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@ftony
i dunno if this thread is genuinely "calming down" Peter. i mean, people are advocating actually killing muggers. killing muggers. that's fucking sick.
on the consequences issue, it's a good point. people do indeed need to know the consequences of their actions. but i don't think it should necessarily be based on some wanker of a 1970s cop dragging people down back alleys to give them a kicking. justice (i.e. the 'consequences' bit) should always be restorative in nature, and preferably handed out by the communities affected. i know that sounds like pie in the sky, but the cops "getting tough" on kids, many of whom could be turned around, will only ever alienate them more, and perpetuate the cycle of violence, alienation, fear and repression. that's hard empirical fact, friends.
someone mentioned the old "class war" phrase and sadly, it is a class war. bikejacking is just one small symptom of a much bigger class war taking place everywhere. whether or not you go into the whole economic class war, there's no denying the massive cultural and social differences between kids at risk of joining gangs and the type of people (including myself, even though i was brought up in a council house) who post on here and are interested in nice bikes. most of us almost certainly had decent parents who knew how to bring up kids properly, teachers who (at least vaguely :D ) believed in us, friends/siblings who weren't in gangs, and half-decent employment prospects. we've got to remember that yes there is a small minority of scumbags who are genuinely just unhinged and uncontrollable, but a lot of kids just drift into that way of life because they see no other direction. and once you're in, it's very very difficult to get out because of massive peer pressure and a lack of money and mobility to settle elsewhere in the country to get away from it all. that's why i think organisations like the Princes Trust, Crisis, UK Youth, SE1 United, etc - who take young people out of their ordinary surroundings, train them up with life and work skills and actually believe in their potential - are absolutely fundamental to changing the way these kids perceive themselves and how they interact with other humans. killing them because they nicked your precious bike, is not.