An excellent contribution to the debate, thanks Laura.
"Free thinking has never been more urgent." Nor has it been less in evidence due to the scourge of social media.
On Arendt's description of Eichmann, " She had expected a monster, but what she found was a small, self-important, thoroughly ordinary man. He spoke in clichés. He was, she wrote, almost boring." Our 21st century parallel is Anthony Fauci and his acolytes.
I might add that I'm sick to the back teeth of being told not to let these events divide us. When the law abiding resident population is constantly denigrated, discriminated against and treated primarily as an ATM for all and sundry, it's not us doing the dividing.
The roots of moral equality between human beings are indeed Christian and the origins of anti-racism, from Quakers advocating for the abolition of slavery to the institutional and cultural push back against 'Paki bashing' in the 70's, were morally good. But, the over correction of positive discrimination to the detriment of whites became treated as morally good when it is, in effect, collective punishment.
Reverse discrimination is still discrimination and should not be excused by claiming it began with good intentions. Intentions do not determine outcomes and the adverse effects of treating anti-racism as the ultimate moral good have been in evidence for some time now.
The police officers may well have been trained to prioritise brown over white but that does not excuse or remove their individual agency in particular situations. Were 'Paki bashing' skinheads excused by the social environment they were raised in?
The UK's institutions, from museums, schools, NGOs, corporations and MPs, Guardian, BBC et al have all been promoting the oppressor/oppressed simplification of morality. It has enabled banal evil just as Nazi Germany's Aryan/Jew morality did.
The time for temperate, measured critique has passed. We need to get very angry before others are killed.
Laura, I agree with everything that you say except for one caveat - those that are evil and wish us harm do not have the right to an "intrinsic dignity" as they revoked that right when they deliberately set out to harm us.
They have no respect, humanity, or compassion for those they seek to destroy, and therein is our fundamental problem.
As for the knife crime trope that our weasely politicians are trying to hide behind, why should this be a surprise?
We know that years of telling minorities that they have more rights than the majority, years of telling white people, and most specifically men, that they are racist and toxic, and years of allowing Islam to grow unfettered in this country, and allowing dispensation to those who peddle their own anti-semitic and toxic ideas have now brought us to this stage, and politicians don't have the guts to stand up and push back against the very disaster they have now wrought on the rest of us.
Evil must be fought, and free thinking forms a large part of that fight, but so does morality, so does courage, and so does finally standing up to those whose utter crass stupidity and venality have brought us to this point.
Opting for the quiet life is not an option anymore if we want to save ourselves.
I think that the Police officers who attended the scene should be sacked. They along with the killer brought about this tragic young man's death and are not fit like so many to wear the uniform.
Where was their basic human compassion? Instead, their first instinct was to drag an obviously immobile man out from under the car where he was hiding and handcuff him!! He never even struggled so why the clearly disproportionate force? I haven’t seen such harrowing footage since I watched a rerun of Schindler’s List a few months ago. Incredibly, evil now comes in a British Police Officer’s Uniform.
We are now in a society where being racist is the first possible crime. 22 people died at the Manchester Arena because the security guard didn't dare report his suspicions because of fear of looking racist. But at least he was young and brainwashed. These police officers are adults trained in public service and should damn well have known to investigate a young man claiming repeatedly to have been stabbed. Personally I hope they have nightmares.
I would like to point out one thing and this is in no way a defence of the police officers or the system and the current university culture that trains them to categorise people they interact with. The article seems to infer that placing people into categories and then seeing only the category rather than the person is the 'essential evil'. But I'm not convinced. I was a healthcare worker for over 40 years and I have had to provide care for some extremely 'evil' people in my time, people who have been convicted of horrendous acts. Yet providing the best care for such people has only really been possible because in my mind they have been 'categorised' as the patient. Obviously you have to be mindful of the person behind the category and the acts they have committed, but it is the category that they occupy that allows you to provide the best care that you can. You would be right that you have outsourced your moral judgement but just imagine what sort of acts a healthcare worker might feel justified in taking if they did not and at a time when the patient is most vulnerable. I just wanted to point out that 'categorising' people is not always an 'evil' it can be the opposite too, you just have to remember that it is a dangerous tool.
A real and sobering view of Henry Nowak's murder. The cry of 'racism' now trumps decent people's normal responses, and it's destroying our society. No inquiry, we know, will address this as the issue hasn't even been mentioned by the likes of Starmer, and most left wing commentators are too busy using it as yet another excuse to bash Farage and anyone else who has tried to talk about it.
Another example of the activist's Pendulum of Over-Correction.
A problem is identified. The caring activists demand action. In many cases, action is genuinely required. Action becomes a virtuous campaign taken up by politicians and the great and good, and unintended consequences are unexamined, unrecognised, unforeseen or ignored. So the Pendulum of Over-Correction swings too far until those consequences become too obvious to hide. We see it everywhere: Anti-racism, NetZero, SEND, Motobility, Covid, recent military campaigns .........
For too long the State and institutions have been increasingly run through processes rather than common sense and humane thinking.
In this case we see it as well in the way the police and officers are dealing with the aftermath.
The officers involved should not hide and they should show remorse. Again, they are hiding behind their institutions rather than doing the humane thing.
An excellent contribution to the debate, thanks Laura.
"Free thinking has never been more urgent." Nor has it been less in evidence due to the scourge of social media.
On Arendt's description of Eichmann, " She had expected a monster, but what she found was a small, self-important, thoroughly ordinary man. He spoke in clichés. He was, she wrote, almost boring." Our 21st century parallel is Anthony Fauci and his acolytes.
I might add that I'm sick to the back teeth of being told not to let these events divide us. When the law abiding resident population is constantly denigrated, discriminated against and treated primarily as an ATM for all and sundry, it's not us doing the dividing.
The roots of moral equality between human beings are indeed Christian and the origins of anti-racism, from Quakers advocating for the abolition of slavery to the institutional and cultural push back against 'Paki bashing' in the 70's, were morally good. But, the over correction of positive discrimination to the detriment of whites became treated as morally good when it is, in effect, collective punishment.
Reverse discrimination is still discrimination and should not be excused by claiming it began with good intentions. Intentions do not determine outcomes and the adverse effects of treating anti-racism as the ultimate moral good have been in evidence for some time now.
The police officers may well have been trained to prioritise brown over white but that does not excuse or remove their individual agency in particular situations. Were 'Paki bashing' skinheads excused by the social environment they were raised in?
The UK's institutions, from museums, schools, NGOs, corporations and MPs, Guardian, BBC et al have all been promoting the oppressor/oppressed simplification of morality. It has enabled banal evil just as Nazi Germany's Aryan/Jew morality did.
The time for temperate, measured critique has passed. We need to get very angry before others are killed.
"Without God, all things are permissible."- The Brothers Karamazov
Excellent observation and well shared Laura.
Laura, I agree with everything that you say except for one caveat - those that are evil and wish us harm do not have the right to an "intrinsic dignity" as they revoked that right when they deliberately set out to harm us.
They have no respect, humanity, or compassion for those they seek to destroy, and therein is our fundamental problem.
As for the knife crime trope that our weasely politicians are trying to hide behind, why should this be a surprise?
We know that years of telling minorities that they have more rights than the majority, years of telling white people, and most specifically men, that they are racist and toxic, and years of allowing Islam to grow unfettered in this country, and allowing dispensation to those who peddle their own anti-semitic and toxic ideas have now brought us to this stage, and politicians don't have the guts to stand up and push back against the very disaster they have now wrought on the rest of us.
Evil must be fought, and free thinking forms a large part of that fight, but so does morality, so does courage, and so does finally standing up to those whose utter crass stupidity and venality have brought us to this point.
Opting for the quiet life is not an option anymore if we want to save ourselves.
I think that the Police officers who attended the scene should be sacked. They along with the killer brought about this tragic young man's death and are not fit like so many to wear the uniform.
Trust the Police.... get stuffed
Where was their basic human compassion? Instead, their first instinct was to drag an obviously immobile man out from under the car where he was hiding and handcuff him!! He never even struggled so why the clearly disproportionate force? I haven’t seen such harrowing footage since I watched a rerun of Schindler’s List a few months ago. Incredibly, evil now comes in a British Police Officer’s Uniform.
We are now in a society where being racist is the first possible crime. 22 people died at the Manchester Arena because the security guard didn't dare report his suspicions because of fear of looking racist. But at least he was young and brainwashed. These police officers are adults trained in public service and should damn well have known to investigate a young man claiming repeatedly to have been stabbed. Personally I hope they have nightmares.
RiP Henry.
Absolutely brilliant essay Laura. I have read 'Free Your Mind' and would thoroughly recommend it to anyone.
Thank you Laura
Outstanding, thank you.,
what was the real reason said in court for the stabbing?
I would like to point out one thing and this is in no way a defence of the police officers or the system and the current university culture that trains them to categorise people they interact with. The article seems to infer that placing people into categories and then seeing only the category rather than the person is the 'essential evil'. But I'm not convinced. I was a healthcare worker for over 40 years and I have had to provide care for some extremely 'evil' people in my time, people who have been convicted of horrendous acts. Yet providing the best care for such people has only really been possible because in my mind they have been 'categorised' as the patient. Obviously you have to be mindful of the person behind the category and the acts they have committed, but it is the category that they occupy that allows you to provide the best care that you can. You would be right that you have outsourced your moral judgement but just imagine what sort of acts a healthcare worker might feel justified in taking if they did not and at a time when the patient is most vulnerable. I just wanted to point out that 'categorising' people is not always an 'evil' it can be the opposite too, you just have to remember that it is a dangerous tool.
A real and sobering view of Henry Nowak's murder. The cry of 'racism' now trumps decent people's normal responses, and it's destroying our society. No inquiry, we know, will address this as the issue hasn't even been mentioned by the likes of Starmer, and most left wing commentators are too busy using it as yet another excuse to bash Farage and anyone else who has tried to talk about it.
Another example of the activist's Pendulum of Over-Correction.
A problem is identified. The caring activists demand action. In many cases, action is genuinely required. Action becomes a virtuous campaign taken up by politicians and the great and good, and unintended consequences are unexamined, unrecognised, unforeseen or ignored. So the Pendulum of Over-Correction swings too far until those consequences become too obvious to hide. We see it everywhere: Anti-racism, NetZero, SEND, Motobility, Covid, recent military campaigns .........
Thank you Laura.
For too long the State and institutions have been increasingly run through processes rather than common sense and humane thinking.
In this case we see it as well in the way the police and officers are dealing with the aftermath.
The officers involved should not hide and they should show remorse. Again, they are hiding behind their institutions rather than doing the humane thing.