Personal Responsibility versus State Control

People often grumble about intrusions into their lives by officialdom then, whenever there is a problem, they are the first to shout for government action. Government action then means more intrusion into our lives and so on. What the 'government should act' brigade need to understand is that they are asking for those stinking scroungers known as politicians to do more damage and boss us around even more every time they shout 'the government should do something'.

The more the state intervenes and bullies the more society, whatever your perception of society is, seems to become increasingly dysfunctional. So the more dysfunctional society becomes, the more the state interferes and so on. Familiar?

Yesterday saw another one of those obnoxious state sponsored ads telling us what to do and what not to do, a bit like those other great totalitarians the Nazis and the communists used to broadcast. Last night's had a pretty ugly image of a pair of nostrils and was designed to make me stop snorting coke, regardless of the fact that the only thing I snort is a hayfever remedy, and obviously not in November.

Too many charities have now become extensions of the state, selling their souls and their noble ethos for easy money from the government, or you and me to be accurate through our taxes. Hence you then get sick adverts hectoring us about beating our children. These organisations have to justify their existence, and pay some huge salaries, so they sensationalise and exaggerate to shock us into donating.

Then yesterday it was announced that children are to be taught about domestic violence in schools. It is to become a subject in the personal, social, health and economic education part of the curriculum. Topics include: alcohol, drug and tobacco awareness; bullying; sex and relationship education; sexuality; careers advice; personal finance; healthy living; body image and how the body changes; personal well-being.Teaching domestic violence will be compulsory by 2011. Teaching or brainwashing? Where are the parents? Is the state now the parent, the parent merely the economic unit and breeding machine?

Domestic violence is sick and needs to be dealt with but are we always told the truth. The only time I have witnessed domestic violence was some years ago and it was the wife beating the husband. When I gave a witness statement to the police they told me that in London at that time it was roughly 50:50 when they were called out to 'domestics'. It isn't always big hairy thugs beating up the little woman, in that case she was about 5'00" and he was a 6' builder.

But the incidence of domestic violence, thankfully, is tiny although obviously huge and life ruining if not threatening for the victim. But introducing it into schools is making a thankfully rare event appear like an everyday happening to kids living happy lives in harmonious families. That is plain wrong and is likely to create more problems further down the line. On the really dark and scary side how many kids, when told not to do something, immediately go out and give it a try?

The problem is that government thinks it can come up with answers to everyting in a formulaic way, but life doesn't work like that. Government is turning the whole populace into potential victims or potential villains. It has created, through its actions and its propaganda, an unhealthy nation where a man outside the school gates is likely to be lynched by the mob for being a 'paedo' when he was there to collect his grandson. The husband of the woman who falls and ends up with a bruise on her face is likely to be hauled in by the Domestic Violence Unit for beating her. The newsreader who impersonates Trevor McDonald in rehearsals is accused of racism rather than imitation, the sincerest form of flattery.

Have no doubt, we are deeper into a police state than many people wish to acknowledge. But in 2005, despite CCTV cameras sprouting up all over London, we had the London bombings. CCTV, the hardware of the police state, couldn't protect us and neither will the propaganda, the brainwashing software of the state improve our lives or protect us. Personal freedom, liberty and resposibility are what we need.

When the government introduce the Hedonism Bill, prepare for complete and abject misery to follow.