This, Our Fascist Future?

The Fascists in pre-War Italy and Germany took away liberties whilst re-directing the attention of their populations. It was the same kind of cheap trick that a magician might use, the trick of sleight of hand, misdirection. In the UK and the USA this is again becoming fashionable, indeed politically correct in the UK.

On British television the Government’s department, DVLA, the motor vehicle licensing authority are running an advertisement that graphically shows a couple’s car being crushed because they had not paid their annual car tax. I can understand a fine, even a very large fine, but why crush their car? This is beyond an acceptable charge allowing people to use their cars, this is Draconian.

In the States the actor, Wesley Snipes, didn’t pay his tax. The Internal Revenue Service prosecuted him for this. He is undoubtedly wrong, and surely he’s a fool. Snipes offered to pay the court all the money that was due, and he offered fines and penalties. His offer to pay was accepted and, in addition he has been sentenced to 3 years imprisonment. Why, what does this achieve except to demonstrate to the rest of us what could happen to us all in other words they are making an example of the very stupid Mr. Snipes. Making examples of idiots is not the intention or design of the law.

The British Foreign Minister, David Miliband, was on The Politics Show this morning and stated, with a straight face, that “There is less chance of your being affected by crime now that at any time since 1981.” What planet is David on? If the government has statistics to back this claim, then they are fixing the statistics to suit their argument. The first casualty of our diminishing democracy is clearly the truth.

We are witnessing the politics of envy writ large. In the UK there are a new range of car tax charges that escalate with the size of the car’s engine. This is meant to encourage us all toward the use of smaller engine capacity vehicles, which have a lower carbon emission. Added to this we will soon see a similar system of Congestion Charging for cars entering London. For myself, with two cars to pay for, I have no hesitation in stating that I shall have to downsize my cars, not because I want to, but because I am being compelled to do so through these stealth taxes.

There is yet another Government advertising campaign on British television in which the average citizen’s lifestyle is demonstrated as leaving a literal carbon footprint, as each footfall leaves a trail of oil on the floor. The message is that we should all use less energy. This would be laudable if there was evidence attached, telling us in real, forensic terms, the benefits and costs of such a policy. Right now the entire hypothesis is founded on the unproven theory that global warming is man made. Following that argument we should all be compelled to reduce our use of fossil fuels and therefore we could put into reverse global warming. I repeat there is no undeniable proof, just a politically correct argument.

The way we live our lives should be our choice in a democracy. If we want to live a certain way, perhaps eating more vegetables and fruit or being more “green” then that is our right. It should not be allowable for our governments to make such behavior compulsory. That is the clear trend in the UK and it is wrong. We are on a slippery slope of decreasing liberty and increasing compulsion. It is time for everyone to wake up and tell the politicians to back off.

It used to be that what happened first in America was soon followed by us in Britain, and now it feels as if that has reversed itself. So watch out in the States, this "Big Brother" society is something we all need to be aware of and to combat, before it grows too big to resist.