Why is Sydney so violent?

[porkswordsman]

It seems every time you open a newspaper or turn on the TV news there's a story about violence in venues around Sydney. Glassings, bouncers on customers, customers on bouncers, muggings, head stompings.......innocent pedestrians killed with a single punch, etc. What is happening to our once friendly laid-back city? Is it really necessary to bash someone in order to have a good time these days, or is there a reason for such horrible stuff. As human beings we aren't any different to other countries where this kind of shit doesn't happen so what is really going on in 'stralia.

I have a few theories.

We have become up-ourselves. Since Oz became a country that was once little backwater where everyone was your mate (fair dinkum), and people were more or less equal income-wise, nowadays you need a fucking Porsche and a waterfront apartment to impress a chick and any bloke who doesn't rate accordingly gets dissed.

Venues are up-themselves. Too much bling. Too dark....poor lighting, leading to bumping, misunderstandings, drink-spilling and fights etc. Everyone trying to look and act so bloody cool, no-one can relax and be themselves and enjoy the evening.

Security. Owners are recruiting the wrong types. Muscle-bound dickheads spoiling for a confrontation, Wrong wrong wrong. They should employ guys who know how to make nice and diffuse a situation.

Chick dogs. Unfortunately Oz culture has thrown up a generation of women who don't know how to relate to men. Guys go out with nuts full of cum and pockets of cash to splash, only to be confronted with 'princess' types who think their fuckin' shit doesn't stink and the only way they know to react to a nice decent guy is to stick their noses in the air and blow him off.

Rules. The government comes back with 'try too hard' regulations about 'service of alcohol' and lock-out times etc that just get the customers tense and agitated when all they want is to have a good time.

How do they do it in other countries? If you've been to Asia you may have noticed it's very very different. Take Thailand for example. Lots of small bars, more emphasis on entertainment (so that booze is not the only element), very relaxed people actually smiling, laughing and having FUN. And NO bouncers. Why? Because they don't need them. Go to Phuket for example and you will see Aussies getting pissed out of their minds with big smiles on their faces and no sign of violence whatsoever, because they are picking up the local vibe and loving it.

We have a lot to learn in this country.

[rooter]

Sydney is a violent city compared to maybe Geneva but on a worldwide scale it's probably not even in the top 100.
I agree with you that violence sucks, and any violence is too much violence, but let's put things in perspective - apart from a few hot spots, Sydney is still a relatively safe place.

[herecticx]

go for a stroll in syria or israel, maybe a bushwalk in somalia

[mista]

People can't handle their drinks.

[CunningLinguist]

People can't handle their drinks.

At first I thought you said: "People can't handle their dicks."

[Punter Poontang]

People can't handle their drinks.

That's a HUGE part of it.

It's the restriction of not being able to drink until you're 18, not being able to drink what you want when you want ..... it's like the Garden of Eden all over again, kids just wanna do what they're told they can't.

You don't get the same level of binge drinking douchery in mainland Europe where drinking in moderation is an acceptable, daily occurrence .... having a glass of wine with your meal, or being able to have a beer with your Macca's or your sandwich at lunch. Kids there are introduced to it younger, but in moderation, so tend not to do it to such levels of excess.

[CunningLinguist]

Sydney is mostly very safe, unless you are looking for a fight!

If you act tough there are plently of people looking to try out their skills on you ...

Sometimes a wanker will intentionally bump into someone in a club or something, best to ignore them unless you are a black belt or something and have backup...

There are groups of people who go out looking for fights, they will try usually try to provoke people first though, so best to ignore.

If you are being drawn into a fight with someone you think you can beat then you gotta ask yourself a question first, does this punk have a knife ? or friends with knives ...

[action_hunter]

It seems every time you open a newspaper or turn on the TV news there's a story about violence in venues around Sydney. Glassings, bouncers on customers, customers on bouncers, muggings, head stompings.......innocent pedestrians killed with a single punch, etc. What is happening to our once friendly laid-back city? Is it really necessary to bash someone in order to have a good time these days, or is there a reason for such horrible stuff. As human beings we aren't any different to other countries where this kind of shit doesn't happen so what is really going on in 'stralia.

I have a few theories.

We have become up-ourselves. Since Oz became a country that was once little backwater where everyone was your mate (fair dinkum), and people were more or less equal income-wise, nowadays you need a fucking Porsche and a waterfront apartment to impress a chick and any bloke who doesn't rate accordingly gets dissed.

Venues are up-themselves. Too much bling. Too dark....poor lighting, leading to bumping, misunderstandings, drink-spilling and fights etc. Everyone trying to look and act so bloody cool, no-one can relax and be themselves and enjoy the evening.

Security. Owners are recruiting the wrong types. Muscle-bound dickheads spoiling for a confrontation, Wrong wrong wrong. They should employ guys who know how to make nice and diffuse a situation.

Chick dogs. Unfortunately Oz culture has thrown up a generation of women who don't know how to relate to men. Guys go out with nuts full of cum and pockets of cash to splash, only to be confronted with 'princess' types who think their fuckin' shit doesn't stink and the only way they know to react to a nice decent guy is to stick their noses in the air and blow him off.

Rules. The government comes back with 'try too hard' regulations about 'service of alcohol' and lock-out times etc that just get the customers tense and agitated when all they want is to have a good time.

How do they do it in other countries? If you've been to Asia you may have noticed it's very very different. Take Thailand for example. Lots of small bars, more emphasis on entertainment (so that booze is not the only element), very relaxed people actually smiling, laughing and having FUN. And NO bouncers. Why? Because they don't need them. Go to Phuket for example and you will see Aussies getting pissed out of their minds with big smiles on their faces and no sign of violence whatsoever, because they are picking up the local vibe and loving it.

We have a lot to learn in this country.

You raise some valid issues:

Mmm chicks impressed with Porsches and waterfront properties - you need to find a nice asian girl.

Venues - there are more than before and they all want there cut above their neighbour. In the end they are a business.

Venues dictate what type of security is required. Less training than previously. More security guards are injured than patrons, however the media likes to display what they want to make everyone believe as normal. Violence sells advertising on tv during the news. Ie of you watched the news every night and they said there was no news for the day you won't tune in my the end of the week.

Full nuts take a trip to your local shop before going out with mates takes off the edge, and if you get lucky you get lucky twice, if not you have already unloaded.

Service of alcohol was introduced because drinkers just do not know when they have had enough.
People's attitudes change under the influence and what is acceptable at home is not acceptable in public.
Lock out times have been introduced to venues with large violence levels.

Other countries - Mmm asian women which (hopefully this doesn't take over your thread) GENERALLY IMHO are more approachable and less stuck up, ie not the "I'm hot and a know it" Attitude from them.

Generally people do not know how to interact under the influence or believe they are better than the other guy.

Everyone just needs to have a good time, settle down and treat one another pleasantly, and fuck asian women instead of oz!

[rsalcedo]

stop your whingeing, you haven't been going out enough
i agree with hereticx and CunningLinguist
so quit crying young baby

[Boney]

Methinks that Porkswordsman is having a bad day, maybe the mainstream sensational media has got to him or the Labour defeat. Nurses that I know have told me there is a significant increase in shootings and knifings in Sydney recently, especially centred around the Bikie Gangs. This is criminal stuff, dickheads getting pissed off their heads is a different story. Guys become a lot less inhibited and violent when they are pissed as we know, as for taking on drunks if you know you can beat them, forget it. Even if you beat the living daylights out of them 1. you will be in trouble with the law and worse the bouncers, 2. they may be back with their mates who will slip a knife into your back while you are chatting up one of the princess's.

Stay cool, avoid trouble and find a beautiful Asian lady (hmmm seems a popular suggestion in this thread)

[devilangel]

It seems today that all you see is violence in movies and sex on tv, but where are those good old fashioned values on which we used to rely?

[CunningLinguist]

Violence is never the answer, unless you are a bully and have the might to repel ___all___ threats!
Even the US can't defend itself from all threats!

[m1100s]

It seems today that all you see is violence in movies and sex on tv, but where are those good old fashioned values on which we used to rely?



hehehehehehehehehehehe

that's my lame attempt at a peter griffin laugh :P

[rooter]

If you follow the tabloid media eg. Daily Telegragh, Today Tonight, A Current Affair etc you would think that Sydney is full of ice addicts, sex slaves, Africanised killer bees, Islamic terrorists, paedophile rings, Satanic baby killers, serial killers, spree killers, gang rapists, criminal boat people, bird flu, lesbian vampires, marauding pit bulls etc
Its true that most of these things actually do exist (apart from maybe the satanic baby killers) but the chances of you falling foul of any of them is next to nothing.
The vast majority of us live lives of quiet desperation and are more likely to die of boredom than any of the above.
So you can cocoon yourself in fear and prejudice and never leave your house and live in fear and misery or you can just relax, enjoy, and even splash out every now and then.
Life is beautiful! Enjoy it!

[IExperiment]

Actually it quite entertaining to watch, once I was driving out from my apartment at 2am and there was shouting and fighting in Pitt St one guy was chasing another on the St so I reverse as I dont wanted them to be tangle on top of my car ...lol... but the sad part was the cops and ambulance was busy with a stabbing one the corner of Goulburn st and Castlereagh St.

I say let them sort them self out just dont be in the wrong place at the wrong time and knows your place you will be fine.
Most of the trouble seem to come in from the suburb anyway as any other normal weeknights we are fine in the CBD just more thing happen on saturday night picking up the trash :)

[CunningLinguist]

Yeah Sat night is probably the most dangerous night as alot of people come in from the burbs and get drunk ...

[the wizard]

Surely not as bad as LA.. a couple of years ago there would be daily freeway killings.
Even in San Francisco I couldnt get one nights sleep , sirens blazing all night.
And another murder..some police commissioner this time..

Oh just another thing i was observing two guys harassing two young asian girls in china town yesterday...obvioulsy on ice and off their faces.
I hung around, making sure they would be ok.
Thankfully they left them alone and I went on my way..

[looser]

If you follow the tabloid media eg. Daily Telegragh, Today Tonight, A Current Affair etc you would think that Sydney is full of ice addicts, sex slaves, Africanised killer bees, Islamic terrorists, paedophile rings, Satanic baby killers, serial killers, spree killers, gang rapists, criminal boat people, bird flu, lesbian vampires, marauding pit bulls etc
Its true that most of these things actually do exist (apart from maybe the satanic baby killers) but the chances of you falling foul of any of them is next to nothing.
The vast majority of us live lives of quiet desperation and are more likely to die of boredom than any of the above.
So you can cocoon yourself in fear and prejudice and never leave your house and live in fear and misery or you can just relax, enjoy, and even splash out every now and then.
Life is beautiful! Enjoy it!

well said - definitely echoing my thoughts.

[refokkused]

this is actually an interesting thread - got me thinking which in itself could be dangerous

I agree with IE as I also live in the city, Sunday through to Wednesday is pretty good - you have people hanging out after work having relaxing drinks or students just chilling .. it gets a little less friendly come Thursday through to Saturday. I tend to disagree about comments saying Sydney is safer than other major cities. If you stick to the main entertainment areas in most American cities, they are more than safe - I have spent many a nights out in NYC, LA, Miami and Chicago and have not seen any hint of random violence. Hong Kong and Singapore, plenty of clubs and alcohol but extremely safe late at night - again, no random violence. Sydney and Kings Cross are supposedly main entertainment/tourist areas and they are definitely not safe going off history.



There will always be trouble when you mix plenty of testosterone and alcohol together. Do your best to avoid trouble and if provoked, calmly diffuse and walk away - it's just not worth it. I know that is easier to do as you get older and more mature, I know for a fact that 10 years ago I would have reacted violently if provoked but not now - I value life too much =)

And there are groups of thugs that do go out together and are looking for trouble, they think it's fun and their night wasn't complete if they didn't get into some sort of fight. This is the behaviour we should be looking to eradicate. There are certain groups in Sydney society that thrive on this kind of behaviour and it will be difficult to eliminate as the same behaviour can be seen in the school yard so the next natural progression is onto the big city streets.

[wilisno]

New York City was only safer after Mayor Rudy Giuliani took over and adopted the Zero Tolerance Policy !

[Licker]

New York City was only safer after Mayor Rudy Giuliani took over and adopted the Zero Tolerance Policy !

Don't you mean is (not was) :)

My first time in NYC, in 1997:

Stumbled into a bar in Harlem with my friend (we were staying in a hotel few blocks south).
We had no idea where we were.
A total silence fell as we entered the bar.
We walked up to the bar desk to order a drink.
The bartender asked (very loudly): "Where are you guys from?"
As we answered, he repeated the answer (very loudly) adding "oh, you're just tourists!!!", and the friendly chatter around the bar continued.
We ended up spending 2 hours in that bar before joining couple of the brothers (who where curious about the pales faces who liked to hang around with black people) to a night club, which turned out to be totally black (apart from us).
One of the funniest, coolest and most satisfying nights of my life (first time I had black booty).

About a week later, after an evening at the Blues clubs in Greenwich village, taking the subway back to the hotel at 2 am, and no sign of trouble :)

Yes, Rudy sure cleaned up the city well and truly!