Sadiq Khan & Knives

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has established a movement to prohibit knives in the British capital, shown on a city website.



His honor the mayor of London, demonstrating his affinity with the common man by going tie-less. And knife-less.

It might be the natural reaction of a non-thinker to blame perhaps man's first tool for an epidemic of violence in the world's most cosmopolitan city but, of course, that would be wrong. Khan says on his Twitter feed: "No excuses: there is never a reason to carry a knife. Anyone who does will be caught, and they will feel the full force of the law."

Actually, there are many legitimate reasons for carrying a knife, today as at anytime in the past.

 

A neolithic stone knife from Denmark, probably more than 6000 years old.

More modern knives are used for many daily tasks, opening packages, sharpening pencils, cutting up a steak, modifying a sweatshirt and on and on. While knives may in fact be used in acts of mayhem, the ordinary man that carries a knife every day seldom employs it in eviscerating one of his fellows. In much of the world, a good knife is almost an item of jewelry and a signal of masculinity. Forbidding the possession of such a simple, commonplace tool seems like a serious intrusion by any level of government. This policy would be ignored and laughed at over most of the planet.
Ultimately, knives, their construction and use, are one of the major differences between men and monkeys. Not being able to make knives, and having no pockets in which to carry them, monkeys can't peel mangoes, trim their nails, open packages or slice up a watermelon. If a monkey invites you to a picnic, you better have a knife to slice the watermelon because the monkey won't. In fact, he might be inviting you in the hope that you'll divide up the watermelon for all his friends.