The Disconnect Between Action and Consequence..

Every day, unknowingly, our actions affect other people. Mostly they are unintentional, mundane actions, but the action of the individual, more than often, has an impact on someone else.

There are certain types of people in the world who I encounter on a daily basis, who drive me slightly crazy with their actions. They probably get on your nerves too. From the unwitting tourist in London, who doesn’t know which side of the escalator to stand on and makes everyone stop in their tracks, and the charity volunteer with a clipboard trying to get us to sign up to something. How about the nuisance cold sales calls we didn't ask for? Not forgetting the people who walk along the train platform with their smart phone in their hand getting in everyone’s way and slowing everyone down. Or the person who knocks into you at the bar, spilling your drink and not apologising? These actions affect us and can easily blow up out of all proportion if someone involved is a certain type of person.

But much worse than those people you encounter with unintentional actions, are the people who think they are above everyone around them, and the laws of the land. These people do not give a shit about their actions. They are the ones that make my blood boil. We have all encountered these people in our lives. And in my opinion, there seems to be a plague of these types of people in our society. The type of people who do not think twice about breaking the law, attacking people, committing crime, sexually assaulting someone, just because they think they can get away with it.

Last weekend, a young man, Oliver Dearlove, was killed in Blackheath, London,  as he waited for a taxi with friends after a night out. 

He was killed after being punched just once, by a man who quickly exited the scene. A man who thought he could punch someone and get away with it. However instead of just assaulting someone, the attacker killed him.

Police in Blackheath after the attack

In my opinion, the attacker is synonymous with an alpha male type of knuckle dragger mentality. A culture within a generation of men not really giving a f**k about the consequences of their individual actions. The type of person who is desperate to be feared, and respected amongst his peers. The type of person who swaggers around with bravado and an attitude of not giving a shit. The sense in his life that he is untouchable. I cant stand these types of people.

 

For whatever reason, the attacker found it acceptable to punch the victim, not caring for the implications that single punch would have. Sure, his argument in court will be that he didn’t mean to kill the victim. But he still thought that he could punch an innocent person and get away with it. 

 

Earlier today, a 31year old man was charged with murder. The accused pleaded 'Not Guilty' to the charge, on the basis that he did not intend to kill or cause serious injury to the victim. It makes you wonder how many other people has he attacked over the years, who haven’t ended up losing their life? We just don’t know. What we do know, is that the accused’s brother is serving life in prison for brutally murdering someone over ten years ago. It indicates to me, that if guilty, the accused comes from a background where violence is common, and there is no fear for the consequence of your actions.

What drove the attacker to do this is unclear, but there was a clear disconnect about his action, the consequences, and the implication that could have on so many people. Part of the problem in my view, is just how slack our judicial service is. There is no real deterrent for crimes in this country, as the courts are simply too soft. We offer ridiculously small jail sentences for awful acts of crime or violence. In my opinion prison is supposed to be hard time. It should be a hell on earth. It should be there to scare people into not wanting to commit crimes and violence. Also in my opinion, a life sentence should be mandatory for anyone who kills another in an act of violence. Even if the attackers intent wasn’t to kill, he did just that. Kill. Therefore life imprisonment is what the verdict should be if found guilty.

Assaults and fights are far too common in our society. Go to any town or city in the UK and there will be something for emergency services to handle. A fight could easily lead to far worse than intended, which makes you question, is it actually worth it?

The implications of the attack were not on the attackers mind at the time, and who knows why he decided to attack Mr Dearlove’s group that night? But the attack would have huge implications. And not only on the victim, but his family, his friends, his colleagues, the emergency services, medical staff and passers- by who tried to save him, and other people in the local community left completely horrified by the nature of the attack. 

The outpouring of emotion and heartbreak has spread far and wide in the local community, with the shock of what has happened to someone who was known and loved by so many people. He was in a good career, with a loving partner who he was planning his future with. He had a large loving family and had recently become an uncle twice to two baby boys.  He was living his life the right way. And now he is no longer with us. His parents have lost their son, siblings lost their brother, partner lost her boyfriend and nephews and nieces have lost their uncle and so on... All because, one man, decided to punch another man in a senseless, needless and tragic attack.

I was heartbroken when I realised who the victim was, the step brother of an old friend of mine. I cant begin to imagine what he and his family are going through. To everyone who knew and loved Oliver Dearlove, my deepest condolences and thoughts are with you. I can only hope that you can be there for one another and get through the tough times ahead.

I sincerely hope that there will be justice for this attack.

RIP Oliver Dearlove - gone far too soon.

It's a f**cked up world that we live in...

Yesterday I asked myself and colleagues around me a question – are we, as the social media generation, desensitised from shocking and gratuitous violence?  I think as a majority, we probably are. Well I certainly am. And in my opinion that is down to the way coverage is shared via social media.

I have various forms of social media, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram. Each serves its own purpose. When I learnt of the shooting of Alton Sterling, I logged into my Twitter account. With literally a few keyboard strokes, I saw video footage of two murders on my Twitter feed. It saddened me, but I certainly wasn’t shocked and moved to a new level of emotion that I probably should have been. And I blame that, not on movies and video games. But the sharing of REAL time news on social media.

The two separate videos were the murders of two black men by US police officers. I used the term murder as in my opinion that is what it was. No doubt about it in my mind. No other term is required or can be justified. The officers that killed Alton Sterling and Philando Castile murdered them. 

The police officers seemed to be a fit of rage and hysteria in the aftermath of pulling that trigger. It was almost as if the gun in their hand and uniform on their body gave them a sense of power that they were invincible, and as soon as the sound of the bullets leaving the chamber stopped ringing in their ears, they snapped into an understanding of what would happen to them from now on. 

Their lives will be turned upside down and those of their families. The split second it took to murder those men will impact those around them forever. But that is nothing in comparison for those who lost someone in that action. Children will never have their daddy back, and that is unacceptable. The US police needs to seriously review the types of people they are hiring, as they are engaging their firearms before engaging their brains. 

This morning I woke and the top trend on Twitter was #Dallas. When you see a place name trending, you know something bad has happened. And it has. In what appears to have been an organised revenge attack on police officers, resulting in eleven officers shot, five killed, and an unconfirmed number of members of the public have been shot at a #BlackLivesMatter protest in the city. Once again, events have been captured on film, and shared online. In one video which has been shared virally, we have seen the execution of one officer, who was killed doing his job. And again I wasn’t shocked. The cold hearted execution of a police officer doing his job should have moved me. But we have seen it before. 

But yesterday isn’t the first time that we have witnessed such atrocities, and certainly won’t be the last. But in recent times, I have learnt about these incidents via Twitter and Facebook. In the past weeks we have seen the mass murder in the Orlando nightclub, and although mass footage didn’t come out, individual messages and heartbreak were shared internationally on social media.

In August last year, videos flooded social media of the murders of news reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward. These videos had been filmed and released by the killer himself. The videos were shared instantly and spread like wild fire globally. They became viral. Millions of people saw the horrified look on Alison Parker's face as she literally stared down the barrel of a gun. Whether they wanted to or not. The image was shared and publisized around the world.

In yesterday’s murders, the attack in Dallas, and the murder of the news team last summer, we have witnessed someone taking human life without thought or compassion. We have seen the last moments of someone’s life, and in some videos even seen their last breath.  

And although truly heart-breaking when you think of the impact of the action upon the individuals, loved ones, families, friends, co-workers etc, we as members of the social community still share the videos on social media, with no thought of who may see it. 

Acts of violence, murder and terror attacks are part of the world we live in, but we have a duty to share the news responsibly. Social media gives everyone a voice, but in my opinion we have a responsibility about how we use that voice. There is an argument that people can share the truth on social media, the truth as it happens, compared to a filtered and censored version we may often get from the media news outlets.

We are a generation who have been brought up on violent movies, violent video games and global atrocities being shown on our screens. We are a generation who know that gratuitous violence is just a few clicks away should we want to see it. We are also a generation who have been brought up with modern cameras, smart phones, body worn cameras and live streaming. When something shocking happens, you will often see a crowd of people with their phones out filming the activity. The ability to film what is actually happening is there to prove the actions that are occurring,  which has never been more evident than in the murder of Philando Castille, who’s partner filmed and broadcasted live on Facebook the aftermath of the Police officer opening fire on him after he reached for his driving licence. In that ten minute Facebook live video, we saw the moment he passed away and her remarkable calmness and willingness to comply with the officer, as the officer seemed to become hysterical. 

Desensitization to a subject suggests a lower level of emotion in response to something you have witnessed. 

I would describe myself as an emotive and passionate person, yet with all of the things I have seen recently, with the additions of coverage of huge events over the years such as: 7/7, 9/11, Sandy Hook, Columbine, and not to mention the countless violent or abusive videos random Facebook friends have liked or shared, I would certainly say that I view things with a lower level of emotion towards them, compared to how I would have felt in days before social media. I am sure I am not alone in feeling that way. 

I seem to be tweeting the same thing quite often now days : "Its a fucked up world we live in."

My thoughts and condolences go out to the families of all of the people who have lost their lives in recent events. RIP.