The Politics of Fear

The Internet is great. Its changed the world. There is no doubt about that. Video conferencing, file sharing, ordering groceries, betting on stuff, and communicating with drug dealers are now things that are able to be achieved with relative ease. The only problem is, having such a wealth of media at one's fingertips can lead to alienation, fear and to some extent brainwashing.

Moreover, if there's one thing that the Internet has done that maybe isn't so good, it has mobilised possibilities for a once shameful, subdued and generally unknown group of people to connect in a mutual embellishment of each others socially unacceptable interests; Paedophiles.

I asked my parents if Paedophiles existed in the olden days, but the responses were rather mixed. I think that they did, but no one really cared, because the media didn't scare the shit out of every young family in the country by saying that if your daughter goes to play in the park, the bearded middle aged man with the speech impediment, the Hi-Tech trainers and the fleece is going to make lurid advances.



Check this website out.

That's right, Who Is In Court.com. Apparently the aim of the site is help 'tackle crime' on a local and national level. By simply clicking on an interactive map of the land of hope and glory, you are able to see mugshots, short biographies and the addresses of people from Stockport facing charges for petty theft, burglary and GBH. However, Who Is In Court.com isn't the only way to find out your local perpetrators whereabouts; there are also other such resources, some more heavily promoted than others;



However much the guys at Who Is In Court.com and our nations favourite piece of daily neo-Nazi literature are doing their bit to try and fuel the vigilante-esque crime stopping fire, it results merely in people becoming more scared, judgemental and aggressive.

If you're male, past 25 or so years old and you've got a beard, I personally wouldn't go anywhere near a minor without a realistic confrontation of the fact that you may have to engage in hand to hand combat with an angry, unemployed Scouser.

He's only doing his bit though, right?

I don't know what is more dangerous these days. Being of Middle Eastern complexion and wearing a backpack perhaps?



Mind you, I've never been to Cuba, and I've heard the all-inclusive package deals at Guantanamo are relatively well priced.