The slippery slope.

The theft of various non-ferrous and indeed ferrous metals goes on all year, it is not confined to a particular season. So why the sudden hysteria at the theft of bronze plaques from our war memorials? Probably because it is Armistice Day/Remembrance Sunday when our press, media and population are focused on the sacrifice of the armed services.

This is the editorial piece from the British Forces News, but I am pretty sure that you can find an example of such thefts from your immediate area. If they are not from war memorials then you can bet that they are from churches or other heritage buildings

Tougher rules to protect war memorials 

"The Local Government Association (LGA) has called for councils to be given tough new powers to stop the "soaring" trade.

It wants a ban on cash payments so sellers can be traced, as well as the installation of CCTV with automatic number plate recognition in scrapyards."

It wasn't long ago that I put up a brief post about the outlawing of cash transactions in Louisiana here . Then as in this instance there are very credible reasons that make such a proposal sound sensible, in reality they are nothing of the sort. It is really just the start, as the rationale can be applied to almost any cash transaction. Any of which may be funding crime, but probably aren't. Once the public have accepted this rationale it can then be used as a template for future restriction and regulation, just as it has in the tobacco, alcohol, unhealthy food and lifestyle banning industry, which must be the only sector currently enjoying any growth. It would be easy to let this pass and see a few crooks get their just deserts. But I think that it would be the start of a process of criminalising undocumented cash sales - is that really what we want?


The real problem is not the thefts themselves but the type of individual that carries them out. Unfortunately, they have been the creation of an entitlement driven society that has excuses for everything and consequences for nothing. They will find a way to get around any new rules and the thefts will continue.

You will never get anyone to respect anything or anyone  if they have no self respect themselves. For too long self respect has been sacrificed on the alter of self confidence and self esteem. We have a generation of crap to undo, and it won't happen quickly.