“Homo britannicus” - Thoroughly Thought Policed or “Soft Totalitarianism”

Who, other than draconian proponents of policing thoughts, would’ve have thought that in Britain 10 year old boys would be charged and brought before a judge for calling a school mate a “Paki” and a “bin Laden,” or that a 14 year old girl would be labeled as a racist, fingerprinted and photographed, for asking to join a group of girls who spoke English to complete a project, rather than a group of girls who spoke only Urdu whom she could not understand, or, that a British warship would install a satanist chapel to accomodate one (1) Satan worshipping crew member, or, that Britain would pass a law which could land an individual in prison for seven (7) years for telling a politically incorrect joke?

If you would have asked me this question, say in 2001, I would have chuckled, thinking, nah, this could never happen, but it has, and it is.

The Government is pushing ahead with legislation that will criminalise politically incorrect jokes, with a maximum punishment of up to seven years’ prison. The House of Lords tried to insert a free-speech amendment, but Justice Secretary Jack Straw knocked it out…In September 2006, a 14-year-old schoolgirl, Codie Stott, asked a teacher if she could sit with another group to do a science project as all the girls with her spoke only Urdu. The teacher’s first response, according to Stott, was to scream at her: “It’s racist, you’re going to get done by the police!” Upset and terrified, the schoolgirl went outside to calm down. The teacher called the police and a few days later, presumably after officialdom had thought the matter over, she was arrested and taken to a police station, where she was fingerprinted and photographed…A 10-year-old child was arrested and brought before a judge, for having allegedly called an 11-year-old boya “Paki” and “bin Laden” during a playground argument at a primary school (the other boy had called him a skunk and a Teletubby)...The Royal Navy, for instance, has installed a satanist chapel in a warship to accommodate the proclivities of a satanist crew member…

Thought police muscle up in Britain

Via Mark Steyn at The Corner.

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 04/21 at 03:17 PM

  1. in 2001, I would have chuckled, thinking, nah, this could never happen

    Whenever I read about this sort of thing in Britain—and it’s all too often nowadays—I have to wonder what sorts of commonplace squabbles or even reasonable and ordinary expectations will be actionable crimes 7 or 8 years from now in America.  For kids as well as adults, of course.

    This totalitarian stuff is tending to creep.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  04/21  at  06:19 PM

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