The British Canary is Very, Very Sick
Jonah Goldberg on Britain as canary in the totalitarian coalmine:
“Progressive conservatives” will care more about being popular than being conservative. If they didn’t care about being popular, they wouldn’t have taken up the modifier “progressive” in the first place. With yes-men riding shotgun whenever liberals are at the wheel, the gas pedal of progressivism will always get the lead foot, while the brake of conservatism gets a few perfunctory taps.
Evidence of the reckless driving this yields can be found everywhere in Britain today. In fact, by American conservative standards, Britain is a horror show, or, put more constructively, a canary in the coal mine. “Reforms” that would result in bloody protest in America are newspaper filler here. Just in the last week, British papers have been full of stories about a policeman who used Britain’s omnipresent security cameras to monitor his cheating wife. They are supposed to be used as part of the criminalization of eating while you drive. The government is seeking the ability to disseminate health, tax, and other personal records to whatever agencies, public or private, it chooses. A new pilot program has officials knocking on doors to make sure citizens are managing their leftovers properly. Of course, Britain’s socialized medicine churns out a new cautionary tale every day. Meanwhile, a new study has found that in much of England, 60 percent to 70 percent of economic output comes directly from the government.
It didn’t happen overnight. This is merely one small slice of a parade of horribles, stretching back decades, that could only have been allowed to march for so long because parties from both left and right happily saluted and applauded the growth of the state from the reviewing stand.
Read the whole thing and remember that not only can it happen here but there are an awful lot of people in government who want it to happen here.
Other Posts of Interest:
- New York Soon to Become Miserable, Depopulated Place, Thanks to David Paterson
- At Least the Jackboots Will Have Sensible Heels.
- Is John McCain Conservative? Show Me.
Category: Conservatism, Progressives, The Economy and Your Money, The Rise of the Nanny State, The Social Issues
"…there are an awful lot of people in government who want it to happen here."
There are an awful lot of citizens who want it to happen here. Many of people are no longer able to control their inner fascist! They want the power of government to step in and force people to live according to their standards….whether it is for preventing you from eating chips or keeping you from smoking; people just can't seem to mind their own business.