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For those who don't know Sydney: Kings Cross is a 400m street packed with clubs. It does look shady with its erotic clubs, but short enough that you're out in a

by tajen 11y ago

For those who don't know Sydney: Kings Cross is a 400m street packed with clubs. It does look shady with its erotic clubs, but short enough that you're out in a few minutes. Newspapers have a focus over night crime in Kings Cross, I've always wondered there was a political agenda or whether that was statistically abnormal. Alternatives are downtown (less dense in clubs), Oxford St (gay clubs) and farther neighbourhoods for more hipster people. As a French citizen having lived over there 3 years, I was indeed impressed that in Australia alcohol = violence, which is a new concept to me. You often see people down on the pavement cuffed by the police for a few hours until they calm down. I have no idea whether they get fined or arrested after that. My NYC friend says police is still very reasonable, and not as overeager and totalitarian as in NYC, though. So subjects might actually actually drunk and violent.

chris_wot 11y ago
They are. The lockout laws actually come from Newcastle, which had an even worse problem. Alcohol fueled violence has been and remains a massive problem in Australia. In fact, drinking in Australia remains a massive problem: we have some of the worst cases of binge-drinking and alcoholism rates in the world. We have a list of dangerous pubs in NSW: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-27/north-coast-pub-tops-list-of-most-violent-venues-in-nsw/6982534 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-27/north-coast-pub-tops-l...
- MrBuddyCasino 11y ago
  Interesting, recently there was a study posted on HN that it depends on genetics whether or not someone becomes violent when drunk. Australia started as a prison colony, maybe there is a connection there?
  - angry_octet 11y ago
    Can someone please flag the above post as idiotic?
  - chris_wot 11y ago
    Only if there is a connection between a predisposition of Germans misusing eugenics research to the Second World War. You honestly are a buffoon.
  - exodust 11y ago
    The scientific jury is out on whether drunken violence is a genetic trait. Interesting enough idea. "So your father was an alcoholic" is common among alcoholics and their friends looking for explanation. Violence is also one of those "fallback" mentalities that stupid people embrace when cornered. Genetics aside, stupid people have few resources at their disposal. Violence is there, justified by a century of iconic pop culture that says "when your friend sleeps with your girlfriend, punch him in the head, it's what you must do". As for convict Australia. Very few Australians today are the decedents of convicts, and very few of those convicts would have been violent.
    - tamana 11y ago
      What do smart people do when they are cornered?
      - chongli 11y ago
        Smart people avoid getting cornered in the first place.
      - exodust 11y ago
        A lot of CCTV footage of violence shows initial verbal altercation that turns physical. The perpetrators abandon words due to lack of verbal skills and general violent drunk or 'gangsta-wanna-be' nature. Victims too, often miss the opportunity to walk away, misreading the situation by running their mouths. Street smart is about reading the situation, like defensive driving. 3AM Sunday morning as you walk home, awareness of you surroundings at all times is smart - also fun and challenging and just good way to be. Doesn't have to mean "guard up", it just means not careless.
  - to3m 11y ago
    It started as an English prison colony - a much more damning link, in my eyes.
  - douche 11y ago
    Around the time that Australia was founded as a penal colony, English property-defense laws were pretty insane, to the point that it became known as the Bloody Code[1]. Grand Larceny, a capital offense, was defined as theft of anything valued at twelve pence or higher. In modern terms, that's somewhere between five and two hundred fifty pounds. There are some interesting lists[2], but mostly they are low-level theft, poaching, livestock-rustling, smuggling and desertion. Also, transported prisoners had a pretty high chance of being Irish. There are elements of class warfare and repression of minorities that are not unlike current narcotics law. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloody_Code https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloody_Code [2] http://www.convictrecords.com.au/crimes http://www.convictrecords.com.au/crimes

by tajen 11y ago

chris_wot 11y ago

They are. The lockout laws actually come from Newcastle, which had an even worse problem. Alcohol fueled violence has been and remains a massive problem in Australia. In fact, drinking in Australia remains a massive problem: we have some of the worst cases of binge-drinking and alcoholism rates in the world. We have a list of dangerous pubs in NSW: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-27/north-coast-pub-tops-list-of-most-violent-venues-in-nsw/6982534 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-27/north-coast-pub-tops-l...

MrBuddyCasino 11y ago
Interesting, recently there was a study posted on HN that it depends on genetics whether or not someone becomes violent when drunk. Australia started as a prison colony, maybe there is a connection there?
- angry_octet 11y ago
  Can someone please flag the above post as idiotic?
- chris_wot 11y ago
  Only if there is a connection between a predisposition of Germans misusing eugenics research to the Second World War. You honestly are a buffoon.
- exodust 11y ago
  The scientific jury is out on whether drunken violence is a genetic trait. Interesting enough idea. "So your father was an alcoholic" is common among alcoholics and their friends looking for explanation. Violence is also one of those "fallback" mentalities that stupid people embrace when cornered. Genetics aside, stupid people have few resources at their disposal. Violence is there, justified by a century of iconic pop culture that says "when your friend sleeps with your girlfriend, punch him in the head, it's what you must do". As for convict Australia. Very few Australians today are the decedents of convicts, and very few of those convicts would have been violent.
  - tamana 11y ago
    What do smart people do when they are cornered?
    - chongli 11y ago
      Smart people avoid getting cornered in the first place.
    - exodust 11y ago
      A lot of CCTV footage of violence shows initial verbal altercation that turns physical. The perpetrators abandon words due to lack of verbal skills and general violent drunk or 'gangsta-wanna-be' nature. Victims too, often miss the opportunity to walk away, misreading the situation by running their mouths. Street smart is about reading the situation, like defensive driving. 3AM Sunday morning as you walk home, awareness of you surroundings at all times is smart - also fun and challenging and just good way to be. Doesn't have to mean "guard up", it just means not careless.
- to3m 11y ago
  It started as an English prison colony - a much more damning link, in my eyes.
- douche 11y ago
  Around the time that Australia was founded as a penal colony, English property-defense laws were pretty insane, to the point that it became known as the Bloody Code[1]. Grand Larceny, a capital offense, was defined as theft of anything valued at twelve pence or higher. In modern terms, that's somewhere between five and two hundred fifty pounds. There are some interesting lists[2], but mostly they are low-level theft, poaching, livestock-rustling, smuggling and desertion. Also, transported prisoners had a pretty high chance of being Irish. There are elements of class warfare and repression of minorities that are not unlike current narcotics law. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloody_Code https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloody_Code [2] http://www.convictrecords.com.au/crimes http://www.convictrecords.com.au/crimes