Alan Turing
Alan Turing withoubt any doubt was a hero. Like many during a time of war he applied his unique talents to the benefit of the nation then and now. There can be no doubt that The Few that Churchill spoke of could count Turing and his bletchley park cohorts among their number.
There can be no more doubt that the way he was treated after the war for his homosexuality was despicable; no right minded person could think otherwise. But the laws of the time were exactly that. They were of their time. They were the laws of a society that hadn’t itself grown up. In the fifties particularly, Science itself still considered homosexuality a mental affliction. The Hobson’s choice of prison or chemical castration from which Turing was forced to choose after conviction are abhorrent to most of us now and rightly so.
And so it was that when I came across a petition on the number 10 website to have the Prime Minister apologise for Turing’s treatment at the hands of the state that I very nearly added my support. But then I stopped. Why should today’s goverment apologise for unjust laws two generations ago? It’s not the first time and I’m sure it won’t be the last but come on, really? What’s the point? It’s not like the pm is contemporary with the legislation or the events. We’re not talking missing weapons of mass destruction and illegal wars in the lifetime of the current government!
I just don’t understand what it is about society today that a portion must lobby the goverment of the day to apologise for the wrongs of previous incumbents. After all, goverments are a little like companies. There are 60 million shareholders and every few years we get to elect a whole new board of directors. We give them powers to make decisions and laws and we, the society of the moment abide by those laws for the most part because our democracy ensures that the law works for most people most of the time.
If you really want an apology for fifty year old injustices I suggest you lobby not today’s government but your own grandparents, and their peers who were the very society who, collectively and very likely out of apathy rather than malice allowed bad laws to last even beyond their generation. To be fair, the focus of the multitide in post-war Britain was unlikely to be laws relating to homosexuality so even “apathy” may be a bit strong. But whatever the justification, it certainly is not something that today’s politicians should be expected to apologise for.
The government today can only be accountable for things enacted in its name during its lifetime. Stop looking for someone to blame and recognise the past when you see it.
In a similar vein, I hear victims of IRA bombs are trying to sue Libya because… a company there made the explosive! I understand that victims want to feel some justice is being done but honestly, where does this sort of thing stop? Should the world sue the Chinese for inventing gunpowder? Can we sue Mercedes Benz because they invented the internal combustion engine that powers cars that kill tens of thousands of people every year even though the cars are driven by idiots? How about Einstein? His estate must have a few quid from all those t-shirts, mugs and little nodding Einstein figurines. After all, without his little nugget letting us know just how much energy there is to be liberated from a given quantity of matter, we may not have had nuclear weapons for many years hence. I’m guessing that today’s peoples who still suffer from the genetic aftermath of Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Chernobyl etc. would be very interested in a class action against our frizzy headed Uncle Albert.
Just another example of people understandably seeking out some compensation for the pain inflicted on them. Of course, it’s easy for me to say that the search is misguided as I sit typing this with my body for the most part complete and functional and without having lost loved ones to monsters who thought bombing innocents was justifiable and I cannot offer the slightest hint of an alternative but it does just seem a bit of a stretch.
Libya deserves sanctions and other diplomatic pressure for all kinds of reasons just as on some matters, so might Britain but let’s not forget that we have a substantial and long-lived arms industry in this country and we’re rather throwing explosive stones from the open skylight of our very own glasshouse here.
Let’s hope that the victims of every terror group, dictatorship, guerilla and unstable government that we’ve ever thrown weapons and training at don’t come out seeking compensation from our aerospace and weapons companies.
Yes. I am commenting to my own posts and yes, I am very probably the only one reading them. Yes, this is, perhaps more than a little bit sad but in my experience debates are best had only with yourself. You always win and can change your mind and swap sides without any whining and moaning from others. I heartily recommend the practice.
To myself, obviously.