Jeremy Clarkson is a twat …
… plain and simple!
What am I ranting about now you ask? Well, this http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/jeremy_clarkson/article5821586.ece?Submitted=true
Before you read any further … this is not going to be a friendly, pretend everything is happy kind of post. I try and stay out of these kinds of things but when ignorant pompous idiots shoot their mouths off over things they have no idea about it just makes my blood boil!
I used to like the guy, used to think quite highly of the man, never missed an episode of Top Gear; however I now view the him in a completely different light.
I now think he is an irresponsible twat!
Sure, I know it is probably a publicity stunt to get his ratings up … Same bollocks as when Gareth Cliff, a local saffir radio personality spews forth on his radio show about how he wishes all cyclists would get hit by a car and die …. but I think it is time that public personalities / celebrities start thinking more carefully about the shit they spew!
It is time to consider the actions of your spewing!
“Johannesburg is Milton Keynes with thunderstorms. You go out. You have a lovely ostrich. You drink some delicious wine and you walk back to your hotel, all warm and comfy. It’s the least frightening place on earth. So why does every single person there wrap themselves up in razor wire and fit their cars with flame-throwers…..”
Um what "reality" is this guy from?
I’ll tell you what reality … the kind where you get to stay in only the best hotels in the country. The kind where you get escorted back and forth between your hotel room by an armed guard. The kind where you fly in for a few days, get wined and dined on only the best food that only a tiny percentile of the country can afford and then fly out with warm fuzzy memories. The kind where you are so wrapped up in your little world you fail to understand the real reality!
It's all well and good spewing shit like this when you are a tourist living it up in the best hotels in the country but tell that to the millions of average people living the “rainbow dream”... The millions of people who fought for a cause they believed in only to watch it vanish amidst the constant and incessant political bribery & corruption.
And no, I am not being racist … this has nothing whatsoever to do with race, never has, never will. I am talking about black & white, tall & short, educated & not. These people have a whole different take on what reality is. It's easy for one pompous loud mouthed celebrity to spew garbage he has no idea about and can never ever understand because he spent a few days in the lap of luxury and was fortunate enough to get away unharmed.
I would never ever wish this on anybody, but I bet if he felt unsafe driving home alone at night for fear of “smash & grab” incidents around the next corner, if his family were murdered, if his wife was raped, his house broken in to by the private security company you pay money to for protection because the police are incompetent, he'd have a whole different story to tell!
Quite frankly it is fcking irresponsible to tell tourists to ignore common sense and to go to South Africa, and to stroll through the streets alone at night with a camera in plain sight, because it is “tranquil” and . Shit like that will get them killed. Fact. Try tell that to the family of the unsuspecting British tourist who was mugged, abducted, raped repeatedly and then killed only a year or so ago.
I know most saffirs, still living in their home country don't want to hear it and I appreciate that; but it is the truth and more often than not the truth is not a nice thing to hear. Living there faced with this kind of thing on a daily basis you have no choice but to put your head in the sand and learn to cope. For years & years I coped. I pretended that there weren’t problems. I pretended it was all just propaganda. I pretended to ignore the fact that I no longer listened to the news, no longer read the papers because it angered me each time. I pretended us privileged whities were simply over reacting.
But it is not so! It is a problem and the sooner the country stops bullshitting themselves and admits to the problem the sooner something can be done about it.
I recently got the opportunity to work on a project in New Zealand for two years. I left South Africa, not because I was running away, but for the opportunity this project provided …
Since arriving here and settling in I look around me every day in absolute amazement! No houses have burglar bars … anywhere! Let alone electrified fences and razor wire and alarm systems fit for bank. Cars are left unlocked in the shopping centre parking lots. Single woman walk about in town in the middle of the night with the advances of a drunken youth or two their biggest concern. Teenagers are not afraid to hitch and accepting a lift from a stranger is not unheard of. Here littering and drinking in public are the things that consume the most time of the competent, friendly and helpful police force!
In most countries rape / murder / armed robbery is still a big deal. In some countries they are horrified that the number of reported rapes last year has shot up to 50. 50 in a YEAR! I mean shit with 1 rape every couple of minutes in SA that's equivalent to a quiet month!
I love mountain biking … in Johannesburg however you cannot go riding on some of the lovely trails we have alone, because chances are good you will be walking home without your bike, shoes, cycling gear, cellphone … that’s if you’re lucky! In the past year I know of at least 20 incidents of people close to me (ie. not linked by 3 degrees of separation) where they have been bikejacked.
So if you cannot go mtb’ing alone, stick to the roads right? Wrong! With the complete and utter disregard for the laws of the roads in South Africa by an ever increasing number of aggressive gang lord taxi drivers who are set on intimidating all other drivers on the road into submission you’re not even safe there. I refer to the incident just last week where a taxi driver hooted repeatedly whilst accelerating directly at a high school pupil on a scooter, hitting her and killing her instantly. I wouldn’t be surprised to know that this very driver is still out there today intimidating and endangering the lives of others whilst some poor family mourns another senseless death.
The reason people wrap themselves up in razor wire Mr Clarkson is because in order to try protect those dear to you and the things you have worked incredibly hard for, you have to!
On a recent visit back to South Africa in December I was relieved of two laptops, a wallet, a passport in two different incidents in two different cities, in two different provinces. One attempted burglary at our house which we attempted to report to the police who never even bothered to show up followed the very next night by a successful burglary in spite of the razor wire, electrified fences, alarm systems, private security firms which we again attempted to report to the police only to be greeted by a police officer who could barely read or write and took two hours to write down a single A4 page statement which i dictated to him in painstaking detail.
Well Mr Clarkson, feel free to sell your beautiful beach house on whichever island it is you stay and move to the city you apparently love so much … that way you and yours can take wonderful sunset strolls knowing that you’re safe and sound! I’ll trade you any day, as will any one of the hundreds of thousands of saffirs leaving their beloved country every month!
Yes, let the hatred rain down … I’ve got big shoulders, I can take it.
If you don’t like what I have said here just remember it’s my opinion based on the facts as experienced by me …
You’re perfectly entitled to put your head back in the sand and pretend everything is dandy if you wish but it’s not for me. Oh and if you’re a foreigner who has never lived in South Africa for more than a few pampered days … don’t even dare comment on how “tranquil” you think the place is!