Europeans are becoming noticeably more receptive to all kinds of strange behaviour as though it is perfectly normal. They are being sanitised and uncontroversialised, making them reactive - but not proactive - when faced with idiots, thugs, snobs, hardline bosses, hard-selling advertising companies, draconian government legislation and even fashion and trends. They are being indoctrinated that it is not their place to make a scene, fight back, stand up for their rights, just say "no" or even complain to the right person.
I therefore wanted to provide you with a small translation of some of the things people say - what they think is in italic:
Boss: Would you mind spending a few more hours at work to finish off this important task? I'll then have a few more hours at the golf course
Slaveworker: Not at all. I am a replaceable commodity now so I should stay even though I'll have to cancel my free evening without the kids and pay from my own pocket to keep the babysitter there. Free time is not my place.
A group of hooligans get on the bus, playing loud music from a stereo and have a mock fight on the back seats, disrupting the other passengers.
Decent passenger 1: Let's just carry on as normal. Smile at them even, so they don't attack me. I'm afraid of them, but it's not my place to confront them.
Decent passenger 2: Don't even look at them. I'd love to knock their heads together but I daren't because it's not my place.
Decent passenger 1: I wonder what the parents did so wrong. I'd never let my boys get like that. They go out on Fridays, come back drunk early on Monday morning, but they've never been in trouble with the police.
Decent passenger 2: Your boys are really nice. Who is she kidding? They're going places. Yep, the places where the alcohol is cheap. They'd never mix with this group of losers. No, because they're more civilised than yours, but I daren't say anything because it's not my place.
Decent passenger 1: You would tell me if you knew something, wouldn't you? She knows something.
Decent passenger 2: Yes, yes. It's not my place.
TV news reporter: The government has just imposed a law forbidding citizens from walking on the left side of the pavement, resulting in a 20 euro fine if caught.
Average European viewer: That's terrible. I'm going to protest. No I'm not, because I'll have to miss a day off work. And I might go on a black list. No, it's not my place.
TV talent competition presenter: Please vote for the one you want to hear singing next week on the show and if there are enough of you gormless starstruck individuals, I can get a big fat bonus and get out of this sad place and get a real TV job!
Average European viewer: Number 5, Xandra Xadbitsch gets my vote! I don't know why I do this because it's rather sad but otherwise I'll look stupid in front of my friends if I tell them I didn't vote. And for a euro fifty - terrible price! But I'll not make a fus, it's not my place.
Street salesperson: Would you like to buy this totally useless piece of junk fluffy toy for all the poor children in the mental home for my boss's garage extension?
Average European shopper: I don't have any change. I don't really want it.
Street salesperson: Don't worry, I have change of fifty. Just don't ask how I got it selling fluffy toys.
Average European shopper: Oh that's OK then. Damn, fooled again! But I daren't say no, because I don't like to be unpopular. It's not my place.
A person drops litter on the street not too far from a rubbish bin.
Average European 1: Disgraceful! Did you see that? I'd like to tell them to pick it up.
Average European 2: Yes, right next to the bin. I'd also like to tell them to pick it up.
Average European 1: I'll tell them to pick it up.
Average European 2: No don't, it's not our place!
In all of these scenarios, we'd like to do or say something. But nobody dares. Because they think it's not their place. Or they don't feel empowered enough. Or they're worried nobody would support them if things turned nasty. This is how far we've come. The greatest civilisation on the planet, the most civil rights, the most freedom, the most equitable laws, and yet we are allowing the violent, the more influential, the louder, the richer, the less principled, to run amok. These groups and individuals from the dark side of society are ruining it for the rest of us. And governments find cheap, short-term remedies without heading for the preventative measures which start at basic school, at home and at the Annual General Meeting to tackle the disintegration of society.
People moan at the lack of manners shown by some young people but they don't do anything to sort it out. They're too scared. So when I took on a group of thugs last month making noise on a tram and drinking cheap alcohol, I ended up as the bad guy. "They're just young people enjoying themselves" said one fellow passenger. Others seemed to agree. With an attitude like that, I'd hate to think what the children of tomorrow are going to be like. Except this evening, when I got a compliment from the tram driver for removing a bottle of cheap alcohol from a 16-year-old and threw it, and him, from the tram, after he and his friends started pouring it over each other.
People hate heartless bosses, they don't want to upset them. To the extent that they'll drop their principles, keep quiet and not look up from the computer. So when one particularly nasty head of unit from another service but same building recently accused me of an unspeakable act of political sacrilege, instead of fearfully admitting it and getting the boot, I looked him square in the eye and accused him of corruption. He has recently retired - strangely enough at roughly the same time as a scandal encircled his department. He was not even suspected, but I'm sure he's up to his bald, flat head in it. I left the department that same week and now have a much nicer place to work.
Why do people conform? Why are they afraid of standing out from the crowd? Why do people allow louder, more assertive individuals to walk all over them? Because we're all unsure of support. And if others aren't doing it, why should we?
So I say, stand up to the tyrants, don't be bullied. Don't sit there and complain. Even if you're afraid of repercussions, take some anonymous action! Don't just complain and be done with it, make your voice count!
If you know someone who is corrupt, report them. If you experience disruption on public transport, write to the transport company or ombudsman. If someone is rude to you, tell them. If we do this collectively, our voices will be heard. I'm sure that little shyster playing the loud music on the bus whose speakers you rip off and throw on the floor will think twice before doing it again. Re-educate people before it becomes the norm.
2 comments:
Good piece Mr Goslitski!
I would suggest that the main cause of this lack of nerve is the rise and rise of the liberal lefties, and the overstretching arm of the Human Rights Bill.
Essentially, a criminal has more human rights than the man they are stealing from. If a criminal hurts themselves while breaking in to your house, they have the ability to sue you for damages!!!!
On the flip side, this liberation has caused people to be very selfish and think only of themselves. Children today know exactly how far they can push adults - even so far as threatening to get them sent to jail by accusing them of being a kiddie-fiddler.
How many reports of teachers, or public officials have you heard in which they have been acquitted of sexual abuse etc?
We are a society growing increasingly scared of each other. The people that are being empowered are the ones that need the discipline, and the ones that need to dish it out are the ones being tied by threats of legal action and job-losses.
We need to take a screaming lurch to the right and start being sensible again.
I fear that is the only route, yes, and I think our guinea pig country in this respect will be Sarkozy's France. When he wins the parliamentary election (when, not if), he will take a sledgehammer to the French state as it is now and totally re-calibrate it.
I believe, though, that this relentless empowerment of the inhuman and uncivilised, and the carte blanche these people have to overrun our society is a ruse by governments to make it more acceptable to the average citizen to accept more draconian rules and regulations, thus ushering in the dreaded police state we were warned about by those conspiracy theorists of the nineties that we all loved to laugh at.
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