“Have we crossed a line in surrendering freedoms?

Having locked down the country for the best part of a year and suspended basic civil liberties once, we are far more likely to do it again. We have crossed a line and it will stay crossed. “Ensuring that the powers the government has granted itself are abolished rather than kept for a future occasion is going to be hard political work, as is ensuring that we set the bar very high for renewing such powers in the future.” (Daniel Finkelstein, The Times)

My comment: This concerns the UK, but it can apply equally all over the world. We are seeing increased authoritarianism and (China, Burma etc. etc) repression. This is something that occurs, historically, in waves, and, thanks to modern technology, this wave promises to grow, not fade away. The last great wave occurred in the 1930s and 1940s, and took a huge effort and the lives of millions to tamp down. Regrettably, there are always arrogant people who have no truck with messy democracy and think they have all the answers. We have to fight the power-obsessed. They are a menace.