So this morning I got around to watching Joe Hildebrand's latest offering on ABC2 - "Shitsville Express". After enjoying his first offering - "Dumb, Drunk and Racist", I kind of knew what to expect and Shitsville didn't really disappoint. Joe has the ability to target a confronting issue and do it whilst managing to either not bore, depress or weird out his viewers. There is a comical side to his presentation but it never forgets its true purpose - to provoke a serious issue.
In "Shitsville Express" Ep.1 we learn about one of society's ugly ducklings......alcohol related violence. This itself is a topic that I loathe. You see, I believe society has a massive drinking problem. Society is essentially an alcoholic with a binge drinking problem. Trouble is people want to talk, but there doesn't seem to be enough people doing something about it. We seem to suggest the problem, offer alternatives and then get shot down by someone who says "oh no, that won't work!".
Shitsville offered examples ranging from a group of girls getting liquored up before going out because it was cheaper that way, to the cleary too young teenage boys roaming around city streets drunk and talking gibberish. There was also the sobering reality of witnessing the effects of what alcoholic violence can bring to a victim.
The reality is that this is a MASSIVE society issue, and it's one that's not getting better. In fact where crime rates are going down, drunken crime rates are soaring in the other direction. Why is that we hound our sportstars like Josh Dugan or David Warner and gloat about how it's not acceptable for them to be out drinking and carrying on when what they are doing is no different to what happens in every Australian town in every Australian state, EVERY weekend???
I often wonder about society's slipping moral standards. These days it's even more acceptable to basically do whatever we want. It's all about rights, so they say. Heck, even criminals have their rights. When it comes to alcohol related crime though I think these rights should diminish. Rights are for the genuine, the doo gooders or the ones who are led astray. They're there to protect us. In the case of alcohol related violence though i'm sick of hearing excuses being made when alcohol is involved.
We've probably all had too much to drink at one point or another in our lives, but you know what? You do generally know when to stop. Or you should know. There usually comes a moment when you know you've reached that point and you have to make the sensible decision. This is where your rights either stay with you, when you decide to stop, or your rights leave you, when you decide to become inebriated and lose control over your behaviour. In my opinion the onus needs to go back on to the individual offending. I don't really think it's acceptable to come out say that "Oh it was the drugs or the alcohol that clouded my judgement". Or that "I'm an alcoholic, have mercy on me please, it's tough!" Remember, it was your choice!
At the end of the day, a young guy who goes out on the piss on a Saturday night is responsible for his own actions. He got himself there in one piece, he can get himself home in one piece - IF he makes the right choices. If that same guy is going to get drunk, he needs to know that he is the one in control of his emotions. If you over step the mark, you've overstepped the mark. End of story. Don't blame anything or anyone but yourself. It was your choice.
If violence is not acceptable when sober, then why should alcohol ever be an excuse. In my opinion it just makes a person look even dumber. Our judicial system needs to come down harder on the fools who do this. Years of slapping them on the wrists has led to what?? Oh that's right - drunken crime is soaring through the roof.
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