September

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

When police, politicians, football officials and newspapers attempt to cover up their mishandling by blaming Hillsborough on hooligans I suspect (most strongly) they are denying not just their reponsibility, but confirming their own bias and bigotry.

Like the maker of munitions, or the one behind the lines who orders an attack, those who make decisions but who are removed from directly observing their consequences will rarely be held to account. People who gamble with other peoples' lives seem unable to appreciate the dire results of what they do. Then, when catastrophe strikes and the guilty are sought they are often held to be a 'victim of circumstance' and thus considered guilt-less or at least 'forcibly compromised'. The bureaucrats and the lawyers then step in and resolution - if ever achieved - can take aeons. Charles Dickens wrote about this sort of thing back in the 1800s, and whilst in many respects society has improved, the problem keeps showing itself frequently enough to illustrate that it's a persistent failing of human society.

That various man-made disasters occur frequently enough for me (for example) to get them confused is terribly sad and upsetting.

In my younger days I also experienced the hard-headedness of police bigotry, and of course establishment, political and bureacratic bigotry survives everywhere to this day, and I understand that it's mere human nature to treat with contempt those you may despise. But the consequence, as at Hillsborough, is far too often out of proportion and meted out fatally, if indirectly, on the innocent. Bigotry may be understandable - perhaps even in rare cases justifiable - but acting out that bigotry never is. It's far too dangerous and has too often led to many horrible conflicts and wars. Death is final, but bigotry seems to go on forever.