folio

Everybody wants the world to be black and white, with the good folk on one side and the bad on the other: a simplistic binary world we can easily align ourselves with according to our disposition. Unfortunately the world is not like this at all.

It will soon emerge, without a doubt, that individuals have conspired to bring their adversary down. That things that at first seemed spontaneous — an emotional reaction to fast-paced events — were in fact planned well in advance. The final mechanism of release may indeed have been impromptu, but behind the scenes, long before then, a conspiracy was set in motion: not in the halls of secret societies or the corridors of power, but between journalists, paparazzi and private citizens.

The paparazzi knows how to win his scoop: target the naive ego of an individual who is as malleable as pâté and as responsive as a ping-pong ball, bouncing in whichever direction it is hit, turning this way and that to please the seemingly adoring crowd of the moment. The paparazzi’s first prey doesn’t even realise they are being used: their ego stands in the way of their intellect, blinding them to this reality.

In this catastrophe, there is no innocent victim; no simple binary, of good and bad. There are back stories that have been exploited by those who really have no concern for alleged victims. They are double victims, their stories merely a weapon employed to bring an adversary to his knees. One day it will all come crashing down around them and they will be left to pick up the pieces of their lives as the paparazzi moves on to new prey.

Yes, the conspiracy is real, but it is not as imagined: of a cabal of Zionists, or Freemasons, or of other assorted bogeymen. No, just of self-interested journalists pursuing a story to stem the flagging sales of the newspapers of their paymasters. The paparazzi is a vile creature, seeking riches from the misfortunes of others. He is driven not by morality or a noble cause, but by the stirring of controversy. Here he is in his element.

Conspiracies as imagined by the masses invoke the spectacle of false flags and fake news: of innocent protagonists brought down by underhand plots. But yet again, the world is not like this; there are no simple binaries of good and bad. Real conspiracies are built upon the fuzzy complexities of human nature. They exploit the real weaknesses of the protagonists.

It is here that the journalists and the paparazzi conspired to bring their adversary down by publicising allegations long made of serious misdemeanours and misadventures. They started not with a blank canvas, but with one already painted on, in layers and layers of staining colour. It was not necessary to manufacture evidence: it was only necessary to convince silenced voices to make themselves heard.

Many were approached to give their testimony and many declined, refusing to allow their stories to be exploited by journalists and paparazzi with ulterior motives. Though they had stories to tell, they engaged their intellects and turned away from the conspiring ones, preferring silence to the limelight. But the attention seeking ego is more easily swayed, by those newfound friends who substituted the promises of paradise they long believed in with promises of riches and fame and status.

And so it always is. The narrative of an endemic problem with grooming gangs in Britain is founded on realities on the ground: that journalists and social commentators conspire to exploit these stories for their own political ends is an unfortunate consequence. The hypocrisy at play may be abominable, but the hypocrites are merely holding up a mirror in front of us, allowing us to take a long hard look at ourselves. Yes they conspire, and plot and plan, but they only succeed because we conspire too.

Yes, we plot and plan, but Allah is the best of planners, and never will He grant us success for as long as we engage in these conspiracies of our own: living undercover lives that fall so very short of the moralities we proclaim. We live lives in which good and bad is intermingled irredeemably, and, but for the mercy and grace of our Lord, it will be our downfall.