In the past, reading a book was generally considered a sign of intelligence. Not so in Britain in 2023.

An investigation by the SUFFOLK GAZETTE has revealed that the British government-led,.multi-agency ‘Prevent’ programme – which aims to stop individuals from becoming terrorists – considers the reading of books a potential route to right-wing extremism and by extension, terrorism.

Ha! Books such as J. R. R. Tolkien’s epic fantasy ‘The Lord of the Rings’, and George Orwell’s dystopian psychodrama.‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’ have been cited as tomes that might encourage the vulnerable and marginalized to actually think for themselves – just as the authors intended. Oh no! We can’t have that!

Prevent my arse

Orwell’s deliciously prescient ‘1984’ artfully describes how governments attempt to use fear, paranoia, and isolation to control the proletariat (W.C. ‘working-class people collectively’).

Ironically, and considering that the very working people the UK Government most fears becoming enlightened,.are the least likely to read (due to illiteracy, poverty, and poor high cultural awareness), it is the UK Government and its policing agencies that come across as paranoid.

It is generally accepted that knowledge is power, but power isn’t necessarily something to be feared. The enlightened are usually better equipped to see both sides of an argument,.and thus seek remedies to their grievances which are just and obtained without recourse to violence.

Suppressing knowledge is self-defeating as it stymies the realization of the progressive ideals that those who seek to dominate claim to want for themselves – if not the wider society.

Fishy fascism

In the same way that if you give a man a fish he will eat for a day,.and if you give him the knowledge and means to fish he will feed himself and his family forever, giving the beggarly the means to think for themselves should ultimately lead to more civilized and safer societies.

So rather than suppress illuminating books,.or the language they use (as Adolf Hitler was fond of doing) why not instead provide, promote, and promulgate them?

Having said that, if, with the same end in mind, the Government wishes to ban or burn the Sun and Guardian newspapers, we at the SUFFOLK GAZETTE have no problem with that, whatsoever!

W.C. = Working Class