Britain may not be the land of the free, but it has always been the land of the liberal. Not of the Democrat variety, (although they are recovering from their endangered species status) but of the civil variety; the variety that believe in free speech, trial by jury, freedom of the markets and laissez-faire living.
Traditionally stuck up and reserved, the British stiff upper lip is maintained so that those below it can do whatever they want, within the boundaries of our laws and precedent, and whilst we are free to disagree we are not free to interfere. Lace curtains will twitch and gossip will spread but nobody will actually approach and do anything, it’s not the British way.
This week, these liberties have been tried and tested, and are rapidly being beaten to the point at which fractures are beginning to appear through the glossy finish of this liberal democracy. As with so many things though, these fractures in the paintwork belie a deeper problem in the bodywork that should hold together our societies into a cosmopolitan haven.
We base our democracy around freedom and temperance yet these last few weeks people of all creeds and colours have had only one thing in common; their lack of any semblence of these sentiments. Perhaps that is because they are following their leaders’ leads.
I don’t wish to enter a polemic for free speech, as these arguments are all too easily found at the moment and frankly rather dull. I will however, note its steady and much lamented demise in the face of determined violent opposition. What I wish to discuss in further depth is the demise of personal liberty. Just where the hell is it going? First we lose the right to glorify terrorism (a real downer for fancy dress parties) then the right to smoke in public places.
I’m not a smoker. I don’t particularly approve or disapprove of smoking, it’s a personal issue. Clearly, inconsiderate smoking annoys me; someone else’s smoke ruining my breathing space isn’t my preference. Notwithstanding this, I know that in most cases I can get away from it, and most enclosed spaces where I cannot get away from it are already non-smoking. It has been a steady development to a pretty happy medium where smoker and non-smoker live in relative harmony. Or something similar.
Now however, the government feel they are mandated to interfere in peoples’ free choice. More than this, they are interfering where there is no need to interfere at all; where there is no innocent or defenceless party. Yes, smoking will kill people prematurely. Yes, it will probably eat up a decent proportion of their collective income (most of which is eaten up through tax) and yes, it will leave them with a lower quality of life in many ways. These people are educated adults. They know that as well as I do. They may choose not to believe it, but that’s their choice. It’s equally their choice if they decide that they can fly and jump off a tower block or if they want to give all their income to charity. That’s their choice. They know the facts. You pay your money so you take your choice.
Governmental involvement is nothing short of an attempt to socially engineer a population that they want. It is a chance to persecute a minority for problems such as a drop in healthcare standards which they’d rather not address at the root of the problem and it is, ultimately, a travesty of civil liberties.
When free speech, free expression and free choice are compromised, the society is not free. A smoking ban might suit me, but it might not suit my ideology; perhaps the government should look seriously at what the true loss to liberties this law is entailin
