I Am Against Bullying And Loads Of Other Bad Things
In the UK we are obsessed with people getting bullied. This is because the national conciousness is steered by middle-class, middle aged people with children and opinions. So, the price of petrol, availablity of a plumber, quality of school dinners and a lack of role models is more important than, say, pollution, crime or Britain’s lack of sporting success.
We also love condemning things that are bad, or illegal, instead of saying what we are going to do that is right. We are critical of bad things and it gives you the effect of living as a member of the opposition. This is not a good thing and I am complaining about it, which makes me English.
We wear armbands to demonstrate that bad things are not good. Awareness for cancers and disgusting behaviour can all be worn proudly on your sleeves. I’m all for them raising awareness about illness, but the ones that condemn a mindset are silly. Blue ones are anti-bullying. Black and white ones are for a campaign against racism. Or they are to promote Nike, who is anti-racist, but whatever helps the cause, in my view. But hang on - isn’t racism illegal? And isn’t the law there to protect people from it? The best promotion you could give the campaign is not to be racist. Really, I don’t care who isn’t racist, just like I don’t care who isn’t a murderer. I want to know who the actual racists are and put bracelets on them, so I can single them out for my own type of bullying.
We could give them what’s left of the really bad school dinners. Then they’d need a plumber all right.