Hater by David Moody Page A

have some of that.'
    'Bullshit. You're starting to sound like Dad.'
    'It's not bullshit. Remember those riots last summer?' I ask, luckily managing to think of another example to try and strengthen my tenuous argument. About eight months ago there was a string of race-motivated disturbances in a few major cities, ours included. Lizzie nods her head.
    'What about them?'
    'Same thing again. Someone started a little bit of trouble out of the way in some back-street somewhere. The media got hold of it and the problem was made to look a hundred times worse than it ever was. It was the way they reported it that made it spread and maybe that's what's happening now. There's a genuine problem somewhere that gets reported and before you know it you've got mobs in every city starting trouble using whatever it was that caused the very first fight to kick off as an excuse to get involved.'
    'And do you really believe that?'
    I stay quiet. I don't honestly know what I believe.
    'I think you're talking crap,' she snaps. 'None of what you've said explains why I watched a perfectly healthy and normal eleven year-old boy beat the hell out of the headteacher this morning, does it?'
    I still stay quiet. I'm relieved when, at long last, something different happens on the news channel. The usual presenters behind their expensive-looking desk have suddenly disappeared and we're now watching a round table discussion between four people who are probably all politicians or experts in some field or other. They've already been talking for a couple of minutes so we've missed the introductions.
    'What are they going to be able to tell us?' I grumble. 'How can these people be experts if no-one knows what's happening yet?'
    'Just shut up so we can listen,' Lizzie sighs.
    I can't help being sceptical. The whole set-up reminds me of the start of that film 'Dawn of the Dead' where the views of another so-called expert are ripped apart by a non-believing TV presenter. I know we're not dealing with a zombie apocalypse here but the way these people are talking to each other makes it feel eerily similar. No-one's backing up what they say with any facts. No-one has anything to offer other than half-baked theories and ideas. No-one seems to believe what anyone else is saying.
    'The police force is already operating at full stretch and our hospitals are struggling to cope with the increase in injuries,' a grey-haired lady is saying. 'The situation must be brought under control soon or we will not have the capacity to react. If this situation continues indefinitely and at the rate of increase we're presently seeing we'll be in danger of reaching saturation point where we simply will not be able to deal with what's happening.'
    'But what is happening?' someone finally asks. It's a middle-aged man. I think he's a doctor. Not sure if he's a medic or a shrink. 'Surely our priority must be to identify the cause and resolve that first.'
    'I think with this situation the cause and the effect are one and the same,' a small, balding man (who, I believe, is a fairly senior politician) says. 'People are reacting to what they see on the streets, and their reactions are making the situation appear far worse than it actually is.'
    'See,' I say, nudging Liz.
    'Shh…' she hisses.
    'Do you seriously believe that?' the other man challenges. 'Do you really believe that any of this is happening purely as a result of the violence we've already seen?'
    'The violence is a by-product,' the grey-haired lady says.
    'The violence is part and parcel of the problem,' the politician argues. 'The violence is the problem. Once we've restored order we can start to…'
    'The violence is a by-product,' the grey-haired lady says again, annoyed that she's been interrupted. 'You're right in as far as there is a huge element of copycat violence, but the violence is not the cause. There's an underlying reason for what's happening which needs to be identified before…'
    'There's no evidence to suggest