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Monday 9 November 2009

I wrote ‘hug a hoodie’ and I’m proud of it

28 June 2008

Danny Kruger, who was David Cameron’s speechwriter, defends his most notorious piece of work for the Tory leader and says that love is a neglected crime-fighting device

De Zulueta’s analysis is to me a compelling reason why a purely punitive approach to crime and disorder cannot work. Of course we need punishment, both for its deterrent value (which is clearly effective in many cases) and for the sake of natural justice.

But for an increasing number of kids, issuing out of wrecked families into the streets of London, punishment is actually the fulfilment their pain is seeking. The perverted street culture which glamorises prison dovetails neatly with the yearning for agency; meanwhile the actual reality of prison is, if not glamorous, at least stable and comparatively safe.

Surely we can develop better institutions to warehouse hoodies than prison and the familiar big urban state school. The mid-20th-century model of teenage education — large mixed-ability classes sitting in ordered rows, passively receiving instruction — has little to offer those boys who attacked the moped man and me. They need a mix of creativity (artistic and intellectual) and adventure (preferably outdoor and physical) which exam-driven schooling simply can’t offer.

Somehow the long slow process needs to begin — of building up the institutions which host love. But it will take changes which go way beyond politics.

Society has turned itself around before. From the early 19th century, against all expectations, the tide of gin and concupiscence that swilled the sewers of Georgian London actually receded. It did this partly because of a new social commitment on the part of the rich, informed by evangelical Anglicanism and directed both at personal and political responsibility.

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adrian drummond

June 26th, 2008 3:45pm Report this comment

A bit Lord Longford'esque.

So you want ‘to show a lot more love’ to the boy that gave you a thick/cut lip?

Not me. My answer would be a bad lads army. Naturally, this is an old fashioned approach and would not go down well with the new 'aristocracy' of which you are one.

You lot - the new 'aristocracy' - have screwed up this country and now we - the victims - have to watch you try and put it back together again.

Good luck.

Christopher Chantrill

June 26th, 2008 6:54pm Report this comment

You have to say that Danny Kruger is walking the walk. In On Fraternity he wrote:

"Conservatism is the philosophy of society. Its ethic is fraternity and its characteristic is authority — the non-coercive social persuasion which operates in a family or a community. It says 'we should…'."

You could look it up on Wikiquote.

Parasite

June 26th, 2008 7:32pm Report this comment

The kid who split your lip and shouted abuse at you for having the temerity to not want the moped stolen is the product of a society in which "greed is good". He thinks he (or rather his fellow chav who was on the thing) has the right to the moped.

It's the result of the crude gimme-gimme materialism unleashed in the 80s. The rich simply got it, the poor think they have a right to it, and the means don't matter. And how dare you stand in their way, that is the thought process.

Whether a Tory columnist would like to hear it or not, the responsibility for your split lip ultimately lies with a little old lady living in Dulwich who you all blindly hero-worship.

David

June 27th, 2008 11:17am Report this comment

Except, Parasite, that the trend could be seen starting in the Seventies, the first generation brought up under the full embrace of a welfare state, where society was supposed to give them what ever they wanted otherwise it wasn't fair.

John Bull

June 27th, 2008 2:10pm Report this comment

Congratulations twerp !

It seems even a thump in the face can't drive any sense into your thick neanderthal skull.

My hope it that you insist on personally visiting all your little ( and big ) crooked and violent 'clients' in their own neighbourhoods - and without any police 'protection' of course. Darwins selection theory still works !

You may live to tell your tale - who knows - but not before your wrecked body heals first.

Grow up and stop pandering to all the thugs and scum perpetuated by your own stupidity.

Just because that mindless wonder, boy Cameron, articulated your rubbish does not make it any more sensible - quite the opposite.

John Bull

June 27th, 2008 2:16pm Report this comment

Danny - if you have life or health insurance, I hope you have declared your mentality to your insurers - none with any sense of 'risk-assessment' would touch you with a bargepole !

'Dead-Man-Talking' is an apt epitaph for your tombstone. Save your descendents the trouble - order it now.

Female 29 Australia

July 14th, 2008 1:13am Report this comment

I believe this too. Thank you for printing this where we can all read it. And for the great work you devote yourself to.

Bill McCall

July 29th, 2008 4:16am Report this comment

Boofheads like Kruger are a blight on Conservative politics, but unfortunately too many of them are already in positions of authority, the current leader being another.

Thor

November 26th, 2008 9:38pm Report this comment

Yup the Beatles put it thus..."all you need is love, love, love, love is all you need".. they was dope smokin musos though so thats ok.. but torys are not aloud to have a sensitive side?

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