Just Finished Reading: Liberty in the Age of Terror - A Defence of Civil Liberties and Enlightenment Values by A C Grayling

It may seem rather simplistic - and probably is - but at least on the face of it there are two opposing forces at work in the world, the force for increased liberty and the force of increased oppression. Since the 1980's there has been a gradual increase in oppression throughout the world despite the fall of the Soviet Union. This trend significantly increased after the attacks of 9/11 and the other terrorist bombings around the world. To the forces who wanted to counter the desire for ever increasing liberty this was an opportunity not to be missed and they responded with acts on both sides of the Atlantic (indeed almost exclusively in the UK and US) which infringed on long fought for rights. Of course, so we were led to believe, this was all for our own good and was above all else for our continued safety which was blatantly under attack. After the initial stunned compliance the inevitable backlash halted, or at the very least called into question, many of the laws and measures - both existent and proposed - that threatened the very way of life they were supposedly designed to protect. A C Grayling, in this book and in other ways, was part of that backlash.

Unfortunately for several reasons I found this book disappointing. Although I undoubtedly agree with his main thrust - that our Civil Liberties are under threat to an extent not seen for generations for no good reason -  I thought that he missed the opportunity to make his point as strongly as he could have, and should have, done. Part of the problem was that he seemed to view our liberties as so self-evidently positive and necessary to modern society that he failed to explain exactly why they are so precious. The simple fact that many people have fought and often died to gain us the liberties that many of us take for granted over the last few centuries does not in itself make them inherently valuable. Grayling also singularly failed to make the case that the restrictions under review are unnecessary to fight against the apparent terrorist threat and seemed to simply dismiss them for the red herrings they in fact are. Again I whole heartily agree with his conclusions but found his arguments more that a little weak. I was expecting a fully backed-up and robust defence of liberty on each and every page but found instead a disappointing lackluster argument against the forces of repression. Of course there are those who think that democracy, liberty and freedom need no real defence as they are self-evidently good. I'm afraid that this is not the case - as we have seen far too often in recent years from the mouths of those we elected to defend us against the tyranny they are attempting to impose upon us. I honestly expected a more strident and forceful, indeed rousing, series of arguments from Professor Grayling. So hopefully we have now reached the point where we no longer need them as the forces of liberty continue to strike back against those who would use the excuse of enemies both foreign and domestic to undermine our faith in ourselves and in our fellow citizens. Not, I am honestly sad to say, recommended.