Vigilance is not Alarmism
This past week we have seen the tragic consequences of years of careless and broken Policing policy play out in the UK following the tragic death of Henry Novak.
A young man stabbed and bleeding out on the ground was handcuffed over accusations of racism from his killer who was standing nearby...watching his death. For the police officers on the scene, allegations of racism warranted more attention than that of a stabbing!
Friend, this tragic story from the UK is the consequence of years of broken Policing policy and a failure to purge Police training from ideology that focuses on thought crimes and allegations of racism rather than what most would know as real crimes - you know like…murder!
Recently in a radio interview I was conducting, the interviewer asked me whether the concerns that me and the team PILLAR were raising about an issue was a practice of ‘alarmism’.
It was a fair question, but the answer is NO!
In the terribly laid back and apathetic culture of New Zealand, vigilance can come across as alarmism and moral clarity can seem like political or religious extremism. This is not a healthy practice for those who value liberty.
Friend, as a supporter of PILLAR can I encourage you to not confuse vigilance and moral clarity with alarmism and extremism?
In light of the events and institutional failure from UK Police (amongst many other things), I am reminded of this phrase: “eternal vigilance is the price of freedom.”
To be clear, vigilance is the state of being alertly watchful and paying close attention, especially to avoid danger, and in the case of politics, to avoid government tyranny, authoritarianism and the slow suffocation of our freedom.
A teacher once told me that bad ideas have consequence - this past week we have seen exactly that. The bad (evil?) ideas which were unpurged and left to fester slowly led to the tragic incident of Henry’s death. Bad ideas have very bad consequences.
I do not mean to suggest that New Zealand Police are operating under the same broken policies of our friends in the UK. I am however suggesting that the institution is certainly not immune to the same ideas and ideologies and that we must remain watchful.
As you know, PILLAR recently revealed that the Government is working on empowering Police with more surveillance powers in law while simultaneously planning to invest millions in new biometric identification technologies!
We met with MPs, submitted on the legislation, and brought the matter to the attention of thousands of Kiwis. Members of Parliament know that they cannot and will not be passing these laws quietly. Without PILLAR these issues would have gone under the radar with far less public scrutiny and consultation.
I hate to sound prideful, but this is important work, Friend, and we at PILLAR are grateful to be doing it.
At the same time, the Government is currently consulting on passing legislation to grant Police new powers to issue ‘move-on orders’. PILLAR is preparing a submission on this issue, and we’ll be returning to Select Committee to speak to elements of this bill which pose serious threats to your rights and liberties. Keep an eye out for this!
Friend, it can often look like we have chosen the Police as a punching bag to consistently batter and complain about. I can assure you that this is not our intent. Rather, PILLAR is exercising the very vigilance that protects our liberties and civil rights – it might not look pretty but it is certainly necessary if we want to avoid the tragedies we are seeing in the UK.
The heartbreaking story Henry Novak is indicative of what happens when vigilance is replaced with apathy and confused with alarmism. In the face of our cultural apathy, it is only right that we wake up before it is too late and protect, preserve and strengthen the liberties we have inherited.
After all, eternal vigilance is the price of freedom.
