The First Principles of Politics

Turning the Tide of Culture

We are not for names, nor men nor titles of Government, nor are we for this party nor against the other...
but we are for justice and mercy and truth and peace and true freedom, that these may be exalted in our nation,
and that the goodness, righteousness, meekness, temperance, peace and unity with God,
and with one another, that these things may abound.

Edward Burroughs
1659, Quaker Faith & Practice, 23.11

It seems that hardly a day goes by without news of some new legislative initiative by the government aimed at curbing some aspect of antisocial behavior: racial hatred, religious hatred, discrimination, binge drinking, drug abuse, violence, domestic violence, sexually transmitted diseases, teenage pregnancies, smoking, vandalism, etc.
The latest proposal is for the 5,000 most prolific criminals in England and Wales to be constantly satellite-tracked by the police. Meanwhile scientists have identified genes that make some people susceptible to aggression or antisocial behavior and offer us the prospect of being able to “isolate a fetus” with this “genetic malfunction” before birth, ensuring more harmonious communities. The general thrust of all these initiatives is to acknowledge that Britain in particular, and the West in general, is witnessing a moral collapse of unprecedented proportions.

Our political leaders see its symptoms and to their credit do what they can by passing laws, providing the systematic elimination of freedom of speech, thought, or action. It is hell on Earth, the most depressing place I have ever visited, because there is no freedom and there is no truth...