Banning, detention without trial and other features of Vorster's South Africa are on their way to Britain, if Gordon Brown has his way, and 83% of Sky News viewers approve of 90-day detention, according to what I saw on the TV a few minutes ago.
Back in 1963, when Vorster introduced 90-day detention in South Africa, the British Labour Party was one of the outspoken opponents of such violations of human rights, and generally supported the anti-apartheid movement. Who would have thought, back then, that the day would come when South Africa would have a constitution that protected human rights, and the British Labour Party would be seeking to turn Britain into a fascist state?
Of course such measures are necessary to protect law-abiding members of the public against terrorism (that's exactly what Vorster said). But perhaps that would not have been necessary of Tony Blair had not led Britain into so many wars, and terrorised civilian populations in Yugoslavia, Iraq and other places by bombing them. He should have heeded the warnings of Mrs Bedonebyasyoudid in Charles Kingsley's The water babies.
4 comments:
You're quite right about this. I can't believe the Brits are giving up their freedom so easily.
Right - Orwell was only 23 years out.
I can't believe the Americans have given up their freedom so readily as well via the Patriot Act and all its accompanying legislation. We're a bunch of fools, and we're becoming more and more fascist with each passing year. We're constantly sacrificing liberty for "safety." The trend has bothered me so much (as an American) that I've truly contemplated fleeing the country before it gets so bad that we CAN'T go. I'm watching the trends, and if we don't swing back in a more liberal direction with the next administration, I probably will move my family someplace else. But where?
Kristen,
Come north, come north!
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