Uncertain judgement

a critique of the culture of crime

Andrew Calcutt

pp. 28-60

in: Suke Wolton (ed), Marxism, mysticism and modern theory, Berlin, Springer, 1996

Abstract

By day they talk loudly and intimately in public places, larding their language with swear-words and pushing through doors in front of their elders and betters. On buses they sit tight on their seats chewing gum while little old ladies sway in front of them. Headphones and Walkmans cut them off from the ordinary world and tune them into totally unintelligible radio stations which batter their eardrums with crude jungle rhythms. At night they glue themselves to TV programmes and videos in order to absorb what seems to be an alarming amoral mix of violence and sexuality, now on tap for 24 hours a day. Electrocution, impaling, squishing into liquid pulp and puffing apart in a cloud of stars are all a fingertip away for Gameboy and Nintendo cyberneticides.¹