Are we a free people?


The writer saw a list over at Not PC that showed all the things prohibited by the government in New Zealand and it got me to thinking about this question again.
It's a long, long list, that one of Peter Cresswell's, bringing to mind the famous "of course our people are free--free to do anything that's not expressly forbidden" quote. (by Erich Honecker, of the old East Germany I think)
Were I a Francis Porretto or Bill Whittle this would be a longish, finely-crafted essay. But I'm not so some random thoughts will have to do.
Our freedoms seldom disappear overnight, sufficient to enrage the populace and spur them to action. Instead they are eroded gradually, almost imperceptibly and unless one has lived long enough to contrast today's situation with that of about thirty years ago there seems to be little change. And anyone comparing today's lack of liberties with yesterday's situation is in any case open to being derided as "living in the past." (as though that were any worse than living in the future, which is what a society based on empty promises and easy credit does)
How did this come about?
The answer lies over there, on the left side of politics and society. The rise of the Left in schools and universities and the establishment of a mindset that made adherance to the moral code which shaped the West somehow passe'.
Marxist teachers became the majority, willing agents for what the KGB had planned for the downfall of the West--political correctness. (those who doubt that this was a deliberate policy on the part of the USSR should read their history).
Political correctness is far, far more than a stifling elitist view of the world which makes it unrespectable to say certain things. Far more. It demonises and in some cases even criminalises free speech and free thoughts and it controls the language we use.
Control language, and you control thought itself. Think about that for a moment.
At the same time we've seen a vast increase in the number of minor public servants who have gained more and more power over the individual citizen. Powers which would have been utterly unacceptable fifty years ago. In Britain, for example mere council employees are able to spy on householders, enter their homes, levy fines and make rules which ratepayers and citizens have no say whatsoever about.
The situation isn't so different in Australia and New Zealand.
In New Zealand an unelected politician has just succeeded in getting a law passed which denies parents the right to smack their children. Regardless of whether you consider such a law a good thing, the fact is that the person who pushed it through did so in the face of 80% of the public being opposed to it.
The State tells us how we should raise children. Teachers push ideological agendas on to children and parents have no say in the matter. Petty council employees can force us to fill out forms and toe the council's ideological line whether we like it or not, even though we're the ones paying their salaries.....
The media almost never question this enormous, this gigantic transfer of power from citizens to petty bureaucrats, and without proper media scrutiny citizens remain largely unaware of what's happening.
Those who are aware feel powerless, victims of a low-level simmering anger which says to society: screw you! So we have the very people which society needs in order to function well opting out, looking after themselves and turning a blind, powerless eye to those things which need to be fixed.
Are we a free people? Sure we are. yes. Free to do whatever is not expressly forbidden.

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