If you go to jail now you get fed and watered better than most people would at home, and your life is relatively "care free" as long as you keep your head down.

Yeah, what he said. Free housing in jail, almost.

[Revolver]

Lol

[Hannah Shucksmith]

I think England blows everything into massive proportions; this country's overly prejudice, and we presume that just because a young teen is walking in a hooded jumper he must have a knife in his pocket. Being female, I've constantly had it drilled into me that any man walking down the street alone is out to get me, and yes, I actually believe it. I cannot walk alone anywhere in fear of being raped or murdered, as silly as it sounds. I hate walking outside in the dark, because in the back of my mind I'll remember the scene on Crimewatch where a man was lurching in the bushes with a knife, ready to pounce on his next victim.

I tend to stereotype people alot, perhaps more than I should, but I've become that way because of the media's excessive camera views on a certain man who stole a child's life, or the latest coloured man to shoot a white man in London's roughest area. I'm not a particularly racist person, but I believe this country has completely 'gone to the dogs' with the excessive use of shunning someone for not politically correctly naming a race, or making a joke about another culture. I was in a class a few weeks back, and a white boy turned to a boy of Pakistani origin and called him a "curry-muncher" of which, he was provoked to do; the white boy was suspended for 3 days, although the Pakistani boy wasn't even disciplined, despite naming the white boy a "stupid Jewish white boy."

I despise this country, we're too concerned about what the foreigners think of us, we're too prejudiced and our government doesn't know how to make a proper decision.

[/rant]

Edited April 1, 2009 by Hannah Shucksmith (:

[TheCircus]

This thread is my worst nightmare. The problem with Britain isn't immigrants, or blacks, or teenagers. It's a ridiculous amount of people being mad f**king stupid ALL THE TIME. Anyone who goes around saying "IT'S POLITICAL CORRECTNESS GONE MAD" can go f**k themselves.

[mr_malcolm]

They did have the equivilent though?

When we moved to Portsmouth, the area we were in was very safe, so safe infact you could leave the cars unlocked at night, and leave back doors open when you went out. Now, the younger generation of black chavs/gangsters wanabees (and some white), and the eastern europeans have decided that they're "'ard ball brovas with knives who r gona shank you, n steal ur sh*t'" and have turned into the London style gangsters of the old days.

This is to the extent now that we have to have a big f**k of lock on the shed. That's in 5/6 years.

Bit worrying that..

to be honest most of portsmouth your still pretty safe, if they want something bad enough they will take weather the doors unlocked or got 3 massive padlocks on it