TWITTER WATCH: Politicising a death
The virtue signalling outrage olympics on social media is getting gross now.
Everyone seems to want to twist the tragic death of this young visitor to our shores into their own ideological frame work.
Some men are throwing childish tantrums that this death is being used as a reflection on all men.
Some woke are claiming this is evidence of a wider narrative on patriarchy and that men are trash.
Some Women of Colour are demanding to know if this attention would be given if the victim wasn’t white (I feel some actual sympathy towards that perspective).
And some trans activists are trying to make this about violence against Transpeople, which is bewildering as I think there’s been very few trans murders.
In the heat of the high emotion, especially on social media platforms algorithmically fuelled on subjective outrage, everyone seems to want to politicise this death to fit their own narrow views.
So what do the facts actually tell us?
Between 2007 – 2016 there were 686 people killed by homicide in NZ and 62% of those victims were male and a third were Maori – we do have a violence problem in NZ and it’s male on male violence.
We have a nation of damaged men who damage other men and Māori are disproportionately reflected in that damage, that’s what the facts tell us and if we are to even attempt to fix that, then attempting to create narratives that ignore that reality does little in solving it.
We have a long way to healing this damage.
I found it interesting to observe my own reaction to this murder which was to note it, consider it very sad, and leave it at that. I was wondering if my subdued response was due to a gradual desensitisation over time to the horror of murders like these. But I think your blog touches on another angle to this.
The tragedy simply painted more ugly picture of our ugliness.
What do the facts tell us? The PM politicised the tragedy by commenting according to some, and the length of motivations she had and crimes they reckon she committed by doing that, shows deep levels of irrationality and lack of empathy and humanity impeding any acknowledgement of our realities.
Outstanding Martyn, you nailed it.
I also can’t stand the patronizing way “legal experts” assert that Open Justice in a publicly accessible proceeding supposedly means a fair trial is impossible. Absurd! That is simply insulting the public and the jury’s intelligence.
And the media take full advantage of the fact that we can’t see and analyse the culprit, and therefore can’t actually assess what the relevant associated stats about the crime would be, by insinuating that all males actually remain in the permanent suspect line up.
A sick crime, a sick court system, and a sick media, telling you that you are all sick, and they are not.
It’s time to stop being so lenient on this murderers who take the lives of good honest people. Personally I feel it’s time to bring in an eye for an eye into our justice system. Why are we putting these murderers in prisons where they get to have three square meals a day, fresh sheets, tv and visits from their families, while grieving families never get to see their loved ones again. I personally would have no hesitation in volunteering to put a bullet between the eyes of every malicious murderer. Let’s save the country money and get rid those unwanted vermin of humanity. They made their choice and for that there should be a definite life ending consequence ,as that is what they chose to take from the good innocent people like Grace Millage.
What are your thoughts on wrongful convictions?
So bring back the law of the Ancient Jews according to the Old Testament, or do you prefer Sharia Law, the Salafists and other extreme Muslims want to follow and apply?
I wonder how that will work, and if a wrongly accused put to death by stoning or perhaps firing squad will then be dug out and revived somehow, years later, when facts show, the wrong person suffered a sentence under your eye for an eye justice model.
We just have to be patient it will all come out as it does in court. When they talked about swift justice, we don’t have swift justice here. A homicide case might take at least a year before it even gets to court. Murderers if proven guilty usually get a life sentence this means they have to serve a minimum of ten years since 2003 new laws. In the past murderers got out after 5-7 years. They get life but they can get out if they meet the parole conditions of the community being safe. Ten years and then the possibility of getting out is too soft on murder and the law is suppose to follow precedents but it doesn’t it depends on who has the money to fight in court with a QC or top criminal lawyer and this is wrong. How do I know this, I have studied similar cases and seen very different outcomes to me this shows our justice system needs to be changed. I am a victim and this killing has upset me cause I love our country and like many other kiwis we are proud people.
A fair number of murders are in other countries called crimes of passion, basically committed by related or close people, who acted in the spur of the moment, not thinking clearly, letting anger take over, and lash out, thus killing a wife, husband, child or a mate or neighbour of sorts.
In such cases people may reform, and can respond to rehabilitation efforts.
My first reaction is that there wasn’t this outpouring when the Japanese backpacker was murdered – nor was there the police resources put into her investigation. Then I thought maybe women have finally reached our end point. We are sick of having to justify our actions, first thing was discussion on a woman on her own, then whether or not she was on tinder. We are not to blame when we are attacked and we are tired of it being our fault that men want to hit, raped and kill us.
Lucy, I take on board your comments.
However to continue to blame violence and aggressive behaviour on a specific gender, class, race, religion etc is so wrong.
It is not a race issue, nor is it a gender issue. It’s a human issue. In my opinion to point the finger at one or two sectors of society is contributing to inflaming the issue, which in turn is causing social divisions amongst us, igniting a them and us attitude, which isn’t healthy.
We need to get some perspective on human violence in all its forms. It belongs to us in general as a society. It’s our responsibility to make sure by utilising the correct channels this issue is recognised, identified and dealt with accordingly, so it can be contained, reducing the horrendous rates of violence in NZ.
Mary… Lucy says “how do I know which men will not turn when they don’t get the response they are expecting?” This is the point. How can she tell? So treating us all as dangerous is understandable. All the women I know or have known closely enough to have such a conversation have an experience to relate that supports Lucy’s position. I strongly suspect that it does not mean a majority of men are dangerous, but that some men abuse a hell of a lot of women. become adept at a chat-up and by practice and by application to a chosen “sport” become the most interesting male in any social situation. I don’t have an answer.
D J S
“We are sick of having to justify our actions, first thing was discussion on a woman on her own, then whether or not she was on tinder. We are not to blame when we are attacked and we are tired of it being our fault that men want to hit, raped and kill us.”
Yes, fair enough, but also no, travelers, whether female or male, should always act with a sound degree of caution, particularly when visiting other countries.
You would not walk around in a certain dress in a strictly Muslim country, except in secluded resorts for tourists, you would not go on a drinking binge in Saudi Arabia, you would also not lecture people having a good time during the carnival in Rio or at the Oktoberfest in Munich, for having a bit too much of a drink, while you may be a firm anti alcoholic disliking such a way of entertainment.
New Zealand is by some portrayed as a safe and ‘clean and green’ country, which is nonsense, as we know. We have one of the highest imprisonment rates per capita in the western world, we have a high rate of child abuse, we have other domestic abuse, we have some diseases not found in other developed countries, we have a lot of hypocrisy, in some years also had a high rate of murders per annum.
To pretend this is a pure, pristine, all embracing, warm and friendly place may be so when mixing with some or many New Zealanders, but it is foolish to think all Kiwis are warmhearted, caring and nice people.
And a city like Auckland will have not only many poor, homeless and otherwise socially marginalised people, there are also some people with criminal minds and tendencies.
Wake up to reality, we have the same issues as many other countries and peoples. So travelers should not be overly trusting and easy going, whether female or male. It is not the first of such cases, not at all.
I was thinking about this tonight.
I think the whole movement is getting out of control.
I certainly don’t think there was any out pouring when Dagmar Pytlickova was found dead with her killer dead nearby in 2012.
The killer use to live around the corner from my Parents house.
“The herd” have only showed me that they are sensitive to reality
Perennial Social Issues = inequality, welfare and violence all over the headlines ..
NZ culture breaking down ..
It’s time to stop being so lenient on this murderers who take the lives of good honest people. Personally I feel it’s time to bring in an eye for an eye into our justice system. Why are we putting these murderers in prisons where they get to have three square meals a day, fresh sheets, tv and visits from their families, while grieving families never get to see their loved ones again. I personally would have no hesitation in volunteering to put a bullet between the eyes of every malicious murderer. Let’s save the country money and get rid those unwanted vermin of humanity. They made their choice and for that there should be a definite life ending consequence ,as that is what they chose to take from the good innocent people like Grace Millage.
We get presented certain narratives, but the case has not been heard and decided on by any court yet, so we do not know what has happened, and why an alleged killer did commit what he has been alleged of doing.
I find the media focus on this case disturbing, I wonder also, would the MSM spend as much time and effort on vigils and so by a few dozen or a few hundred concerned citizens here and there, if the person were a dead Indian or East Asian girl, or God forbid a Maori???
Emotions are exploited for certain ends, by various players, I fear.
We are presented the oh so innocent, nice and good NZ Inc image, sadly disturbed by this great injustice. But is NZ Inc really that pure, innocent little nation and society, except in some gated communities and leafy suburbs?
I for one am sick of grieving in private! We grieve then there is another victim.
I have spent my life being afraid of every man I meet – it is every man not just some men.
In my life I have had to make sure that if I go out at least one person stays sober to ensure that we all get home safely, I always get talked over by men in meetings at work, I have to be careful where I work at night, I have to be careful when I am talking to someone I don’t know so I don’t “give the wrong signals”, I have to be careful about how I dress – I have spent my life being wary of all my interactions so stop telling us its “we do have a violence problem in NZ and it’s male on male violence.”
There will NEVER be a perfect society where there will be no crime at all, unless you want a total control police or surveillance and robot human society and state.
When you have large urban populations, offering some anonymity, then there will always, regrettably, be some risk that some persons abuse their rights and more, and do things that are illegal.
So do you want a total control police state or dictatorship?
You have obviously been hurt and suffered, and that should teach some men a lesson, others also to be acting appropriately.
But you have as a consequence internalised fear and distrust, and thus become over sensitive, as some would see it.
While you deserve respect and help also, you cannot expect that all people will change to the degree you may see necessary, as they may act rather normal, and not abusive, although you may see this very differently.
Not all men are abusive, or have rape on their mind, or are violent and disrespectful. It is only some who fit such criteria.
On the bright side, at least our media haven’t asked Arsehole McVicar for his opinion…. yet.
Don’t give them the idea!