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It only took two months before the vandals discovered my new smart car, which presented them with the opportunity to break an aerial they hadn't snapped before...

vandal n somebody who maliciously and deliberately defaces or destroys somebody else's property

That's how Microsoft Word defines "vandal". I can think of a few choice alternatives. The gap between attacks on our street seems to be getting shorter and shorter. Wing mirror bashed off, front wiper snapped off, back wiper snapped off, aerial bent, window smashed, door crow-bared.... Of the three cars I've owned in the 6 years we've lived on this street, not one has escaped damage. Out of pure frustration, I've today posted this sign on our gate post:

What causes vandalism?

I have no idea. A Google search on causes of vandalism wasn't very helpful. Does it matter what causes it? Are we as a society too eager to look for excuses for the behaviour of a minority? People who are vandals break the rules that society lives by. In my opinion, when they break such rules they forfeit the rights that society affords it's rule-abiding
citizens. They become outcasts.

I read a Wilber Smith book years ago (Eagle in the sky I think it was) and recall the description of a wounded antelope (cf. the vandal) being driven from the herd, because he weakened the combined fitness-to-survive of the herd (cf. our society) since he might draw lions, or weaken the gene pool if he remained a member of the herd. It sounds cold, logical, and perfectly natural.

I do not intend to endorse vigilantism, merely to highlight the fact that we are animals too, subject to the same logical and natural orders. But, unlike the rest of the animal kingdom, we take the moral high-ground. We have a concept of altruism, causing us to act to help those less fortunate. So human inclination is not to drive the vandal from the herd, but rather to try to understand him, with a view to bringing him back into the fold. There there, your'e only human... did bad things happen? Have you got unresolved anger? Poor unfortunate thing... we should have done something. It's our fault that you behave like this, that you don't fit in...

On the other hand, perhaps as a kind of biological altruism (behaving in a way that benefits others at cost to the self), vandals could be encouraged to self-terminate?

We're all potential victims

So what can we really do about it? Probably nothing. I keep thinking about installing CCTV, but what's the point? The police aren't interested in such "petty" crime, and CCTV installations themselves are the target for vandals. Affordable CCTV systems may not have adequate picture definition, or perform well enough in low light (assuming these attacks are taking place overnight).

I guess the only practical thing I can do is vent my frustration by ranting in my blog. There, I feel better now.

Update 07.06.04: One week after fitting a replacement aerial it is snapped by vandals unknown.

Update 22.06.04: Three days after fitting a replacement aerial it is snapped by vandals unknown.

Update 24.06.04: Fitted the Shark Windrscreen Mounting Aerial and Shark ISO to DIN Aerial Adaptor from Maplin. The replacement aerial needs to be earthed; there is a suitable screw hole (that will take the supplied screw) under the dash below the smart's passenger airbag.

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