When society lavishes such fame and adulation…

Published: July 28, 2011
EDITOR'S COMMENT

THE apparent cause of the tragic death of Amy Winehouse has been paraded – especially in the tabloids.
It is due to drink and drugs, we are told.

True, her lifestyle pulled the trigger. But it came out of a society that hungrily lavished fame and adulation on the young woman without any thought as to what damage it may have done to her personality.

It almost became inevitable, say the commentariat, when drugs can be obtained so easily in a place like Camden Town.

Reformers who stress the need to prevent and treat alcoholism say Amy’s death should alert the government to spend more money on the treatment of alcohol addiction.

But we should not be blind to a possible root cause – the simultaneous rise of pop culture in the 1960s with the rise in the spending power of youngsters – the first time this had happened in our country’s history.

It was here that the free market took over with the result that pop music and its musicians became, in effect, commodified objects that could be bought and sold on the market like any other product.

This led to greater and greater pressure on musicians.

Over the decades, how many pop stars have fallen victim to the pressure to feed the frenetic hunger of society for newer and newer sensations?

Until musicians shake off their shackles and we can all appreciate pop music simply as music, tragedies like that of Amy’s will happen again – and again.

Beyond the drug dealing

THE police swoop on the drug dealers in Gospel Oak is a bit like moving the deck chairs on the Titanic.

Admittedly, the police were doing their duty but no matter how many dealers are arrested, the social causes that spawn them, if not tackled, will simply produce another crop.

Gospel Oak isn’t the only socially deprived area in the borough but it is one of the worst. Unemployment, especially among young people, eats into the community – rooting apathy, despair and disillusionment. 

Though community-minded residents and councillors do their best to offset the cancer of poverty, they need far more support than a local council can give.

Government intervention is required – here and in other hot spots in the country.

While the Tory-led coalition harps on about the “Big Society” the situation will only get worse.