Posted on 03/07/2015 8:49:33 AM PST by Lorianne
The most important anniversary this year is marked on June 15th - the day, eight centuries ago, when a king found himself in a muddy field on the River Thames near Windsor Castle with the great foundational document of modern liberty under his nose and awaiting his seal.
The world has come a long way since then, and not always for the best. A couple of years back, testifying to the House of Commons in Ottawa about Canada's (now repealed) censorship law, I said the following:
Section 13 is at odds with this country's entire legal inheritance, stretching back to Magna Carta. Back then, if you recall--in 1215--human rights meant that the King could be restrained by his subjects. Eight hundred years later, Canada's pseudo-human rights apparatchiks of the commission have entirely inverted that proposition, and human rights now means that the subjects get restrained by the Crown in the cause of so-called collective rights that can be regulated only by the state.
I liked it better the old way. Real rights are like Magna Carta: restraints on state power. Too many people today understand the word "rights" to mean baubles and trinkets a gracious sovereign bestows on his subjects - "free" health care, "free" community college, "safe spaces" from anyone saying anything beastly - all of which require a massive, coercive state regulatory regime to enforce.
(Excerpt) Read more at steynonline.com ...
Freedom of speech has come to mean freedom to agree with the current governmental zeitgeist.
Contrast that with what the American left considers human rights today.
Its enough to bring you to tears.
” John Robson and Brigitte Pellerin are proposing to tell that story in an anniversary documentary to be filmed in America, Britain and elsewhere. The film is being crowdfunded via Kickstarter, and they’re already three-quarters of the way toward their goal. If you live in the British Isles, North America, Australia, New Zealand or one of the other realms of liberty spawned by Magna Carta, I do hope you’ll consider chipping in and supporting John and Brigitte’s documentary. I can’t think of anyone better to tell this story and its meaning for those of us around the English-speaking world who enjoy its blessings today.”
I plan on donating.
I always love Mark Steyn. Thanks for the post !
Mark Steyn ping. I think everyone will enjoy this one.
Freepmail me, if you want on or off the Mark Steyn ping list.
Amen
Post 7, Styne hits the nail in the head.
He does so repeatedly, that’s just a single great example in this column.
Bump
Iphones and pizza delivery, football and big screen tv’s,
The masses cheered.
Thank you for the post and ping.
The power-and-control evil bad guys always want to ruin
everything for everybody but themselves.
I quite agree. However, the cop did not know of his prior record, which is what the article was about. That he didn’t know this, so why bring it up, is my entire point.
I’m not criticizing what the cop did. Don’t have enough information to do so.
Thanks for ping! Glad I found it, albeit late!
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