The Orwellian Slope

The 2005 Hayek Lecture | The Road to Serfdom Revisited: "What about the Orwellian slope? The issue here is the extent to which the instability of Western frontiers manned mainly by the United States with help from Great Britain threatens to subvert the rule of law. A noted British lawyer, Helena Kennedy, remarked in a recent lecture in London that the war on terrorism offers opportunities not otherwise available to prime ministers and presidents for repressive legislation. She points out that the police and security agencies now have an incredible array of surveillance technology at their disposal, just as Orwell foresaw that they would in the 1940s. In a conscious, or an unconscious, echo of Hayek, Lady Kennedy notes that any concern about the "thin end of wedges" is brushed aside as intemperate, because our officials are all "good chaps."

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