In a
previous post I deplored the suggestion that a bank, via PayPal, was seeking to
censor e-books. I am pleased to be able to report that that threat appears tohave been averted thanks to the campaign that was mounted by concerned
organisations and individuals who would have been directly affected by the
proposal.
This is an
example of a successful campaign by a minority to prevent a change in custom
and practice with the potential to affect us all. There are other recent
examples that are less welcome. The most recent concerns the use of mice in
medical research. Having several years ago harassed breeders in the UK to the point where they gave up, animal
rights activists, it is now reported, have succeeded in preventing the importation of the animals into Britain.
This is a
disturbing development not just because of the potential impact on the research
but because it demonstrates that a small minority working quietly and virtually
unnoticed have the power to prevent not one but several large organisations
from carrying on a legitimate business. That is very worrying indeed if you
believe in democracy. The people concerned claim that they have mounted their
campaign out of concern for the animals. On the other side of the argument are
the people whose lives might be saved or whose suffering might be relieved by
the drugs that need to be tested on the animals.
I am
tempted to ask: do these people ever swat a fly? Do they take steps to prevent
the birds that enter their garden from eating slugs, snails and worms? Where do
they draw the line between creatures that are to be protected and those that
can be left to fend for themselves in face of predators? The mice they are
protecting would not exist were they not bred for the intended purpose. Their
cousins in the wild lead a far more hazardous life. The purported concern that
has led this handful of individuals to take the law into their own hands in
defiance of the majority population is totally misguided. It is time for the
rest of us to stand up to these ignorant fools and insist that the airlines and
ferry companies ignore them and their threats.
There is a
second recent example of a minority group seeking to interfere with the
democratic process. Leaders of the Roman Catholic Church have become quite vociferous
in their condemnation of government proposals to introduce a form of marriage
for gay people. When I see these men in frocks pontificating from the pulpit I
am apt to start shouting at the TV screen, telling them to mind their own
business!
I have no
problem with the Church making rules for its members. But it has no right to
seek to impose those rules on the rest of us.
