Mizzy and society's collapse

Whenever a mass shooter goes on the rampage the clamour goes up not to publicise the identity of the perpetrator. Usually pathetically desperate for a moment’s perverse fame, it is better to starve them of the oxygen of publicity.

Living in a society where the cultivation of online clout is at the foremost of the minds of many, this principle could easily be extended. Why, it can be asked, should we give more airtime to society’s malignant elements than is strictly necessary?

It is with such thoughts in mind that I approach the latest cretinous creation of – ‘Mizzy’. By now most will know of the idiot’s antics. For those who don’t, he is the kind of person who, in a bid to find internet fame, will enter people’s houses uninvited, steal an old lady’s dog, and go up to people on the street and ask whether they ‘want to die’.

In the latter, this Einstein-level brainbox is making a pun: he means ‘to dye’, showing the panicked victim of his ‘prank’ hair dye after terrifying them first. That he is attired in the manner befitting a criminal thug – face hidden, hood up – only adds to the hilarity, no doubt. That he may have done long-lasting damage to his victims is surely beyond the ken of such a low-witted type.

Just an upstanding citizen stealing a pensioner’s dog

Yet supposedly the actions of Bacari Ogarro (his real name) have caught up with him, having been arrested by the police. Given the robustness of our law enforcement, however, few will be reassured that anything other than a cursory slap on the wrist will ensue.

Reactions to this idiot’s anti-social behaviour have varied. To the ‘man’ himself (he does not deserve the term, frightening the vulnerable in his midst as he does), he is unfairly persecuted because of his skin colour. His being black, you see, is the real reason behind people’s opprobrium.

Whether there is any significance to his apparent preference in targeting white people and Jews I leave as an open question.

Elsewhere, commentators have asked why people simply didn’t give him a bash on the nose and teach him some manners. To Mr O’Neill of Spiked, I suggest that this is because those who he targeted would be afraid of being stabbed. Can an honest mind claim they would think otherwise if accosted by a hooded, masked black youth asking if you want ‘to die’? This is where we are as a society in 2023.

MPs, as is their wont, have seen it as a chance to extend society’s ever-growing censorship. It is not clear how their proposed solution – that of bolstering the Online Safety Bill – would help. There are surely laws on the books already which prevent illegally entering people’s homes, stealing their pets and threatening them with murder. While ensuring that existing laws were actually enforced – one would think this a basic principle of government – such a proposition denies our dud-headed politicians the chance to leave behind their ‘legacy’ in statute. Much more important to appear to do something than to actually do it. 

The phenomenon of Mizzy is an utterly depressing indictment on 21^st century Britain. Criminals in our midst act with near impunity, in this case believing themselves to be immune from criticism due to the colour of their skin. Reactions do not demand the enforcement of existing law, but the further introduction of restrictions on our freedom of speech. Those who condemn the acts most vocally refuse to acknowledge the reality that with knife crime and violence such a regular occurrence in British cities, few would summon the courage to respond appropriately.

Social media’s influence on society is pernicious. It drives people to do sometimes awful things in the search for fleeting fame. Yet its effects have been amplified by the pusillanimity of our modern ruling class, the impassioned injection of destructive identity politics into society, and the acquiescence of the governing class to the increased barbarism of growing elements of British life.