Thursday, 5 July 2012

How Now, Robin Hood?

I just read a news report about a charity in London that wants people to donate old mobile phones to help raise their £1m target. And what do they want this money for? To feed children who are going hungry. It bears repeating: To feed children who are going hungry.

We live in a culture groaning under the weight of obese people who vastly over-indulge in junk food, and yet there are children going hungry. That’s a pretty sad fact, no? Yes, it is. Well, here’s one thing we could do:

Somebody with the right expertise could hack into the investment account of just one of the overpaid executives of McDonald’s or KFC, take a million pounds out and give it to the charity. The executive involved probably wouldn’t even notice it was missing.

That’s what Robin Hood would have done, isn’t it? And we like Robin Hood, don’t we? He was the hero who robbed the fat, rich bastards to give to the poor. He’s the great legendary icon of social justice.

But of course, if somebody did commit this heinous crime today, it would still be treated as a heinous crime and the perpetrator would be sent to prison for a long time. He wouldn’t be a hero, he would join the ranks of the very worst criminals. Because we all know, or should do, that wicked Prince John and the Sheriff of Nottingham are still very much in charge.

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