Some people, when I discuss civil liberties with them, accept that laws exist that ought not, or that powers provided to the authorities exceed what they need, but fall short of outrage.
The reason, it seems to me is one of two things:
- because, despite all the powers they have, “the authorities are unlikely to pick on me” as an individual (hey, I’m not Muslim); or
- I don’t believe the police would misuse their powers in respect of my activities.
But this naivete is worrying in the light of increasingly frequent news items which show that British authorities are more than happy to torture to ‘fight terrorism’.
Again, you may argue, “I’m not Muslim”. But is that the point? And if today’s enemy is people with pale-brown skin, is the enemy of tomorrow the person who takes pictures of politicians doing things they would rather people didn’t see? If our government will condone torture to any extent at all then we should fear it. And anything we genuinely and justifiably fear should not be empowered by our apathy.
I am sorry if you’re bored of reading about civil liberties, but the blame for that is surely our government. Politics used to be about ideals — socialism and capitalism — now it is much more important: it is about whether we are governed by people like us for the benefit of everyone, or whether we are governed by people who, once empowered by the ballot, literally take liberties.
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