Sunday, January 20, 2013

Another murder - ho hum

I thought I'd heard yesterday about another delayed death as a result of violence, and a subsequent upgraded assault charge to murder. But a search has revealed nothing new since the death of a Kawerau man. Perhaps the report I heard related to the accused's appearance in court.

But here's the thing. There have been so many murders since January 1 - seven - they blur into each other. They are now so common place I struggle to recall the individual details of each case. That in itself is shocking yet I don't feel shocked.

Recently I have started reading bits and piece written by people far younger than me who claim this violent crime stat or that violent crime stat is slightly better than the 1980s and 90s as if cause for celebration. But I go back to the 1960s and 70s when murders were remarkable occurrences.

Plus we are constantly bombarded by the media over road deaths and drownings. Accidents, even if avoidable. By comparison I read little if anything about deaths from violence - excluding domestic violence that is.

I think it's a reality. We are now desensitised to murder. And that very desensitisation means a return to days when murders were rare and  dominated the news is highly unlikely.


4 comments:

Kiwiwit said...

At the risk of sounding like a conspiracy theorist, I think there is something a little more sinister going on here. The reporting of violent crime does not suit the Gramsci-ite social view of our mainstream media whose inverted logic says that offenders are actually victims of society's repression (racial, sexual, religious or whatever). Road accident and drowning deaths, on the other hand, are the consequences of our failure to comply with the guidance and rules of our all-powerful, benevolent state.

In other words, if we only made an effort to understand the violent criminals and did as we are told (which, of course, the violent criminals cannot be expected to do), we would all be much better off.

Anonymous said...

Spot on the above post. Whenever I read about a murder, a car accident involving stolen vehicles and unlicensed drivers, serious assaults etc I always say to myself that the crim was once, not long ago, a little baby in a pram being pushed by his proud mother -and what a favor it would have been to society if she hadn't gotten pregnant in the first place. Babies turn into shit adults, especially those with a shit upbringing -all babies are potential weapons against society -everyone in jail has a cute baby photo. It means nothing in terms of the outcome. We shouldn't pay shit people to make shit adults like themselves or worse.

baxter said...

What was once unheard of, but is now commonplace, indeed more often than not the killings are being perpetrated by thugs on bail for already very serious offences, and then getting bailed again for the murder.joimgia

Anonymous said...

Yes, life in NZ has become very cheap. There is indeed a general ho hum attitude towards murder, and the media are especially guilty of this.
Sad isn't it. I grew up in an era, fairly recent, when murder did shock the nation. Now it's just shrug the shoulders and move on.

Our criminal justice system is helping the perps to get off, and I strongly believe that the right to silence law needs to be abolished. If it had been, in big murder cases of previous years, we most likely would have had different outcomes. Such a travesty that a murder accused can't be cross-examined in court, except if they should so chose to be. Nonsensical.