As multiple civil rights groups are sounding the alarm, Justice Minister Éric Dupond-Moretti tries to allay concerns. The emergence of a surveillance state as described in George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984, he said, was a “far-off” prospect.
Without the safeguards of law, freedom would be no blessing. Our societies would be Hobbesian in the true sense: liberty would give way to nightmarish anarchy.
Christ’s parables, such as “The Laborers in the Vineyard,” “The Sower,” and “The Hidden Treasure” serve as a basis for Fr. Sirico’s advice on investing, enterprise, and the value of hard work.
Western political philosophy focuses on inherent features of man, and so Europeans were able to build a system which recognises and respects them. It is arguably the best system in the world, which is evidenced by the success of the countries that adopted it. It safeguards everything we value, and we should do everything to preserve it.
Fictional rebellions invite us to side with the underdog. The story conveniently ends with their victory, but leaves no ruined lives and no unhealable scars—nothing to contradict the idea of a newly found paradise.
Western governments are become more controlling, behaving like overbearing mothers rather than the aloof arbiters they are supposed to be. This is the nanny state at its worst, deciding its naughty citizens did not know what was good for them and, therefore, needed to be kept away from harm.
“I believe strongly in the right of individuals to elect whether to accept or reject medical procedures. I believe this is basically the sanctity of life, that individuals have the right to control their own bodies.”
