Police State?

I admit that on many occasions I have raged about the police state we are living in. Actually, I think we are living in more of a 'special constable state' at the moment. For a true police state you need to have completely infantilised the population, and we are only halfway there.

Socialism/political correctness infantilises the populace. Take the old Soviet Union. The state did everything for the poplulace, the citizens didn't have to think for themselves. Indeed those that did think for themselves ended up in labour camps or worse. They didn't have to choose a car, or a fridge, they joined the queue for a state provided one, usually after waiting a few years because there were constant shortages. When the communists went the suicide rate rocketed, people weren't used to having to think for themselves and make decisions about their own lives.

What we have in this country is socialism lite. People are told that the assorted anti-terror legislation brought in over the last few years is for their own good, and they believe it. They attack those of a libertarian persuasion for being scare mongers. Until that is, an old boy is arrested at a Labour conference for heckling, or a young lad or a businessman faces deportation to the US as the legislation is abused and used for other than terrorist offences. Then people ask what can be done after ignoring the warnings because it's uncomfortable to face the truth. So many genuine, decent people give up on politics because banging your head against a brick wall is no fun. A further consequence of people's apathy towards genuine people in politics is that politics is left to the unscrupulous or plain greedy and malign.

Now the US government/security services can restrict peoples' air travel to and from third party states. I will not travel to the US anyway because I am not prepared to be treated like a criminal with ever more intrusive and humiliating security checks.

We are watched virtually everywhere we go by ever more intrusive CCTV cameras and are told that it's for our own good. It's virtually impossible to work in the charity world any more, where I spent nearly twenty five years of my working life, without state approval via a police check. You can't get a licence to serve alcohol without having a police check. Most volunteering roles now require a police check. The list gets longer by the day it seems.

Soon the government will give itself power to snoop on our emails and internet activity. Imagine if you had to place a copy of every letter you ever wrote with a government agency just in case they wanted to check what you had written at some future date. Imagine if you had to leave a copy of every magazine or book you read, every film or TV programme you watched similarly. Take away the 'electronic' and what we are talking is the kind of state intrusion that the Soviets, the Nazis, the North Koreans and every other totalitarian regime imposed on their people.

Secret trials are in the news today. Little Nicky Clegg is arguing against Kenneth Clarke's proposals but little Nicky will just roll over and allow it, poodles are good at rolling over to have their tummies tickled and let's face it, that's all the Tories are doing giving him the pointless job of Deputy Prime Minister in a government that nobody voted for. Yet another policy u-turn by Cameron after claiming he would restore our freedoms and liberties stolen or eroded by the Blair/Brown axis between 1997 and 2010.

Sadly there is no alternative to three tired old parties at the moment. I've been searching for years and found most parties full of madmen, led by sociopathic egomaniacs or plain greedy bastards in it for money, especially when the European Union gravy train is involved. So I can only think that we, as individuals, have to lobby MPs of whatever party and get involved with worthwhile pressure groups. Below is a list of those that I support and believe do a great job:

Big Brother Watch

No2ID

Libertarian Alliance

Society for Individual Freedom

If we don't start doing something now it won't be long until we have the lost the freedom to make any kind of protest.