Basic HTML Version
NOT IN BRITAIN!
(Continued from page 6)
lnstead, society itself- in its vari–
ous ways- has taught people to be
contemptuous of authority- and
especially toward that most basic
symbol of all governmental authori–
ty- the pol iceman.
We could not express it better
than did
The Liverpool Post.
"The
weakening of authority is dreadful
in its consequence. The brutaJiza–
tion of Liverpool is evidence of
that" (July 7, 1981).
The Specta–
tor
put it in another way: "Some–
where the concept of the rule of
law seems to have got lost, perhaps
battered to death by anti-police
propaganda. Until we find it, there
is little hope for peace in our cities"
(July 11, 1981).
The only authority that many
young people know is that of the
gang leader. Youths in the age
category of 9, 1O and 11 were seen
to be both rioting and looting. A
fairly young Liverpool mother was
asked where her children were at a
1
40
very late hour. Her answer: "How
would
1
know? I'm at the pub."
The failure of adults- both by
example and in positive teaching–
is primarily responsible for the gen–
eral climate of permissiveness that
pervades Britain today. They gen–
erally fail to !ay down proper guide–
lines for their youngsters if they
even know them in the first place.
And those that do t ry to guide the
conduct of their c hildren often
"talk an awfully good fight" with–
out living it.
The prime minister was most
certainly right when she warned
that violence would destroy every–
thing we value. She warned: "the
free society could only survive if its
citizens upheld the Iaw and taught
their children todo so. " That says
it all in a nutshell.
But what is the basic, underlying
cause of this situation in which
England finds herself?
lde ntifying the Problem
Sorne journalists have labeled
Britain as "The Sick Man of
Europe." One of the latest literary
efforts to identify and define the
British maJady is a little paper–
back called
What's Wrong with
Britain?
in which 15 highly distin–
guished commentators assess the
causes of Britain's present-day
problems in a frank and forthright
manner .
But it was Lord Hailsham who
really put his finger on Britain's
overall problem. He wrote in sum–
mary: "The cause of our t roubles is
not economic, nor has it anything
to do with world conditions or our
loss of empire, or with any of the
easy excuses which we are so ready
to accept. ...
lt is a disease of the
spirit
for which there is no blame
but ourselves" (
What 's Wrong with
Britain?
p. 41 ). An oversimpli–
fication? Perhaps, but true, nev–
ertheless.
Modero Britain today is in a state
of transition. People are revolting
against the past, against long-estab–
lished traditions, against the class
system, and unfortunately,
against
authority in al/ ofitsforms.
Violent
crime in inner cities is but one symp–
tom of this overall problem. The old
The PLAIN TRUTH