Popular science fiction author China Miéville is troubled by
how the media refers to the … er … troubled.
When asked about the 2011 riots in London, England, his primary concern seems to be the language used to describe those who
assaulted pensioners, burned people
out of their homes and threw bricks at
responding firefighters:
“For a long time I’ve been struck and horrified by the
incredible cultural spite we’ve got in the UK towards young people. The
constant use, for example, of the term ‘feral’ to describe troubled children
should be a matter of utter shame: that our culture has normalised that
adjective is an expression of our culture’s moral degradation, far more than
children’s.”
In Miéville’s view, the moral degradation of modern
British culture is epitomized in its failure to speak kindly of its most
debased element.
