In my youth I felt sorry for chavs. I am a left-wing liberal minded kind of a bloke who likes to see the good in people. And as My equally left-wing parents always told me, "they come from a difficult background". This is without a doubt true. Chavs do come from difficult backgrounds. They grew up in a society rocked by Thatcherism and Blairism. They are the product of a society blighted by extreme capitalism, high wealth disparity, 24 corporate media and education cuts and mismanagement (the former by Maggie and the latter by Blair and Maggie both). So, they have my sympathy and I am only not a chav because like many middle class parents mine saw that I opted out of the purely consumerist upbringing that my peers were experiencing and got much richer formative years. That said, we have a problem on our hands. Chavs do not want my sympathy. If I were to tell a chav how sorry I felt for them I would probably get hit, spat at, kicked, bottled, and just to add insult to injury have a mobile phone video of the whole thing uploaded to YouTube. So, what are we to do about these violent, offensive, backward, purile thugs? 1) Try to educate them. Is recovery possible? Can the state afford to pay? Will they be willing to learn? 2) Give them more opportunities. This country is full of opportunities, the problem is that the only opportunities chavs want to take up involve alcohol and drugs (and bad clothes). 3) Organise citizens patrols. Vigilantes may keep some areas safe, but they tend to end up hurting the innocent sooner or later. 4) Stronger laws. Pointless unless we have enough police to enforce them. Probably pointless anyway, as they are only a stop-gap solution. 5) Parenting classes. Might help for the next generation. 6) More asbos. Nope, they have become a badge of honour. Ok, I admit it, I don't have the answers. Do you? If so, join the debate!  del.icio.us tags: chavs, what, do, we, asbo, thug, social, problem