On 24 May 2019 a young, female, homeless, apparent drug addict was allegedly tragically killed in a park in Melbourne, Australia by another homeless, male, apparent drug addict, who suffered from a range of ailments including a “delusional disorder”. The alleged perpetrator had recently thought of himself as Jesus Christ incarnate.
The Victoria police assistant commissioner Luke Cornelius fronted the media with an unusual message. He chose to blame all men for the crime, advising that “The men in our community need to take responsibility for this.” That’s right champ. That means you. Put down that soy latte and begin taking responsibility for the alleged actions of this clearly deranged alleged killer. Like all radical notions, the idea that groups are responsible for the actions of individuals needs to be taken to its logical conclusion.
At roughly the same period a group of males of African appearance was on a vicious, armed, city-wide crime spree in Melbourne that involved several violent car thefts and high-speed police chases.
At roughly the same time a Queensland mother of four allegedly intentionally drove her car directly into the path of an oncoming truck, killing herself and her children in a tragedy of heartbreaking proportions.
So where does collective guilt begin and end? Are all Australians of African appearance responsible for the crime spree? Are all recent immigrants responsible? Are all men? All youths? All Victorians?
Are all women responsible for the deaths of the four young children? All mothers? All Queenslanders? All motorists?
Are all men responsible for the murder in the park? All drug addicts maybe? All the homeless? All the mentally ill?
No. This line of reasoning is sheer insanity.
History has shown that genocide can only occur when a particular race has been demonised to the point that their entire eradication becomes possible. The Jewish Holocaust was prefaced by a campaign of propaganda that blamed the entire group for a list of manufactured crimes. All Jews were responsible for Germany’s post-war ruination. A similar apportioning of collective guilt occurred in Rwanda prior to the slaughter of tens of thousands.
Are all men responsible for the actions of a deranged individual? No. Should we stand silent while a government official tries to convince us otherwise? No. And we will not.
Perhaps Mr. Cornelius needs to consider his position.