THE LAST DITCH

Civil liberties during a recession | The price of freedom | The Economist

It's a bit hard for "my" newspaper, the Economist, (the only one I still take in print form) to speak of me and hundreds of others thus:

"A MOB of Britain’s finest eccentrics will gather in central London on February 28th"

I have never seen myself as part of a mob. Nor do I consider the views I share with most of the great thinkers of Western history eccentric. Still, if it's now eccentric to believe that there should be limits to the state's powers over our lives, I plead guilty. If it's eccentric to object to innocents being gunned down in the streets and their killers not brought to trial, then I certainly am eccentric.

I look forward to meeting my fellow-eccentrics this Saturday and to getting to know some of them better over a lunchtime pint.

Convention on Modern Liberty - February 28th, London and around Britain

6 responses to “Civil liberties during a recession”

  1. tbrrob Avatar

    We’ll I hope to see you there. For the pint at lunch that is.
    Can’t afford the convention.

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  2. CherryPie Avatar

    What a silly article, so out of touch with reality! Or maybe they have been fed with a press release…
    Not eccentric at all, you are speaking up for your beliefs and what is right. Think activist not eccentric 😉

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  3. Tom Paine Avatar

    Oh dear. Activist sounds a bit Guardianish to me. I might actually prefer eccentric.

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  4. Tom Paine Avatar

    Which pub? Is there an obvious choice?

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  5. Martin Avatar
  6. Tom Paine Avatar

    Excellent. Look out for a 6′ 7″ (2 metres) chap in (inter alia) a striped shirt and rimless glasses. You can’t miss me!

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Tom is a retired international lawyer. He was a partner in a City of London law firm and spent almost twenty years abroad serving clients from all over the world.

Returning to London on retirement in 2011, he was dismayed to discover how much liberty had been lost in the UK while he was away.

He’s a classical liberal (libertarian, if you must) who, like his illustrious namesake, considers that

“…government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one.”

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