One waits
breathlessly for us worms to turn
into serpents spitting "Don't tread on me!"
(It's coming, Oh my, yes!)
----------
> From: hawkiye <hawkiye@qwest.net>
The
Decline and Fall of Britain into Barbarism
Culture Vultures, In the Absence of Guns
http://www.spectator.org/archives/0006TAS/steyn0006.htm
by Mark Steyn-Celebrity news from the United Kingdom:
>
In April, Germaine Greer, the Australian feminist and author of
The
> Female Eunuch, was leaving her house in East Anglia, when a
young
> woman accosted her, forced her back inside, tied her up,
smashed her
> glasses, and then set about demolishing her ornaments with a
poker.
>
> A couple of weeks before that, the 85-year-old mother of
Phil Collins,>
> the well-known rock star, was punched in the ribs, the back,
and the
> head on a West London street, before her companion was
robbed. "That's>
> what you have to expect these days," she said,
philosophically.
>
>
Anthea Turner, the host of Britain's top-rated National Lottery
TV
> show, went to see the West End revival of Grease with a
friend. They
> were spotted at the theatre by a young man who followed them
out and,
> while their car was stuck in traffic, forced his way in and
wrenched a
> diamond-encrusted Rolex off the friend's wrist.
>
>
A week before that, the 94-year-old mother of Ridley Scott, the
> director of Alien and other Hollywood hits, was beaten and
robbed by
> two men who broke into her home and threatened to kill her.
>
> Former Bond girl Britt Ekland had her jewelry torn from her
arms
> outside a shop in Chelsea; Formula One Grand Prix racing
tycoon and
> Tony Blair confidante Bernie Ecciestone was punched and
kicked by his
> assailants as they stole his wife's ring; network TV chief
Michael
> Green was slashed in the face by thugs outside his Mayfair
home;
> gourmet chef to the stars Anton Mosirnann was punched in the
head
> outside his house in Kensington....
>
> Rita Simmonds isn't a celebrity but, fortunately, she
happened to be
> living next door to one when a gang broke into her home in
upscale
> Cumberland Terrace, a private road near Regent's Park. Tom
Cruise
> heard her screams and bounded to the rescue, chasing off the
attackers>
> for 300 yards, though failing to prevent them from reaching
their
> getaway car and escaping with two jewelry items worth around
$140,000.
>
>
It's just as well Tom failed to catch up with the gang.
Otherwise, the>
> ensuing altercation might have resulted in the diminutive
star being
> prosecuted for assault. In Britain, criminals, police, and
magistrates>
> are united in regarding any resistance by the victim as bad
form. The>
> most they'll tolerate is "proportionate
response"-and, as these thugs
> had been beating up a defenseless woman and posed no threat
to Tom
> Cruise, the Metropolitan Police would have regarded
Tom's actions as
> highly objectionable. 'Proportionate response"
from the beleaguered
> British property owner's point of view, is a bit like a
courtly duel
> where the rules are set by one side: "Ah," says
the victim of a
> late-night break-in, "I see you have brought a blunt
instrument.
> Forgive me for unsheathing my bread knife. My mistake,
old boy.
> Would you mind giving me a sporting chance to retrieve my
cricket bat
> from under the bed before clubbing me to a pulp, there's a
good chap?"
>
> No wonder, even as they're being pounded senseless, many
British crime>
> victims are worrying about potential liability. A few
months ago,
> Shirley Best, owner of the Rolander Fashion boutique whose
clients
> include the daughter of the Princess Royal, was ironing some
garments
> when two youths broke in. They pressed the hot iron into her
side and
> stole her watch, leaving her badly bumt. "I was
frightened to defend
> myself," said Miss Best. "I thought if I did
anything I would be arrested."
>
>
And who can blame her? Shortly before the attack, she'd been
reading
> about Tony Martin, a Norfolk farmer whose home had been
broken into
> and who had responded by shooting and killing the teenage
burglar. He
> was charged with murder. In April, he was found guilty
and sentenced
> to life imprisonment--for defending himself against a career
criminal
> in an area where the police are far away and reluctant to
have their
> sleep disturbed.
>
> In the British Commonwealth, the approach to policing is
summed up by
> the motto of Her Majestys most glamorous constabulary: The
Mounties
> always get their man -i.e., leave it to US. But these days
in the
> British police, when they can't get their man, they'll get
you
> instead: Frankly, that's a lot easier as poor Mr. Martin
discovered.
>
> Norfolk is a remote rural corner of England. It ought to be
as
> peaceful and crime-free as my remote rural corner of New
England. But
> it isn't. Old impressions die hard:
>
>
Americans still think of Britain as a low-crime country. Conversely,
> the British think of America as a highcrime country. But
neither
> impression is true. The overall crime rate in England and
Wales is 60
> percent higher than that in the United States. True, in
America you're>
> more likely to be shot to death. On the other hand, in
England you're
> more likely to be strangled to death. But in both cases, the
> statistical likelihood of being murdered at all is remote,
especially
> if you steer clear of the drug trade.
>
> When it comes to anything else, though--burglary, auto
theft, armed
> robbery, violent assault, rape---the crime rate reaches deep
into
> British society in ways most Americans would find virtually
> inconceivable.
>
> I cite those celebrity assaults not because celebrities are
more prone>
> to wind up as crime victims than anyone else, but only
because the
> measure of a civilized society is how easily you can
insulate yourself>
> from its snarling underclass. In America, if you can
make it out of
> some of the loonier cities, it's a piece of cake, relatively
speaking.
>
> In Britain, if even a rock star or TV supremo can't insulate
himself,
> nobody can. In any society, criminals prey on the weak and
vulnerable.
>
> It's the peculiar genius of government policy to have ensured that in
> British society everyone is weak and vulnerable--from
Norfolk farmers
> to Tom Cruise's neighbor.
>
>
And that's where America is headed if those million marching moms
make>
> any headway in Washington: Less guns = more crime. And
more
> vulnerability. And a million more moms being burgled, and
assaulted,
> and raped. I like hunting, but if that were the only thing
at stake
> with guns, I guess I could learn to live without it. But I'm
opposed
> to gun control because I don't see why my neighbors in New
Hampshire
> should have to live the way, say, my sister-in-law does--in
a
> comfortable manor house in a prosperous part of rural
England, lying
> awake at night listening to yobbo gangs drive up, park their
vans, and>
> test her doors and windows before figuring out that the
little old
> lady down the lane's a softer touch.
>
>
Between the introduction of pistol permits in 1903 and the
banning of
> handguns after the Dunblane massacre in 1996, Britain has
had a
> century of incremental gun control -"sensible measures
that all
> reasonable people can agree on." And what's the result?
[bold mine]
>
Even when you factor in America's nutcake jurisdictions with the
> crackhead mayors, the overall crime rate in England and
Wales is
> higher than in all 50 states, even though over there they
have more
> policemen per capita than in the U.S., on vastly higher rates
of pay
> installing more video surveillance cameras than anywhere
else in the
> Western world.
Robbery,
sex crimes, and violence against the person
> are higher in England and Wales; property crime is twice as
high;
> vehicle theft is higher still; the British are 2-3 times
more likely
> than Americans to be assaulted, and three times more likely
to be
> violently assaulted. Between 1973 and 1992, burglary rates
in the U.S.>
> fell by half In Britain, not even the Home Office's
disreputable
> reporting methods (if a burglar steals from 15 different
apartments in>
> one building, it counts as a single crime) can conceal the
remorseless>
> rise: Britons are now more than twice as likely as Americans
to be
> mugged; two-thirds will have their property broken into at
some time
> in their lives. Even more revealing is the divergent
character between>
> U.K. and U.S. property crime:
>
> In America, just over 10 percent of all burglaries are
"hot
> burglaries"--committed while the owners are present; in
Britain, it's
> over half. Because of insurance-required alarm systems, the
average
> thief increasingly concludes that it's easier to break in
while you're
> on the premises. Your home-security system may
conceivably make
your home more safe, but it
makes you less so.
>
>
Conversely, up here in the New Hampshire second congressional
> district, there are few laser security systems and lots of
guns. Our
> murder rate is much lower than Britain's and our property
crime is
> virtually insignificant. Anyone want to make a connection?
Villains
> are expert calculators of risk, and the likelihood of
walking away
> uninjured with an $80 television set is too remote. In New
Hampshire,
> a citizen's right to defend himself deters crime; in
Britain, the
> state-inflicted impotence of the homeowner actively
encourages it.
> just as becoming a drug baron is a rational career move in
Colombia,
> so too is becoming a violent burglar in the United Kingdom.
The
> chances that the state will seriously impede your progress
are
> insignificant.
>
> Now I'm Canadian, so, as you might expect, the Second
Amendment
> doesn't mean much to me. I think its more basic than that.
Privately
> owned firearms symbolize the essential difference between
your great
> republic and the countries you left behind. In the
U.S., power
> resides with "we, the people" and is leased ever
more sparingly up
> through town, county, state, and federal government.
In Britain and
> Canada, power resides with the Crown and is graciously
devolved down
> in limited doses. To a north country Yankee it's
self-evident that,
> when a burglar breaks into your home, you should have the
right to
> shoot him--indeed, not just the right, but the
responsibility, as a
> free-born citizen, to uphold the integrity of your property.
But in
> Britain and most other parts of the Western world, the state
reserves
> that right to itself, even though at the time the
ne'er-do-well shows
> up in your bedroom you're on the scene and Constable Plod
isn't: He's
> some miles distant, asleep in his bed, and with his
answering machine
> on referring you to central dispatch God knows where.
>
> These days it's standard to bemoan the "dependency
culture" of state
> welfare, but Britain's law-and-order "dependency
culture" is even more>
> enfeebling. What was it the police and courts resented about
that
> Norfolk farmer? That he "took the law into his own
bands"? But in a
> responsible participatory democracy, the law ought to be in
our hands.
>
> The problem with Britain is that the police force is now one
of the
> most notable surviving examples of a preThatcher, bloated,
> incompetent, unproductive, over-paid, closed-shop state
monopoly.
> They're about as open to constructive suggestions as the
country's
> Communist Mineworkers' union was 20 years ago, and the
control-freak
> tendencies of all British political parties ensure that the
country's
> bloated, expensive county and multi-county forces are
inviolable.
>
> The Conservatives' big mistake between 1979 and 1997 was an
almost
> willfully obtuse failure to understand that giving citizens
more
> personal responsibility isn't something that extends just to
their
> income and consumer choices; it also applies to their
communities and
> their policing arrangements. If you have one without
the other, you
> end up with modern Britain: a materially prosperous society
in which
> the sense of frustration and impotence is palpable, and
you're forced
> to live with a level of endless property crime most
Americans would
> regard as unacceptable.
>
>
We know Bill Clinton's latest favorite statistic--that 12
"kids" a day>
> die from gun violence--is bunk: Five-sixths of those 12.569
> grade-school moppets are aged between 15 and 19, and many of
them
have had the misfortune to become involved in
gangs, convenience-store
> hold-ups, and drug deals, which, alas, have a tendency to go
awry. If>
> more crack deals passed off peacefully, that
"child" death rate could
> be reduced by three-quarters.
>
> But away from those dark fringes of society, Americans live
lives
> blessedly untouched by most forms of crime--at least when
compared
> with supposedly more civilized countries like Britain.
That's
> something those million marching moms should consider, if
only because
> in a gun-free America women --and the elderly and gays and
all manner
> of other fashionable victim groups--will be bearing the
brunt of a
> much higher proportion of violent crime than they do today.
Ask Phil
> Collins or Ridley Scott or Germaine Greer.
>
>
>
>
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