tp2503
03-04-2012, 11:14 PM
By Marc Emery, Ottawa Citizen February 21, 2012
Re: Civil libertarians when necessary, Feb. 17.
As a lifelong acolyte of philosopher Ayn Rand, I flinched when Dan Gardner wrote "one moment Stephen Harper is Ayn Rand" in his excellent column about Prime Minister Stephen Harper's disdain for civil liberties.
Harper's trademark method of governance is total control and obedience, whether its his relationship to his caucus, the Conservative party or his government's relationship to Canadians. There is no liberty principle inherent in any consideration of any policy his government introduces or action it endorses. Harper prizes the police state and every aspect of his actions reflects this, from the G20 meetings, to bills giving police powers of warrantless surveillance of our phones, Internet and our financial transactions, to his policies on the drug war and the prison expansion. Coupled with the massive investment in military hardware, Harper exhibits the mindset of a man who wants to dominate.
Ayn Rand believed that the individual's mind must be set completely free and that one's actions must be peaceful, honest and unencumbered by government in order to fulfil one's unique individual destiny. For that she advocated the state should be severely restrained and the limits of the powers of government rigidly defined to honour and make safe our individual liberties. Let me assure you there is nothing about Ayn Rand's philosophy in Stephen Harper's governance.
Marc Emery, Yazoo City Medium Federal Prison, Mississippi
The Ottawa Citizen
Re: Civil libertarians when necessary, Feb. 17.
As a lifelong acolyte of philosopher Ayn Rand, I flinched when Dan Gardner wrote "one moment Stephen Harper is Ayn Rand" in his excellent column about Prime Minister Stephen Harper's disdain for civil liberties.
Harper's trademark method of governance is total control and obedience, whether its his relationship to his caucus, the Conservative party or his government's relationship to Canadians. There is no liberty principle inherent in any consideration of any policy his government introduces or action it endorses. Harper prizes the police state and every aspect of his actions reflects this, from the G20 meetings, to bills giving police powers of warrantless surveillance of our phones, Internet and our financial transactions, to his policies on the drug war and the prison expansion. Coupled with the massive investment in military hardware, Harper exhibits the mindset of a man who wants to dominate.
Ayn Rand believed that the individual's mind must be set completely free and that one's actions must be peaceful, honest and unencumbered by government in order to fulfil one's unique individual destiny. For that she advocated the state should be severely restrained and the limits of the powers of government rigidly defined to honour and make safe our individual liberties. Let me assure you there is nothing about Ayn Rand's philosophy in Stephen Harper's governance.
Marc Emery, Yazoo City Medium Federal Prison, Mississippi
The Ottawa Citizen