We are hearing increasingly horrific stories of how brutal Pakistani gangs have been raping minors in the UK for many years, and the police have often ignored the incidents on the grounds that raising awareness of the crimes would contribute to racism and Islamophobia among the public. It’s so disgusting that you hardly want to write about it, but it is too important to be ignored.
Social media has been the main source of information about what happened in England. The traditional media have been surprisingly quiet. The few reports that do get through tend to cast suspicion on those who report the crimes, rather than condemning the perpetrators.
How has it come to this? That the good establishment sides with the bad guys?
Yes, and it is not the first time. Not so long ago, they wanted to allow minors to perform genital amputations without parental consent, often labelled as ‘sex reassignment surgery’. They also sided with the BLM when they burned and looted towns across the US, calling it ‘mostly peaceful demonstrations’. Emergency laws, forced vaccinations and detentions during Covid were also let through without major qualms. Many on the good side also have no hesitation in choosing the terrorist organisation Hamas over Israel in the intractable and protracted Middle East conflict.
Time and time again, the good liberals are transformed into the minions of evil. How can they so often choose the wrong side?
On a superficial level, it’s a matter of picking up the pieces that don’t fit; redrawing the map to fit your own agenda.
On a deeper level, it’s about saving the paradigm. And the paradigm in this case is about human equivalence and the blank slate. I’ve written about this before, but let me explain briefly: the entire post-war ideological foundation rests on the concept that people are equal in dignity, and that everyone has the same chances in life, as long as they work hard and have the will. We have learnt this since kindergarten and the rhymes have followed us all our lives. It’s about beautiful UN declarations, and the constant cleansing of Europe’s painful fascist legacy.
Well, most people realise that we are all different, and that we value people differently depending on how they value us, and that there are genetic differences that make it impossible for everyone to have the same starting points or opportunities. Yet we have agreed the post-war manifesto because it sounds good, and contributes to a world where people respect each other and bring hope for the future.
Above all, it is an academic statement. The grassroots have probably never been on board with the ideas, they are too pragmatic and down-to-earth to be fooled by such fine phrases. Working class people know that everyone is different, and that we have different circumstances. However, we should all be equal before the law and treated equally by state institutions. The latter is a given.
But being ‘equal before the law’ is not the same as being ‘equal in dignity’. It is about going one step further. Equality is almost an expression of our lost faith in God, it is something esoteric and more elusive. It implies that all human beings, including rapists, have inherent value, and that this value is somehow equal.
Indeed, the more you think about it, the more mysterious it becomes. What is this ‘human dignity’ anyway? This ‘something’ that is the same in all people? Your mother, your wife, your sister, the homeless person, the murderer.
Yes, we are all human beings, we all have a body, thoughts, memories and hopes. And in all civilised countries, we are equal before courts and authorities. We have the same rights and obligations. But that’s not what this is about. It just wasn’t enough. We wanted something more. Something that united us all in a magical bond – equality in dignity.
And if we recognise that there are people and groups who don’t live up to our high standards, then there’s an undue amount of grit in the machinery, which is why we can’t talk about Pakistani rape gangs, black arsonists or liberal camp guards. Then the magic falls apart. The unifying glittering magical substance turned out to be gravel. And we can hardly admit that.
