| I'm not saying all is well, the world is never perfect. All I'm saying is that the world never was perfect.
As regulars on here will know, me and my family have suffered from one of the very worst of violent crimes - just over a year ago when my wife was raped. I went public about it on the board at the time since it's a bugger trying to creep around pretending nothing happened but I'm not going to rake over all of that again here. Just to illustrate that I know only too well that real crime happens and don't live in a fools paradise.
What I am saying is that much of the evidence for the 'unprecedented level' of crime is anecdotal, and I have yet to see convincing figures that demonstrate conclusively that crime is becoming more prevalent or more vicious year on year - of course there will be blips caused by changes in criminal activity (identity fraud for instance) or changes in collating the figures - but over the long term I'm convinced that things will be pretty static. When somebody shows me the statistical evidence - adjusted to allow for the greater emphasis on gathering statistics, then I'll believe them. As it is I do believe that the press are using "Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics" to support half-baked and dubious editorial positions.
As for things have never been better? Well, we don't have to put up with the slum clearances of the early 1900's, or the decimation of the First World War that ripped the heart out of the 1910-1920 period. We don't have put up with the huge social divides of the 1920's or the grinding poverty of the 1930's depression days, and we can sleep easy in our beds without the sirens going off like they did in the 1940's. We had to put up with rationing into the 1950's and a very frugal utilitarian lifestyle through to the 1960's. We had to put up with swathes of youth unrest as the baby boomers worked out their teenage angst as Mods and Rockers pitched into battle along every seafront on every bank holiday. We had the three day week and winters of discontent in the 70's, the miners strike and the Falklands in the 80's, Sarajevo, Srebrinica (spelling) and Bosnia in the 90's, Iraq today.
Ahhhh happy days...of course they weren't. Same **** different day |