Big Brother Warning
Joyce McMillan: Big brother state a sign of the times - News - Scotsman.com
In the UK and beyond, we need to ask ourselves whether we are not drifting, imperceptibly, towards new forms of an authoritarianism that once seemed in permanent retreat.
....we need to be less complacent, in future, about those freedoms we say we cherish; but which we often let slide, when some man or woman in a suit tells us we would be safer with just a bit more form-filling here, a bit more fee-paying there, and – oh yes – those security cameras on every corner, to check that we’re doing as we’re told.
Comments
If she thinks that the drift is "imperceptible", there may be a fault in her perception.
Posted by: Ian Bennett | March 2, 2012 11:13 AM
I admit my memory is failing from old age but I can't quite dredge up the time when authoritarianism (read, Goverment control) was in permanent retreat ...
What we do seem to be doing is moving away from the concept that everything is allowed unless specifically banned to nothing is allowed unless it is specifically authorised, monitored, and with a form to say so, contersigned in several colours of ink.
(O.K. Forget the ink - only black is allowed, isn't it?)
Posted by: Alan Bates | March 2, 2012 11:46 AM
Blimey these MSM type are up with the times, arent' they! (/Sarcasm)
"moving away from the concept that everything is allowed unless specifically banned to nothing is allowed unless it is specifically authorised,"
Well yes.
That is the way things are done in Europe, and guess who's in charge now?
So of course we are going to be made to do things their way.
Posted by: Andrew Duffin | March 2, 2012 2:38 PM
Pale grey typeface on a white background is all but illegible to those with poor eyesight. Hint. There's a reason books are printed in BLACK and white.
Posted by: Jeremy Poynton | March 4, 2012 2:18 PM