The thought occurs to Frank Mitter, who rather sadly comes to the conclusion that we are the latter. It is interesting how an idea emerges, and it will be equally interesting to see whether this takes root. But, as we observed, the bottom line is that we are a nation running scared of our own children.
More importantly, we are selling the pass to the statists. Search amongst the rhetoric from the big, brave right wingers, these defenders of the free state and the free marketers, and where amongst them are the voices that say we should sort this problem for ourselves?
"Right wing" in this case seems to be the "hang 'em – flog 'em" brigade, no different from the Left in wanting a state solution. The only difference is the extent and nature of state action called for.
And how readily do the statists play on this – witness the aversion to "vigilantes" and the reluctance to allow communities to take control of their own streets. It is fine, it seems, for the gangs to do so, or for the plod to take control, closing down the Queen's Highway on a whim, to suit their own operational purposes. But the idea that people should repossess their own streets fills them with horror.
"They must not take the law into their own hands", go the siren voices. How dare they! It is our law, not theirs. Our biggest mistake was to let the professionals grab it, treat it as their own and make the decisions for us. Its rightful place is in our hands.
But where are the voices of the Right? They complain about welfare dependency, but themselves run to nanny the moment they have a problem. The dependency of the Right on statist solutions is no less than that of the benefit-seekers, of whom they are so contemptuous. Thus it is that you see the supposed Right winger Tim Montgomerie swooning over his statist hero, the Big Brave Cameron, as the latter ladles out state solution after state solution.
The Special Constable solution was not mentioned. The system is tied up in red tape anyway, and thus emasculated. But to reclaim the streets, we need people on the streets, with armbands and baseball bats – not uniforms and months of training.
The tragedy of this is that none such is mentioned. Despite our knowing that the state is the source of our problem, despite knowing that, by giving it more powers, we give it license both to make a bigger mess and oppress us further, we allow the media hype to drive us into the arms of the state, cap-in-hand, as supplicants - begging Cameron, the wimp amongst wimps, to do "something".
Says Miniter, "As the English hand their government more of their individual liberty — and thereby their self-reliant manliness — their government becomes more authoritarian. Individuals have diminished means for protecting themselves and their property, which should have made London's looting, vandalism, and other crimes very predictable".
He claims to have had several recent conversations with Englishmen, which have led him to conclude that the English people will continue to hand over their liberty in the hopes that one day — despite all the lessons from history and human nature — "their government will create the peaceful, socialist utopia they've long been promised".
That is just what we have been seeing over the past week. The wimps and statists amongst us bay for more police powers, more police of the streets, more statism, more state control. Truly, we are indeed a nation of wimps, of girlie-men who have lost the plot. If Britain of 1939 were composed of the current British population, writes Ann Coulter, the entirety of Europe would today be doing the "Heil Hitler" salute and singing the "Horst Wessel Song".
We have lost the power to think, and go running to nanny to kiss our little fingers better when we have a hurt. Sadly, that is how it will remain until we do, on our own behalf, reclaim the streets, not only from the gangs, but from the government. And it is the latter which is the bigger (and more costly) threat.
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