02.02.2010 - 4:18 p.m.

I'm not a person of paranoid tendencies, if someone's out to get me (which they never are) it's always better to confront the situation head-on, i also do not own a tin foil hat although i did look up the origami method for making hats out of newspaper because this is something i've never learned, i may try and make one out of tinfoil just for the hell of it.

You might have been living under a rock for the last twenty years not to have noticed that gradually our social freedoms are being eroded, usually "for our own good" or "to prevent terrorism". Living as i do in the 'nanny state' it's almost comical to watch our government staggering about, appeasing big business with cash friendly legislation only to then ask us to stand firm and grit our teeth to bail out businesses which wouldn't have failed if the legislation had not been enacted in the first place, as a nation we've become so jaded to the general incompetence that we don't even notice any more, it doesn't matter who's in power (they're all conservative in every detail except name) the same old shit will continue to dribble out of whitehall.

Many instances of eroded rights can be attributed to a smallish but well leveraged dominion of social conservatives "release the business, restrict up the proles", most of us proles probably tend towards the liberal side of politics "regulate the business, let us do what we want" and we can do what we want as long as it involves drinking heavily, smoking tobacco and buying stuff, although then we get shouted at for drinking heavily and smoking, duality is not just something for the philosophers, it is practiced by governments everywhere,

"you're free in this great 'democracy' to self determination as long as that determination doesn't collide with our desire to control all of you for the betterment of our great nation and our ability to remain in power for another four years"

Thanks very much you bastards.

It is also clear that these social conservatives are playing a long game which goes beyond the scope of most people who live life something akin to a damselfly, the inbound changes by the board of education in texas will not be apparent for another 20 - 40 years by which time it's too late to do anything about it. Everywhere, if you look for them, are examples of creeping conservatism, sliding in under the door, through small pieces of legislation and insinuating itself into social politics.

The last british frontier that is australia started out with a fairly dominant christian outlook which is becoming less relevant with time, australia also has a strong liberal undercurrent which compliments the laid back zeitgeist and cheery disposition attributed to aussies everywhere. Unfortunately not everyone is happy with the way things are, an american baptist evangelical family has recently decided that Darwin needs a christian mission to help drag the people out of their alcoholism and unrepentant fucking and into the waiting arms of jeebus, i assume they'll be met with bemused looks of indifference as they begin in earnest their programme of letterbox stuffing and saving of the fallen.

We lived in melbourne for a while in the seventies when dad worked there, mum was nearly ecstatic with the surplus of cheap food, cheap living and good weather (england was really really shit in the seventies) and were it not for family stuff we might have remained there permanently, but she was less happy with the macho patriarchal conservative bollocks that was and still is a big part of the social fabric, men are MEN (drinking, oily, shouty, muscley bastards) and women are second class citizens, admittedly it's got better with time (i.e less domineering), but you can't deny its continued existence and influence on the modern state.

Out of this 'dark side' are still produced sith like politicians, because anyone who thinks they know absolutely what other people really want in life eventually becomes a politician so they can give the people what they think they really want, even if it turns out they don't want it after all. By (my) god they say, this is what i think you need and you're going to get whether you now like it or not. South australia is currently in the thrall of Darth Atkinson, the same upstanding senator who refused to allow an 18+ certificate for video games (no discussion allowed, no public referendum, he just flat out stopped it happening, apparently "for the sake of the children" how upstanding of him) and who also demands on pain of fine and prison that when commenting online about an upcoming election, everyone should append their comments with their actual name and postcode. This is reminiscent of the american congressman who suggested a similar tactic but was not in a position to effect it because he wasn't attorney general of a whole state.

I assume this is to make it easier to discard their voting form after it enters the ballot box.

The pervading view from the comments on every news story on this subject i've found (and there're a few) is that Darth Atkinson is censoring a debate about censorship (which he is) and seems intent on keeping south australia his own personal haven of goodness, and if in the process it fucks up all the other states in their level headed attempts to introduce a federal 18+ category then he's got his petty little victory. The converse view is that if you've nothing to hide then what of it, post your name let the noisome clanking of your giant metal balls drown out the sounds of sneaky partisan voter profiling, after all once you've accurately located the 'trouble makers' (anyone who opposes you) it's much easier to sideline them.

In conjunction with the whole australian (and now english) "let's censor the internet, beijing stylee" the creeping conservatism seems to be gaining ground and it'll only be when the seemingly benign government outlaws homosexuality and any form of profane language and voting for independents that you'll know you've arrived in the happiest of all the police states.

On a similar note, the irish blasphemy law had an interesting 'tell' about the position of the conservative christians. As explained here on the Pharyngula blog, the main shouty irish senator cock initially voted against the blasphemy law in the first round because he wouldn't have been able to blaspheme against other religions, it was amended and passed so that he can say bad things about ganesh or mohammed but no-one can say bad things about his god.

But i figure with the way the catholic church is getting it's financial arse kicked about the godly pokings they've been bestowing on children over the years you don't need to blaspheme their god, just point out they're confirmed supporters of an international institutionalised paedophilia ring.

And wait for the inevitable "no true scotsman" response, how lame and hackneyed, with all your philosophy and learning can you do no better ?