Rage – I experienced it yesterday morning before work. I logged onto the Internet to skim through the news. A judge sentenced a thug to nine years in jail for viciously assaulting a refugee who had arrived in Australia seeking a better life. The assault had been caught on CCTV, which had been linked into the article. I watched a soulless thug savagely mug an innocent person. Extremely confronting. The thug’s accomplice loitered at the end of the alley making sure there were no witnesses. My heart goes out to the victim – I hope his future is filled with happiness, peace and love.
I want to believe life is beautiful. It can be, but for a lot of people it’s not. This was just another example of the empty scumbags with whom we share the planet. I make no apologies for believing that if someone is capable of such a ruthless crime, then they are undeserving and in most cases incapable, of rehabilitation. Murder, assault and sexual offences stay with the victim forever, lest we forget.
The CCTV footage served notice to me. Pink Floyd summed it up perfectly in this song … Don’t turn away. The more we support the victims of these crimes, and the more bullies, thugs and sexual predators we remove from society, the better off we will be.
Jonathan K Benton
I understand your rage and often agree. But I also don’t like to completely write off a group of people, mainly because from personal experience I know that people can increase their self-awareness and then undertake massive change within themselves.
Many people who commit crimes will never change but there are still those who will and, aside from true remorse, that’s perhaps the best reparation they can make for their victims – the knowledge that no-one else will ever be hurt by that person and, even, that they may go on to do some small good in the world.
🙂
Hi Ngaire: sorry it has taken me so long to reply. I’m immersed in my new manuscript. I’ve found a wonderful mentor – she is a YA specialist and is helping take my writing to the next level. Exciting times. Thank you for taking the time to respond to my blog. Your words are heartfelt and I often find myself wanting to believe that those people who commit the most serious crimes can change – otherwise evil is innate and incurable. But too often they don’t. People who commit less serious crimes – of course they deserve a second chance. Even a third and fourth one. I’ll even hold out my hand to help.
JKB