The Scrapbook has never been to South Yorkshire, England, but we are eager to go. The place is evidently so free of crime that the police have nothing to do but make sure people aren’t jerks to each other. The South Yorkshire Police recently advised residents on the subject of “hate crimes”: “In addition to reporting hate crime, please report non-crime hate incidents, which can include things like offensive or insulting comments, online, in person or in writing. Hate will not be tolerated in South Yorkshire. Report it and put a stop to it.”
Wowsers. Imagine the New York Police Department, say, asking New Yorkers to report “offensive or insulting comments” made “in person.” Case backlogs would explode.
Of course, the whole concept of “hate crime”—crimes given special status owing to the motivations rather than the actions of their perpetrators—produces endless varieties of this kind of nonsense. In the outlook of anti-“hate” campaigners, it’s worse to strike an old lady because she belongs to some ethnic or other minority than for the purpose of stealing her purse or for no reason at all. But why?
What struck us most about the police department’s announcement was an accompanying promotional graphic: “No-one,” it says, “should have to live with fear, anxiety or consequences of being ‘different.’ ” What can it mean to say that no one “should have to” live with fear and anxiety? Presumably, we should all walk around in a state of puerile bliss. But surely few things are going to ramp up fear and anxiety more than an invitation from the police for neighbors to inform on each other for offensive comments.
