There are many possible candidates for this
award, from bonking, eating junk food and allowing yourself to become hideously
fat, and last but by no means least, the national obsession among British teenagers
for drunkenness and lewd behaviour in Spanish holiday resorts.
To begin without trawling the obvious, an
interesting possibility I have in mind for Britain’s favourite pastime is the
current obsession across the working class underclass spectrum that also takes
in large numbers of the lower middle class and is equally applicable to both sexes is a passion for being tattooed? This is now a flourishing obsession. One which
in less than a decade and a half has become an established feature of the
British way of life. The adornment of the human body with grafted signs,
inscriptions, sayings and pictorial representation, while being a matter of
personal choice has fast become something of a ‘must have’ personal fetish. It’s
not so much a form of individual artistic expression as a statement about who
we are. What we see as attractive and meaningful to us that we want to
communicate to others. Tell them about what kind of people we are. This is
evident from the fact that it is often arms, lower limbs, upper torso and heads
that are most often adorned though it is sometimes the case that a rose is to
be found neatly centered above the anal crack of large numbers of women. Most
popular among fat under-class women I’ve been reliably informed.
In the latter case I’m hard put to it to
understand exactly what impression they seek to convey for the money expended.
They can’t see it themselves and only those drunk enough might gain sight of this
artistic addition to the said area. In other words why spend money if no one
can see it, or could it be that they themselves have sufficient intelligence to
enjoy the laconic connection?
No, the penchant for being tattooed has
become a runaway train and the question is why? Many of these things are
seriously expensive, costing thousands, So what do they express. Obviously
something meaningful, but is that something a recent or long term aspect of
personal character? And above all, why now, in the last fifteen years?
Interestingly enough the rise of the fetish coincides perfectly with the
appearance of a new social class on the British scene. Margaret Thatcher’s time
in office saw a de-industrialization of
British society and fundamental changes in the structure of the working class,
a large part of which became unemployed and socially depressed. This led to the
formation of a gathering substrata below it which today is best described as an
underclass, with its own well defined
characteristics in culture, appearance and habit. In tandem with the emergence
and growth of this class has come its expression of self-identity, not simply
in speech but more perhaps in appearance. Specifically in the tattoo. The
tattoo is a necessary expression of identity in a new social class that needed
one. This identity crisis has now extended outwards into the old working class which
now, having lost much of its tradition, seeks some other kind of identity to
replace it Especially in the case of its youth.
It is logical that the great socio-economic
changes within British society over the last thirty years have created a great
psychological change in the character of its people most strongly affected. Old
traditions have been lost, new identifying mechanisms have been required. The
rise of tattooing has perfectly fitted this psychological necessity, this need
for identity.
Though a mass phenomenon and one of
Britain’s most popular pastimes, it’s not the subject of this post, merely a
psychological pointer to what I intend talking about. I mention it here because
issues of psychology and their roots in recent profound changes in our society
provide an important background for introducing the altogether more serious
issue I have in mind. One that’s also psychological in character. That is, the
view held by many that one of Britain’s newest and perhaps most disturbingly
ugly favourite pastimes is lying. Lying as a way of externalizing personal
neuroses. By this I don’t necessarily mean children’s tall stories though they
in themselves, given the circumstance, can have consequences that turn out to
be deadly. No, by lying I specifically mean going to the police and making statements
about the conduct of others whether verbal or physical or in some cases both that
are untrue. That are in fact lies.
What I am saying here is this. That in the
last two decades, a favourite pastime among British people has been going to
the police and making lying, malicious allegations to them about the conduct of
others they know to be innocent of such with the sole intention of causing them
harm. I’m saying that such behaviour is turning into an avalanche of evil
intent and that its consequences, on an individual basis, are often damaging
and destructive in the extreme. Such false allegation, such malicious evil
intent, while not as common as watching a game of football on Saturday, is fast
approaching a tipping point where it becomes part of our everyday way of life
and shocking as it may seem, the statistics are there to prove it. It’s become
a disgusting nasty psychological scab on the face of Britain.
At its heart lies a curious circumstance. A
connection that provides a kind of take off point for its emergence like some
kind of social bacillus into the bloodstream of British society. In 1994 Tory
Home Secretary Michael Howard’s Criminal Justice Bill proposed a major and
fundamental change to the British Criminal Justice System that was to have
profound consequences for the relationship between the public and the police.
When it became law the police no longer required independent verification of
the facts of any allegation i.e. confirmation by an independent witness before
they could arrest or charge. This could now be done solely on the basis of the
individual making the allegation. In short the police could now arrest or
charge on a basis of unconfirmed or uncorroborated allegation. This is an
absolutely key change in the administration of British Criminal Justice
and police conduct and has, astonishingly, been little remarked on by media
commentators. With Michael Howard’s proposals the police power of arrest became
extended beyond the bluest ever hoped for horizon. And coincidentally, from
this time on a new kind of social behaviour emerged. Tentatively at first but
soon gathering pace. That of going to the police and making false allegations.
It became all too easy. Just go to the
police and make a formal complaint that a neighbor, or work colleague, or
someone you’d overheard saying something
you didn’t like, or someone who’d you’d thought had been rude to you, say in a supermarket… Someone! Anyone! It doesn’t
even have to be someone you know… Just taken a dislike to! Just think up
something to say, go to the police and make a statement, then the police could
arrest that third party if they wished or at least take them down to the
Station. There! Now you felt better! That would definitely teach them a
lesson!
And if you really wanted to teach them a
lesson, give them trouble they’d never forget, or better still put them in
court, what better than to make an allegation about sexual misconduct! The
police would be duty bound to investigate, arrest, take the matter to the Crown
Prosecution Service. It wasn’t a
malicious evil thing you were doing, making it all up, just making sure a nasty
person like that knew trouble and fear. Got what they deserved…
It wasn’t long before the police knew they
were onto a good thing, with little to check their power of arrest, and in the
case of allegations for sexual misconduct the easiest nick in the world. On the
other side, that of the genuine innocent victims of false allegation neurosis,
especially those sexual in character, the damage and harm was immense. In the
years following the passing into law of Michael Howard’s proposals, malicious
allegation became a weapon in the hands of countless neurotics and among this
number can be counted children as well as adults! During the 1990s allegations
made by pupils against schoolteachers reached epidemic proportions as those
with grudges had little more to do than go to someone in authority and have some
unfortunate victim summoned in by the head with suspension the least of their
worries. Police involvement, dismissal and ruination of reputation and career
was more often the outcome of refusing to back down under pupil threat or
provocation. Teachers unions have extensive statistics of this rise of
malicious allegation within schools and countless well documented cases of
uncontrolled juvenile behaviour backed up by violent parental demand. Prior to
the 1960’s teaching was a respected profession. From the 1980’s secondary
education became an abominable hothouse of pupil-parent control with teachers
turned into endless victims of false allegation and malice.
Outside education the bearers of Britain’s
collective neuroses post 1994 were now on a roll. False, malicious allegation
has now become something of a national sport and interestingly enough, of the
many countries in Europe, it is only in Britain that such deeply vicious
behaviour has reached epidemic proportions. Such allegations are by no means
always sexual in character. They can be about what may be considered threatening language or behaviour. Something entirely
inconsequential like a complaint about the behaviour of someone’s dog in a
public place. To neurotics such a triviality may be sufficient for it as
threatening or aggressive. In short any perfectly decent and innocent person
may suddenly be seen as dangerous. Someone to complain about in turn. Someone
to lie about, make up a story about and often, if the person is known or easily
identifiable, go to the police with a concocted allegation of threatening
behaviour when the real issue is that for some reason you didn’t like the way
you were spoken to. You felt angry and demeaned. Determined to hit back!
In recent times a deadly and dangerous
fragility in interpersonal relationships has become part of the British social
scene. Part of the British psychology. People experiencing serious economic
pressure for example such as fears about job loss may only too often transfer
their anxiety into a variety of other spheres of life such as family,
potentially magnifying their psychological character. Anxiety and fear are
indeed well known catalysts for the creation of neuroses so it is perhaps no
surprise that the recent decade of economic instability has gone hand in hand
with the rise of plain bad social behaviour and malicious, false allegation.
It’s not too great a problem in France. It
doesn’t sit well with the relaxed amiable French character, and likewise in
Italy malicious allegation is almost unheard of. As a widespread phenomenon
it’s almost unheard of in Germany and throughout Holland, Denmark and
Scandinavia.
Perhaps people who feel under threat have a
greater tendency to lash out but such conduct first requires a cause then a
release mechanism. Economic anxieties and family dislocation certainly provide
reason, a psychological petri dish for the incubation of neuroses… the trigger
for an explosion of anger or rage on the other hand may be just about anything!
Its intensity perhaps depending on the period of incubation itself. These are
factors unknown to the unselfconscious victim of the neurosis, because they are
indeed a victim, but they are certainly unknown to the recipient of any such
anger or rage, the many perfectly innocent individuals against whom false
allegations are made. The terrified, frightened and only too outraged victims
of lies, spite and malice.
It’s an absolute farce that most people in
Britain believe the charming little folk tale of ‘innocent until proven guilty’
where criminal justice in this country is concerned. Only the legal profession,
the judiciary, the police and the Crown Prosecution Service would have you
believe such a lie. In practical terms the notion of innocence DOES NOT EXIST anywhere
in the British criminal justice system. Once an individual is charged by the
police for committing a crime they can either by found GUILTY or NOT GUILTY in
a court of law. However being found not guilty is most definitely NOT THE SAME
as being regarded as innocent by the Crown Prosecution Service and the
judiciary. Technically, you are only NOT GUILTY and in some circumstances the
judge in the case may still regard you as guilty and indicate as much in court as
recently happened in a high profile case despite the fact that the accused had
been found not guilty by a jury minutes earlier
I mention these circumstances to point out
that while the burden of any malicious allegation proceeded with by the police
falls entirely on its victim, the person against whom the allegation is made, the
weight of justice is also entirely against them as the Criminal Justice System,
indeed the State, DOES NOT REGARD THEM AS INNOCENT. Indeed, no innocent person once
charged with a crime by the State can ever be innocent in law! The other side
of the coin to this is that both the police and Crown Prosecution Service are
duty bound and heavily committed to act on behalf of the accuser, the person
making the false allegations. This commitment indeed goes far beyond a call of
duty as many people have learned to their cost after being found NOT GUILTY.
Subsequently seeking to bring a private legal action against the person who’d
made the false allegation/s against them they’ve discovered to their
astonishment that the CPS acts to protect their witness by refusing to allow
any private legal action against them. Indeed they only too often tell the real
victim that they will allow no private case to be made and should the NOT
GUILTY victim proceed with it they will take it over and ensure that it is
abandoned. This is a particularly sinister development as there are documented
records of the police and CPS using their witnesses, complainants, bringers of
false allegations - call them what you will – on other occasions, subsequently AGAINST
OTHER PEOPLE, knowing that the first case they brought using that witness was
thrown out of court!
What they do in fact is try again using the
same witness with a different set of malicious allegations against another
person which, in a case that I am aware of, also failed. The woman in question
bringing a second set of false allegations of sexual misconduct was again
protected by the CPS who likewise refused another NOT GUILTY individual
permission to proceed with a private case. Such protection of clearly
malicious, neurotic individuals by the Criminal Justice System in this country
is an absolute scandal
For victims of false allegation then this
is a straightforward double whammy. And there’s the joke really. Only the
person making the false allegation is innocent! Unfortunately, the joke goes a
lot further. You pay in your rates for the nice policeman to conduct an attack
on you on behalf of the lovely sick person making the allegation/s and you pay
for the Crown Prosecution Service in your taxes to prosecute you on the basis
of false allegation and try and put you in prison! I bet you never thought you
were so generous!
Malicious, false allegation has been around
quite a while so it may help a little if we went back to the Bible. Hello
there, has anyone out there heard of THE TEN COMMANDMENTS? Yes, I know it’s a
bit silly to talk about them these days but for some people like the victims of
malicious allegation one of them is rather important.
THOU
SHALT NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS… is exactly about this
kind of thing. Right up there with killing, adultery, stealing and wanting
things that belong to other people. Very much a microcosm of the way British
society is today with a bit of football thrown in. However, bearing false
witness is extra special. Telling lies about people to cause them harm, and
great harm it often is, is a hateful un-human thing. In fact it’s beyond evil
because this intention to do harm is deliberate. Harm done in a premeditated
way for self-satisfaction and pleasure. However such activity has alas gone a
stage further. That of the neurotic telling the unfortunate person they regard
as a transgressor that they might go to the police and make a complaint. This
leaves a threat hanging over them so that they are now fearful, wondering what on
earth they have done. The accuser knows this. Whoever they are they have the
ability to malign given to them by the police, a power they are often only too
conscious of along with its devastating flip side, the fear of a victim. This
transfer of power is significant. In practical terms it is the empowerment of a
neurotic to do harm and they are all too often aware of it. They take on a
fearful aspect to their intended victim rather like the power of a snake in the
animal kingdom.
For decent innocent people well aware of
its malevolence, perhaps because they have already experienced it themselves,
heard stories from friends or taken the trouble to investigate, its effect,
particularly in cases involving sexual misconduct from minor allegations say of
indecent exposure up to the most serious of molestation of a minor to rape, the
consequences to a man, if innocent, and his family, can be utterly devastating.
Prior to allegations involving celebrities in recent times such main line
allegations and accusations were relatively rare across the board. Far more
common was the lower order stuff from exposure to bottom pinching in crowded
trains. Women especially were reluctant to pursue genuine complaint because a
certain ‘masculine culture’ pervaded the police and their procedures. This has
led to unfortunate consequences. The pendulum has swung back the other way and
rightly, but for the sake of equity and justice for genuine victims this should
have stayed balanced at the center not taken a 180 degree turn. In recent years
a vast slough of serious allegations of celebrity sexual misconduct has
dominated the media. Major ‘cultural’ figures have been shown to be serial offenders
whose relationship with the police has come under considerable scrutiny along
with monstrous cases of child grooming by Asian gangs. Left below the horizon
in such high profile reportage are the many genuine low profile cases many of
which the police may not be inclined to take up.
Alas, one of the effects of this recent
publicity frenzy has been to mask the much wider problem in our society of
false, malicious allegation and the equal devastation it has caused so many
families. It all rides along together with the many social, economic and
cultural changes of recent decades; economic depression and family break up…
the rise of an underclass… strange modes of fetishistic personal expression
from body piercing to the ubiquitous tattoo… rampant unchecked illicit
financial activity... Everything set in
a society in which old traditions and certainties are in meltdown, in which
values established over generations are breaking down or under threat, in which
norms of conduct and behaviour are challenged or in flux, but above all else,
where your place in an order of things with which you were familiar isn’t the
same anymore. Nothing the same anymore and you and your place in it under
threat. And along with it all the problems and challenges of mass immigration.
Psychologically you’re no longer empowered
by the old certainties. You’re now in a world of potential hurts. In a perfect breeding ground for
endless anxiety. Of fears real and imagined. Of neuroses that you can’t get a
grip on. You need to hold onto something. Regain a sense of who you are by not
letting others get to you by what they say or do. You need to hit back. Show
them who you are and what you can do. Yes you’ll teach them what’s what! That
you’re someone who won’t be messed with! Teach them a lesson they’ll never
forget. Put them back in their place. Teach them what it means to know
insecurity and fear. It’ll make you feel strong again. Make you feel that
you’re someone!
Interestingly enough, Hitler’s early years
in power from 1933 onward saw a staggering rise in malicious and false
allegation made by hundreds of thousands of ordinary Germans against one
another. Many political many sexual in nature. They called it ‘informing’. Files
containing statements made to the Nazi police still exist as a documented
record of a febrile society where neuroses ran wild in a people who felt they’d
lost their place in the world, made up stories and lies and maliciously
informed on their neighbours. Countless numbers of people lied about and
informed on died in the Camps.
To find your place in shifting sands you
need to be special and you need to be strong. Special enough to recognise your
own neuroses and not allow yourself to become a victim of them, and on the
other side strong enough to fight malicious allegation all the way to the end
and not let it damage you. Just remember the nature of the crime you are fighting
and the grim fact that it is state sponsored!
Finally, at the conclusion of this post,
let me say that I hope I have made clear the profound psychological connection
between the parallel rise of tattooing as a vehicle for the externalization of
neuroses as a compulsive means of self-expression and that of malicious allegation
as a neurotic form of empowerment. The psychological locus of such neuroses
originate in the times in which we live and may remain with us and evolve into
much darker forms in the coming decades.
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