I agree with most what you say Taylor .... but I'm 58 and can vividly remember the late 1950s, 60's etc. Back then it wasn't drugs but alcohol ( which I still think causes way more problems than drugs) that was a serious problem. People back then were getting bashed walking down the street, and in their homes .... a few doors down from us an elderly woman was kicked to death by two drunken brothers who had broken into her home. A body was found on the corner of our street, I can't remember much about that but I do remember the pool of blood on the ground. A friend of mine was blasted by a shotgun and died as he walked into a party, one he had been invited to. Another friend died from a broken bottle being thrust into his leg during a fight at a pub. Gangs were commonplace, remember Melbourne's razor gangs ....
The list goes on and my point is that this was all happening 40 years ago ..... the more things change the more they stay the same, the only reason it looks worse today is the media attention and the political mileage that comes with law and order issues.
I live on the Gold Coast and this week have noticed a massive police presence leading up to today (Australia Day) On Saturday I saw Police searching cars and people as they came out of the local surf club after lunch, then spotted them a couple of hours later doing the same along the highway. At around 5pm I came out of my local supermarket and the police were searching a car in the centre's carpark. The common denominator was all the people involved were late teens early twenties. I have never witnessed the Police acting like this before, sure over the years I've driven past on the very odd occasional where the Police have been looking through a car but I could count those instances on one hand.
Today they were out in full force, and harassing people is the only way I can put it .... the local park on the water had a few dozen families, no teenagers or hoons ... but even before 1pm the Police were walking up to groups sitting quietly having a feed and asking them to open their eskys etc .... if they had any alcohol it was either tipped out or confiscated. A mate went to the Tamworth music festival and told of similar incidents there, in particular the arrogance of the Police.
I'm a pretty conservative person, don't drink, smoke or do drugs, but what I have seen this week is just way over the top, it's big brother on steroids.
