I was in London from ’94-’97, and while I was there the No 171 Aldwych bus bomb went off, which turned my London experience a shade darker. But – and I used to go to fair few squat parties – generally the vibe was alright; there was never really an issue with guns. Fights and stabbings, (especially around Peckham, Camberwell and East Ham where I used to live) but not guns. The cops didn’t (mostly) carry guns and the only crews I knew of who had them were crack dealers, and they wouldn’t bother you if you stayed out of their areas, which you wouldn’t go to anyway. I guess the point I’m trying to make is that the fear and loathing that’s got the world by the balls is all-pervading, you can’t hope to live with your head in the sand, so we need to be sharp and street smart if we want to avoid violence. What used to be considered outrageous behaviour (bombs, guns, riots, carrying weapons to school) has become commonplace. Unnaceptable to many, yet a fact of life. I hear stories from mates who are in London about how the vibe has changed, how there’s tension in the air, how people will elbow you out of the way when getting on the tube, how people won’t look each other in the eye when passing in the street, all that. Which is sad, but a consequence of the darkside that has permeated cities and towns the world over. But we can’t live in ignorant bliss, because then we’re at a disadvantage.
I was mugged five months ago, leaving a gig/art exhibition in my hometown. Right outside City Hall. Not fun, but I was very lucky, I grabbed the fucker’s gun and managed to get off lightly with shrapnel in my leg, otherwise I wouldn’t be here writing this. Probably. But then I am in South Africa. Which makes me think – what used to be behaviour that took place in far away places (like my country, which has a rep for guns, violence etc) is now global (as with the incidents in Ipswich), because the world we live in has changed. That said, you don’t have to accept violence as the status quo – we can change things by being positive and showing those who live in fear (and consequently inflict pain on others) that it’s not the way. I used to do a festival here in the Zululand bush, a New Year gig, which pulled about 5 000 punters, black and white, and yes, there were guns, but none were ever fired because our artists, DJ’s, crew and security made everyone (no matter how wankered they were on drugs and liquor) understand that the event was a celebration, and any fucking around would be met with very unfortunate consequences. Luckily for us any threats of being barred for life were enough of a deterrent, the gig was popular, people wanted to come back. So we never had any incidents; racial, gang, domestic, drunken or otherwise. Were those events held now, I’m not so sure the outcome would be the same. Fear and the itching of trigger fingers are on the rise, everywhere.
What with 9/11, Madrid and London having taken place in what would previously have been considered ‘safe’ First World environments and a seemingly endless round of suicide bombers and terrorist actions now the order of the day worldwide, the world is generally a more dangerous place to live. Coupled with a rise in gang mentality and the availability of black market firearms, tensions now run high the world over, indeed even in rural areas which may have previously seemed somewhat removed. And that, ladies and gents, is the nature of the global village.
We get the village, but we also get the idiots.
