Do you feel defensive about Glasgow ?

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Re: Do you feel defensive about Glasgow ?

Postby big jim » Wed Sep 09, 2009 3:14 pm

lordsleek wrote: they obviously aint seen Pilton.


lets no forget about niddrie :wink: ::):
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Re: Do you feel defensive about Glasgow ?

Postby tombro » Thu Sep 10, 2009 9:34 am

Even though I left as a ten year old at the end of 1960, I've always defended Glasgow on those few occasions when some obstroperous person, usually a half-pissed Aussie, has decided to have a go at my birthplace.

I'm proud to say though that I have received far more positive reports than negative, especially in recent years when friends of mine have travelled to the UK on holidays. Most have made positive comments on their trip to Glasgow and, indeed, many have named it as the highlight of their trip !

No place in this world is perfect but, if the comments of friends returning to Oz and the amazingly positive attitudes of most Glaswegians on their great Forum Sites is an indication, your city has nothing to fear from detractors.

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Re: Do you feel defensive about Glasgow ?

Postby Riotgrrl » Thu Sep 10, 2009 10:38 am

The thing is, Glasgow DOES have the most violent crime adn the highest murder rates out of all Western European cities.

There is a subculture in Glasgow - in Greater Glasgow really - of recreational violence and widespread knife crime that is horrific, repulsive and pretty much culturally unique to Glasgow and the West of Scotland.

People coming to Glasgow might never come into contact with this subculture. They may see the beautiful buildings, the fantastic galleries, the restaurants, etc. etc. All the truly fabulous things that make this city one of the greatest cities in the world.

Others might be the random victim of the violent subculture.

We should be honest about our city. It is fantastic, but it is also the host to a repulsive and dangerous subculture.
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Re: Do you feel defensive about Glasgow ?

Postby allyharp » Thu Sep 10, 2009 11:26 am

In terms of murder rates and crimes, the thing about Glasgow is that these things just seem to happen randomly - without any real reason behind an attack.

In the rest of Europe you might get done in, but it'll be because they want your wallet or your ipod.

Does that seem accurate?
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Re: Do you feel defensive about Glasgow ?

Postby Riotgrrl » Thu Sep 10, 2009 11:46 am

allyharp wrote:In terms of murder rates and crimes, the thing about Glasgow is that these things just seem to happen randomly - without any real reason behind an attack.

In the rest of Europe you might get done in, but it'll be because they want your wallet or your ipod.

Does that seem accurate?


It does. The Violence Reduction Unit at Strathclyde Police has some really interesting things to say about violence in the West of Scotland, including the point you make, that it is peculiarly (in terms of the rest of the world) unrelated to property theft.

It's more like some honour-based vendetta system, with territorial violence. I.e. if you come from place A, and dare to go to place B, it is acceptable for you to be stabbed. If A gets off with B's burd, then it's acceptable for B to stab A, etc. etc.

It's also recreational - young men (and increasingly women) go and have a fight for something to do. And the answer is not 'more youth centres'. (I don't think anyway.). The fight is part of the culture.

The Violence Reduction Unit also point out that there is something macabre about it. It's far easier to shoot someone from a distance than it is to get up close and personal and stab or slash them. Yet in Glasgow our violent young men and women prefer to stab and slash.

Of course, the murder rate would be far higher still if it wasn't for mobile phones and quicker ambulance response times. Many people who die as a result of knife crime die from bleeding out. The quicker the response gets to the victim, the less chance there is of him dying. If we had had this same level of violence back in the 1970s or 1980s our murder rate would be, what, double? Triple? Who knows.
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Re: Do you feel defensive about Glasgow ?

Postby Excalibur » Mon Sep 14, 2009 2:01 pm

^your second paragraph does actually point out a reason for a lot of the violence - territory. It's a rubbish and pathetic reason, but a reason none the less. Considering the amount of violence which does occur, you're unlikely to be a random victim of some thug. Most assaults occur between people who know each other.

So allyharp - I don't think your point holds I'm afraid, not in my (learned) opinion anyway!!
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