Fear

First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist

Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist

Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist

Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't
speak up because I was a Protestant

Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew

Then they came for me
And by that time there was no one left To speak up.

We live in times where the 'experts' are ridiculed, those who have the wrong thought are silenced. We lurch towards times that were hopefully destroyed after the end of the Second World war, and the Cold War.

No doubt soon the lists will be drawn up. In fact they already are. Scores are being settled. Dangerous people have again grabbed the tiller, steering us towards dark days.

It was a Nazi who said (in so many words) whenever I hear the words culture I reach for my gun. Culture is being assassinated, as is reason and science.

The new means of propaganda is social media of all sorts. Freedom of speech is important but how do we police the digital wild west. Who is going to be the sheriff? John Wayne is dead. Our governments seem to be utterly clueless about dealing with this. Digital authoritarianism is not the answer, Then what is? Education, and people with culture, need to grasp things. That would be a start? Sometimes things do not get better. We never learn. In recent events in Manchester we have to learn from this. Nobody should be persecuted!