VULTURE CULTURE (FIRESEED ON HIS SOAPBOX)

four young men
lie murdered on the streets of london
in the pools of congealed blood
that poured from their dagger wounds
latterday montagues and capulets
teenage protaganists straight out of westside story
a nation cries out why?
why are these kids knifing each other to death
in modern britain?
politicians wring their hands
and bemoan the absence of fatherly role models
parents demand metal detectors in schools
and stiffer punishments for offenders
youths say they need knives to protect themselves
everyone chants it like a mantra:
'there are no easy fixes'
so what is going on?
it's difficult to make sense of things
when you're in a state of denial
when the truth is too painful to face up to
but i reckon we have some facing up to do
what turns a young man or woman
living in a prosperous western country like ours
into a killer?
what context could possibly nurture these mean streets?
those streets of london paved with gold
one view of culture conceptualises
an almost infinitessimal number of human interactions
many of them brief, remote, second-hand
a word spoken
a meaning conveyed
a look interpreted
a purpose deduced
a nuance gleaned...
gradually
over time and experience
the sum of all these little interactions creates a culture
an accepted or typical way of behaving
a common way of going about things
to act differently
particularly as a youngster
is to risk being shunned
viewed as an oddball
treated as an outcast or an undesirable...
within a mainstream culture
sometimes a counterculture can develop and break away
as did the hippy and radical culture in the late sixties
as the bombs reigned down on vietnam
and hallucinogens became common currency
or sometimes subcultures develop
cultures within a culture...
so what are the characteristics of our cultural mainstream?
what kind of interactions stand out
and what values do they promote to the young?
'two for the price of one...
buy now, pay later...
you ain't nothing without the latest (internet camera psp player mobile phone gizmo)'
message?
all of the following are good:
consumption
greed
obsolescence
throw-away
getting what you want - now!...
'outtatheway motherf***er!'
gangsta rap
hollywood blockbusters
violent computer games
meat-eating
new clear weapons
'bomb saddam and crush the taliban'
message?
brute physical power and violence is not only acceptable
it's cool...
'reach for the stars'
'pop idol'
beckham's perfect pecs and enlarged genetalia
staring at you from a giant billboard
jordan's reconstructed and barely contained boobs
splashed across the front page
message?
celebrity, beauty and fame is the be-all n end-all...
you want uncool in today's britain?
i can offer ya any number of qualities
not generally associated with stabbing someone
thrift
frugality
self-control
self-restraint
humility
compassion
altruism
selflessness
generosity
gentleness
patience
...need i go on?
a moral crisis?
a spiritual vacuum?
you bet boyo!
there's a vulture culture out there
and it's coming to a place near you!