Anger, sing, goddess

It seems that one can never underestimate the intense power of the media. However biased, however wildly a newspaper spins around pointing the finger of blame, it will influence someone. And this is no more starkly shown than in the case of Baby P.

Let nothing detract from the horror and awfulness of the case, it is clear that this is a terrible murder. I grieve for this child, but people die, people are murdered, however sad it is. What I do not expect to happen but what has, quite disregarding of my expectations, is such a media storm, such an onslaught of anger that it has got completely out of hand.

Here are three of a number of petitions being distributed on the internet:

“We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to take away parental rights to child murderers and paedafiles.” (sic)

“We are demanding immediate independant public enquiries to investigate the following:

- Social Services Procedures
- Demand a GMC Hearing for Dr Sabah Al Zayyat
- Review of Custodial Sentencing for Child Abuse
and Murder Cases
- Review of the Findings and Recommendations of
Victoria Climbie enquiry.”

“To: british government. Im asking people to sign my petition and support me in campaigning for killers to be exempt from the criminal juistice act 2003.” (sic)

How many people in the street cast angry blame upon the social worker? But how many of them have ever in their selfish lives given to society in the way that the people whom they so chastise have? How many of them would be willing to commit to a job which has mediocre pay, is demanding and now apparently will have you branded a murderer for one mistake? For clearly this can be no more than a mistake. If the social workers thought that that baby was truly in danger, then of course they would have acted, of course they would have saved him. But they didn’t notice, sadly and unfortunately, unlike the thousands of other children that are yearly helped by our state system. In just one or two cases, it slipped past them. Does anyone think they did this on purpose, or that they don’t regret this awful mistake? People are calling for an investigation. Of course there will be one, but it is not for the common person on the street to call, because it is, frankly, not their place to ask for legal reform on the basis of a solitary incident. Of course we need debate, but at the end of the day, this is a representative democracy, and thank god it is so, because if the sort of people writing these petitions had power, there would be lynch mobs in every city. I would defend these hard working social workers all day, because they do not deserve to be attacked by people who sit on their sofas all day yet want a flawless system without having to pay for it.

The other people who have come under intense fire, perhaps this time more to blame, are the parents of Baby P. There is no defending that what they have done is very wrong but take away their rights? Capital punishment? Torture??? Who is so uneducated about legality and so short of perspective that they would make such wild claims? Of course, there is great emotion in this whole case, but that is no excuse. When our constitution was drawn up, when it was so carefully amended, when the Bill of Human Rights was created at the end of the bloodiest war in history, they knew what they were doing. They knew how cruel man could be. So what on earth makes people think that the death of one child should trigger a change in the fundamental way we deal with justice? It is mind boggling to think that people make these claims in earnest. I’m not going to go into the arguments against capital punishment, or at all debate about the right of criminals. Justice is not about vindication, that is the unalienable truth that so many people seem not to be able to grasp. It is about helping society by helping victims and helping criminals. And thus I condemn illiterate petition creators. They should be ashamed.

Why do politicians want to win?

from 6.11.08

An historic night, an historic week, it truly is a brilliant time for liberalists, black people, and pretty much most of the world. But I think it would be wrong to call it a victory. The reaction of the world was not an ecstatic leap for joy, but a determined subtle fist shake of relief. However, Obama has connected with people in way that has certainly surprised me. I of course empathise with his ambition and his intelligence but it seems that all it takes for some people is that he’s black. Which of course he’s not, but don’t go saying that to black people. A friend of mine got very angry when someone suggested that the new president was actually whiter than the vast majority of voters. But whatever Obama’s skin and personality colour, what this ridiculous debate does is truly lift the lid on racism. How absurd is it to decide upon someone’s “blackness” before deciding whether you like them or not. They say prejudice is based on ignorance, and here I think that any debate about race is a little ignorant. So of course in four years time it will still be in the headlines.

As Barack Obama was celebrating his iconic victory, back in the Republican camp, many were doing more than throwing their cowboy hats to the ground and stamping on them. Many are fixing their blame upon Sarah Palin but to me there is something incredibly wrong with this. Why would they want to blame anyone? They haven’t lost a sports match. Despite the red and blue, the challenger and incumbent, even to an extent the black and white being the same, this was not a boxing match. The country has decided that Barack Obama will be better to lead their nation at this time. A politician’s job and his duty is to serve his country, and if his country doesn’t think that he should be put in charge then he must accept that someone else is better. I know this is an incredibly idealistic view of politics and of democracy, and the Republican’s believe that their way of doing things will serve the country better, but a representative democracy is a government put in charge, by the people.

One thing that seems to unite the world, however, is the eagerness to wave goodbye to the man so famous (or infamous) that a single letter suffices for his name. One would certainly struggle to find a reasonable person who would like another 4 years of W. But does he really deserve all the hate? I can hear the affirmative shouts from all around the globe, angry, blaming fingers pointing at Iraq, Afghanistan, Wall Street, Israel, global warming, even poverty in Africa, in the USA, the fact that my car door won’t work properly. Bush is apparently to blame for absolutely everything, but again is our blame founded? And is it necessary at all? I would argue that certainly the answer is no to the former. Who can actually explain why George Bush himself caused the financial crisis. I don’t believe anybody, because he didn’t. Of course I must concede that what he represents, the ruling Republican government could partly be to blame for many of the above problems, but W himself, I think is like Boris Johnson. A bit silly, a bit prone to gaffes, doesn’t really know what he’s doing but his heart is in the wrong place. Bush is not an intellectual; you could go as far to say that he is stupid. But that is not a crime. When he became president I am sure that his felt true pride in his heart that he could do his best for the country that he loved. Sadly, of course, it didn’t go according to plan, but I would affix blame more upon the president’s men that the man himself. The likes of Cheney, Rumsfeld, the true doers of the last 8 years, whom Bush trusted and by extension whom the people trusted. So lay off Bush. But perhaps what America needs is some changes in election, perhaps have a government elected rather than a man. For a president does not run the country, his people do. If Obama’s senior ministers consisted of shadowy egotists, there would have to be some major questions asked. We are trusting him to select a good team, and I have every faith in him, but so did many in Bush. Hindsight is a wonderful thing to have, as is lack of responsibility, so some blaming fingers should perhaps think a little before pointing.

Introduction

Hello, my name is Octavian, I'm a sixth form student at Tiffin School in Kingston, I've written a couple of articles and intend to write more, and so I decided to make a blog. I don't really know who is going to read this, but whoever you are I hope you gain some enjoyment and interest from doing so.