As Kevin Jaeger has previouslynoted, Tony Blair’s Britain is getting creepier every day, taking on traits generally reserved for post-apocalyptic fiction writing;
Secret plans to encourage the nation to give up eating meat are being examined by the Government.
A leaked e-mail expresses sympathy for the environmental benefits of a mass switch to a vegan diet – a strict form of vegetarianism which bans milk, dairy products and fish.
[…]
The e-mail, sent to a vegetarian campaign group, comes from an official at the Environment Agency, a Government advisory body. It states: “The potential benefit of a vegan diet in terms of climate impact could be very significant.”
However, it does recognise that it would be very difficult to win public support for such a move. Consequently, it says the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is looking to encourage a gradual change that would be more palatable to the general public.
The e-mail states: “It will be a case of introducing this gently as there is a risk of alienating the public majority.”
In almost any other context, one could regard a leak of this type as an idiotic toss-off by some irrelevant government employee. But given the Blair government’s pathological obsession to videotape, monitor, track, regulate and manipulate every facet of British society, it’s hard to imagine there remains an idea so outrageous it may be safely consigned to the implausible.
DNA kits to trace spitting bus passengers.
The “spit kits” are already supplied at all 275 Tube stations and are expected to be rolled out this summer across London’s 7,000-strong bus fleet.
It is the latest initiative against anti-social behaviour on buses and has coincided with the Mayor’s introduction of free bus travel for under-16s.
It’s a fortunate thing for Cleese and Co. that they made their Monty Python fortunes when they did. In today’s Britain, the market on absurdity has been so tightly cornered, it’s hard to imagine how they could have carved out a niche for their own brand.
The real mystery remaining is why the British public continues to tolerate the smothering encroachment of this uber-nannystate into every aspect of their lives.
Have they added something to their water?
I hope you vegans realize something,Hitler ,who started and was the head of the National Socialist party,was a strict vegan,prohibited smoking in his presence and controlled the education of the German children with sports,food and incentives to tell the authorities if their parents strayed from the party line.I just want to know,who won the second world war?By the way,Hitler because he was a vegan,farted a lot also which seems to go along with that diet.
“I hope you vegans realize something,Hitler ,who started and was the head of the National Socialist party,was a strict vegan,”
Actually, no, he didn’t start the National Socialist Party and he wasn’t a vegan. But all this is beside the point. Most mass murderers have been meat-eaters. Bin Laden is a meat-eater. None of this is remotely relevant to anything.
mbaron:
So true about school boards! We are besieged by the liberals in school system. Everything they teach is against moral and reason, every word is a lie and their every action stinks corruption.
Expel the socialists from the schools should we, but with the widely advertised shortage of teachers, how is it possible? We should ask ourselves, is there really a shortage of teachers, or is it propaganda by the socialist teachers’ unions?
Teaching that sodomy is Okay to the 10 year old is fine. Teaching that self defense is Okay is a no-no! What can be a better way to corrupt young minds in bulk? Only their drug and alcohol education that they attempted to conduct last year, but altered due to public outcry. Has any MSM picked up the story about teaching 8 YO where to buy booze and dope? Wishful thinking.
Kathie,
“The famous British nanny state is much to blame. but how did it get so entrenched in the first place?”
It is well documented. To ensure cross-class solidarity during WWII, there was a government propaganda campaign stating what was this all for after victory, and it certainly wasn’t a repeat of WWI, with the great depression, Jarrow hunger marches, general strike, etc. It was a welfare state, NHS, unemployment insurance, etc. Socialism in short – and all paid for by American Marshall Plan money.
Note that immediately following WWII, a socialist government was voted in and Churchill, the victor, out.
The people who set up the welfare state weren’t of the calibre of people that built the empire.
Blatant discrimination against the Inuit!
Julia Child, 1912 – 2004
Here’s Julia describing her first television show: “There was this woman tossing French omelettes, splashing eggs about the place, brandishing big knives, panting heavily as she careened about the stove.”
“If you’re afraid of butter, as many people are nowadays,” she said in one of her last television shows, “just put in cream!” she proclaimed, with a twinkle in her eye.
“Never be afraid to experiment in the kitchen, if it doesn’t quite work out, just add more wine.”
“Because of media hype and woefully inadequate information, too many people nowadays are deathly afraid of their food, and what does fear of food do to the digestive system? I, for one, would much rather swoon over a few thin slices of prime beefsteak, or one small serving of chocolate mousse, or a sliver of foie gras than indulge to the full on such nonentities as fat-free gelatin puddings.”
“Red meat and gin” was her rallying cry when the food world’s puritans dared to promise long life through nervous nutrition, and [she] scorned grilled vegetables as “burnt and undercooked at the same time.”
When [asked] to describe her guilty pleasures […] she was sure to respond with her usual cheerful defiance, “I have no guilt.”
“The pleasures of the table — that lovely old-fashioned phrase — depict food as an art form, as a delightful part of civilized life. In spite of food fads, fitness programs, and health concerns, we must never lose sight of a beautifully conceived meal.”
“Life is to be joyous, and joy comes from sensory pleasures shared with others.”
If this wasn’t so pathetic, it would be HILARIOUS! Is this some kind of joke, Kate? (Well, IMO, post-apocalyptic fictional writing usually falls into this category…)
My stepfather is British and has to have his meat, taters, and veg, every day: no pizza, no rice, no pasta, no casseroles, but lots of red meat, cooked to resemble leather.
The Environmental Agency’s e-mail with the line, “It will be a case of introducing this gently as there is a risk of alienating the public majority,” is a hoot. Veganism, whether introduced gently, or not, just might rouse the Brits from their cosy chairs and cuppas by the fire.
When a population is besotted with meat dishes like Shepherd’s Pie, Steak and Kidney Pud, Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pud, Cottage Pie, Bangers and Mash, Cornish Pasties, and Scotch Eggs, how the heck are you going to “gently” wean them off them? ‘Take one a year off the pub menu and hope they don’t notice?
LOL!!
I am sure the NDP and maybe even the Greens have the same kind of hidden agenda over here.
The people who set up the welfare state weren’t of the calibre of people that built the empire.
Yeah, no kidding. This is what I find so disturbing about Britain today – there was so much to admire in Britain’s history, but it has almost entirely fallen apart within just a couple of generations.
The other disturbing thing is that Canada started following a similar path after them – we’re probably just a couple of decades behind them.
It’s hard to believe that Britain was once a place where you could say without irony that a man’s home was his castle. That’s a sad joke now, as is the Royal Navy, for that matter.
Transfats anyone?
I’m in London as I write this. Yesterday I went for a ride on the millenium wheel. They have security checking bags for anything sharp, which includes knitting needles. Now the wheel is owned by British Airways so do they think that someone will hijack one of the pods on the wheel and attempt a takeoff and crash into Buckingham Palace. The nanny state is to be hated.
Though no one wants to hear it, I will forward an answer to Kevin Jaeger’s lament: “This is what I find so disturbing about Britain today – there was so much to admire in Britain’s history, but it has almost entirely fallen apart within just a couple of generations.”
‘Anyone else notice what else has “entirely fallen apart” not only in Britain but throughout the developed world in the past couple of generations?
That would be the Judeo-Christian faith. That would be belief in Scriptural tenets such as “love your neighbour as yourself,” and “to whom much has been given much is expected.”
The British went to church. They read their Bibles. They ruled with a sense of “noblesse oblige.” No longer. Those who make massive amounts of money these days seem to think they’re entitled to their millions and there’s very little sense of personal responsibility. The attitude seems to be “let the government do it.”
When the personal motivation and inspiration for responsibility, accountability, and altruism on the the part of the individual are pawned off on “the government,” society turns into a bunch of sheeple.
So, to our detriment, as long as “modern society” continues to denigrate Christian faith and continues to trash Judeo-Christian values and principles, which were the foundation stones of the vibrant democracies England and Canada once were, we’re going to see more of this type of capitulation to nonsense.
Right on, batb! I posted at another thread about my latest problem with administration about the discipline of my unruly students: the office only wants “nice”: I want tough and maybe a bit of discomfort–for the student. Or how about even a little fear–surely a part of respect?
In my memo to admin., I thought of appealing to biblical teaching and I nearly wrote, “The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord.” I thought better of it. Besides the inability of these functionaries to understand such a concept, I’d probably be sent to a re-education session for showing a lack of cultural sensitivity.
A society as far down the secular road as we are–read “paganism” (walk into a public school or watch HBO’s series ROME to see the horrors of that)–is in big trouble. ‘Problem is–and even here at sda–people aren’t willing to name the problem. You don’t/won’t name it, it “don’t” get fixed.
Kyrie eleison.
I wonder if I’ve ended another thread!
‘Anyone else notice what else has “entirely fallen apart” not only in Britain but throughout the developed world in the past couple of generations?
That would be the Judeo-Christian faith.
Actually, I don’t disagree at all that that’s a big part of the problem. Much of their cultural and moral confidence came from their religious faith. But it is still astounding that the country that maintained the rule of law over a third of the globe not so long ago has become a nation of disorderly drunken yobs and slobs at home.
Just check out the most recent Maclean’s for a depressing article on the social state of Britain these days. Even their creepy surveillance state is fighting a losing battle to maintain order.
What I’ve also noticed, Kevin, which may in part be the answer to the astounding yobbishness that is Britain now, is the abdication in “the ruling classes” of any sense of noblesse oblige: I’ve been given a lot, therefore I need to give back to society. Now, the rich just seem to have a lot of expensive toys and do a lot of jetsetting.
‘Used to be, that when you had “a position” in society (and God knows, the Brits have their social classes) you also, as a rule, held yourself to a high standard of comportment, not to mention leadership in the community.
You don’t see that too much anymore–again, related, I think, to the relegating of religion to the back burner–if not the back forty. Altruism isn’t built into our fallen humanity. It’s taught and caught. If you don’t see it and no one’s teaching you what sacrifice and sharing are, why would you bother? It’s inconvenient.
I don’t detect much leadership in the upper classes in Britian. In the Wars, for instance, a military officer would LEAD his men into battle, and suffer the same consequences as his squadron. Look at King George VI and Queen Elizabeth who stayed in London throughout the Blitz with their two children. No taking off to Canada for them.
Today, I don’t see that kind of leadership–not much in Canada, either. There’s a “Who me?” attitude and a “Why should I do that?, let someone else, or better yet, let the government, do it” attitude.
Add in political correctness and wimpy law enforcement officials, and you’ve got a right mess.
I appreciate Kevin’s and batb’s comments. However, on an issue of such importance as this, I’m sorry that, in over 12 hours, there have been only two posts. Interesting . . . and part of the problem, I think.
If anyone comes back to this thread…I’ve thought about it some more, and some other commenter touched on it: Because of the class system, the upper class leaders didn’t tend to mentor or encourage potential leadership-quality individuals from the lower classes.
These young men and women made a mass exodus from Britain to all parts of the world, often to the U.S., Canada, and Australia, leaving the often shiftless and indolent wealthy, upper class Brits and the lazy and often shiftless I’m-Alright-Jack-type lower class Brits.
What a combination. Add that to relegating God and Judeo-Christian values to the basement and you’ve got a tinderbox of trouble. It’s erupting now into a conflagration.
With due respect, from where I sit, Canada, itself, seems to be a “nation lobotomized”. The “I’m all right, Jack” mentality’s alive and well in this country. How else can the MSM, Liberals, NDP, Green Party, and other wacko fifth columnists be so successful.
A critical mass of Canadians is sleep walking to the edge of the abyss.
Again, with respect, I’ve noticed how few responses are made at sda about the mess of the educational system. I know many people here don’t like teachers much–yes, they tend to be sheep–or their unions. (I think my union’s an utter disgrace and it doesn’t even protect teachers from the gulag-like conditions under which we toil: e.g., accusations by admin. against teachers are accepted at face value and not challenged.) What’s happening in the secular, politically correct, left-wing, repressive–agree with our “progressive” agenda or we’ll bite–public school systems is undermining the very foundations of our society. The barbarians the system receives, deceives, and passes on to the rest of society is going to be the death of us–in some cases, like Jane Creba and Jordan Manners, literally.
See the barbarity and chaos of the public schools and see society at large in the not too distant future. And be scared–very scared.