Jeremy Clarkson
Clarkson on: the system
Back in the winter, when the snows came and the radio reports were telling us that Britain was locked in ice chaos, a 40-year-old man called Simon Lewington decided to tow his son on a sledge behind his pick up truck.
Unfortunately, he towed him right past a police station and so, last month, Mr Lewington appeared in court where a judge said a custodial sentence was being considered. I'm sorry? Prison? For towing your boy on a sledge? At no more than 8mph? These are indeed strange times.
And there's more. On the very same day I read about Mr Lewington - who I think should be Dad of the Year - I heard that police officers in Bournemouth have been given sophisticated laser guns to catch cyclists speeding on the sea front.
Apparently, they are not allowed to travel at more than 10mph, but cannot be prosecuted if they do since bikes don't have speedometers and therefore there is no way for the individual to know he's breaking the law. Hmmm. The purchase of the laser guns does therefore seem like a lot of tax payers' cash down the drain. And that's before we get to the complete waste of police time.
Let me give you another example. Someone I know was recently loading her car with various heavy household items when a traffic warden, or parking attendant as we must call them these days, started to write out a ticket. My friend appealed to the warden's heart explaining that she couldn't possibly carry a fridge freezer to the nearest legal parking space and that she'd only be a moment.
But, of course, wardens don't have hearts, the ticket was written and my friend called her big, fat and the worst word in the world. Fair enough, you might think. We pay the wardens' wages. They are therefore, quite literally our servants, and we are allowed to call them whatever we wish should their behaviour be unreasonable and stupid.
It seems not. Because later in the day, my friend was visited by two police officers who issued her with an on-the-spot £80 fine for being offensive. But it wasn't offensive. The warden in question was big. She was fat. And if she's going to issue a ticket to someone loading their car with a fridge, then she is also the worst word in the world.
And anyway, how can it be against the law to abuse state officials? At this rate, you would not be allowed to call an idiot who's Scottish and one-eyed a "one-eyed Scottish idiot".
I am employed by the BBC and when I say or do something with which you disagree, you are perfectly entitled to write to me saying whatever comes into your head. Indeed, if I rang the police every time someone called me the worst word in the world, I'd get a loyal service carriage clock from British Telecom.
What worries me then is that the state is completely out of control. Imposing whatever laws it sees fit, and then hammering anyone who dares to even disagree. I heard recently they were thinking of making climate-change denial an offence.
The fact is that when I was 17, I used to sledge behind cars and not at 8mph either. Once, some friends and I did it on the M6 at 50mph. And none of us was even slightly killed.
"An accident is something which, by its very nature, cannot be prevented. But no one has got that. Which means that everything now comes with a hard hat"
I have also ridden bicycles at enormous speed through Burton on Trent where many of the locals are drunk on the town's home brew. And to my certain knowledge, neither I nor anyone else died as a result.
In fact, I simply don't have the space here to list all the fun things I did as a kid which simply aren't allowed today. Nicking sulphuric acid from the school labs to spice up water fights, doing 70mph in coned off sections of the motorway, playing conkers, canoeing into the outlet pipes of a power station, lighting fires in the woods, scrumping... and not just apples or rhubarb either. Once, I scrumped a nun's habit.
I remember too when indoor go-karting first took off. God, it was fun, whizzing about in an old warehouse. And it remained fun right up to the moment when one of the chaps on the other team flipped right in front of us. And then caught fire.
It was a big fire and he was very badly burned, as was the extremely brave chap who attempted to beat out the flames with his bare hands.
Could the accident have been avoided? For sure. The kart could have had a protective strip around its wheels to minimise the chance of a roll. The fuelling system could have featured fewer empty squeezy bottles. The driver could have been forced to wear a Nomex suit, not jeans and a t-shirt.
Or, if you keep this going in this vane, the sport could have been banned altogether.
This is the problem. If you do anything at all, you stand the chance, no matter how many precautions you take, of never being able to do anything again. An accident is something which, by its very nature, cannot be prevented.
But no one has got that. Which means that everything now comes with a hand-rail and a luminous jacket and a hard hat and steel-toe-capped boots and a banksman and ear defenders and protective strips and beeps and bongs and warnings and notices and rules, and that means nothing is quite as much fun as it used to be when you could make a buggy from bits of an old pram and see how fast it would go down a steep hill.
Most people blame health and safety for everything that's gone wrong since those glory days when we were free. But, actually, that's like shooting the messenger. Because let's not forget that health and safety people with their clip boards and their adenoids and their horrible shoes are employed by companies to examine all the risks, and eliminate all the risks, so that the company in question can tell a judge, if someone is injured and they are prosecuted or sued, that they took all possible precautions.
So it's not the company that's to blame. They don't want to cough up every time someone stubs their toe on a paving slab. And it's not the health and safety bods who are simply doing of them what is asked. No. What's at fault is the system. The whole damn shooting match. The culture that says anyone who's injured must be able to sue someone, and that if they won't the State can step in and make a prosecution. Which will be successful unless the company in the dock can show it employed a man in a high-visibility jacket.
Just last week, while filming for Top Gear, the car I was testing suffered a terrible accident. I won't say more than this because you won't have seen it yet and I don't want to spoil the surprise. Whatever, to have continued with the filming would have been stupid. There were jagged bits of metal everywhere and a worrying smell of fuel. Every health and safety man in the land would have ordered me to step away from the vehicle and go home.
But if I'd done that, the shoot would have been over, and thousands of pounds of licence payers' cash would have been wasted. So in I got and off I set... into a world populated only by pain and lashings of blood. I could sue. But I'm not going to. It's not the way of the gentleman. It's not the way of Top Gear either.
And if anyone wishes to call me the worst word in the world, feel free. I am to be found in my paddock teaching my 10-year-old daughter how to do a hand-brake turn in her £50 Ford Fiesta.
Want to comment on this?
*stay, houses
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Cant agree more with that article. I am 22 years old & don't get me wrong still do try to enjoy what I can, but when you hear stories from dads in their younger dads or other family members just had much more fun than we did. Just seems lives were less controlled by clowns constantly telling us what to do. Can't stand Traffic prats, easily in my top 5 tempting people to punch(except the women one's). We own a jewellery shop on a busy road and in the last few years their have been some shocking robberies for example with swords and axes. Even with that threat we can not park the car outside for 5 minutes while everything is being shut and the alarm being switched on. get ticket for making sure your business is safe. U.K. is a joke. Ladies and Gentlemen do suggest going India for a break/holiday, feel that freedom again.
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i totally agree with you jezza totally but ive came up with a plan to deal with all the problems!!! get a range rover with a bull bar and deal with them urself because there never is any point going to the ploice because they dont know what their job is and dont know how to handle it! plus u can warn those stupid traffic wardens to move or their going to be in hospital and whos going to argue with someone who is behind the wheel of a range rover and heading straight for u as they walk away all smug with themselves as they jst gave u a ticket! Stephen
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Move to America!
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Stop whining and move to South Africa. Great country where the odd man out is the one who doesn't break the rules. :) What I really want to know is, what is the "worst word in the world"?
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I totaly share these thoughts with you! Despite all the fun I'v had with my friends, I'v never had any injurys while doing somthing crazy and being on the edge or as normal people call it - fun! Only times when something has happend to my is when i'am not doing much and am relaxed. When we are playing with fire or flying trough city with bike at 80kmh, in storm, with no brakes, in traffic moving at 30 (that was fun ha ha), we are focused and ready for anything.
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I agree with everything in this article, I see so many CCTV camera's every day (7 alone on a DREADED bus! Why would a bus need 7 CCTV cameras?) and as I type this my internet usage is being monitored in case I'm some sort of terrorist who happens to watch Top Gear. The restraints on modern Brits is incredibly suffocating, I can't believe some of the things people are arrested for, and put on a database for, and even if they are innocent, remain on the database for the rest of the natural life.
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Also, if you want to protest in a peaceful way, you have to ask the police if you can protest, and even if you are given permission they can tell you to move on. Permission to protest?? Surely this is wrong. People say move country, but the entire population of Britain? Do be sensible. If I could move country, I most likely would, but the simple fact is I can't and the majority of the population can't either.
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Using NASA as an example: Whenever they have an accident or an astronaut dies, it's a tragedy - there's no denying that. But that's not a reason to give up on space exploration. The astronauts accept the risks involved when they strap themselves into the shuttle - if they didn't accept the risks, they wouldn't do it. The same is true of everything else in the world, including motoring. There are risks involved. Even if you're going under the speed limit on a bright shiny day while wearing a high visibility jacket, a stray deer or piano could send you six feet under in a flash. But that doesn't mean that those of us who do choose to accept the risks should be taxed and punished for choosing to enjoy driving.
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Wait a minute - your friend called a parking attended a big, fat Brown?
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Attendant, obviously. I need to learn to type.
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It would seem that fear of the frivolous lawsuit is driving everybody mad. I?ve heard that people are now afraid to stop and assist someone in a wreck, because if they don?t do CPR right or if they give them an unwanted reassuring pat on the back, they can get sued for it. And that?s a terrible reality ? some bloke who?s been in a horrible crash might miss his chance to recover and see his family because the good Samaritans are now afraid of losing all their money for helping out.
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As a nurse I can confirm that unfortunately the above (BoostedE21) is correct. I've never been in the situation myself but a recent study found that the majority of nurses would walk past an RTA and avoid getting involved even though they could provide life-saving assistance. You want easy money? Just sue an overworked, exhausted nurse who just saved your life.
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ddudek257, America isn't any better - trust me. Jezza, I agree, entirely. It seems that the majority of people in today's society are too immature to accept their mistakes/accidents in life - but our governments allow them to complain & moan until they get their $200,000 for stubbing their little toe. People need to grow up.
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Top Gear should do a stunt...a protest that will get people's attention. A lot of attention.
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Top Gear should do a stunt...a protest that will get people's attention. A lot of attention.
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It all starts with people wanting revenge on there own stupidity. for instance if you fall of a ledge then you sue the company for not stopping you. i'm 16 and the future is bleak and boring, but not as bad as my kids.
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btw i don't have kids yet.
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"i'm 16 and the future is bleak and boring". Now that is truly depressing.
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@Davill: isn't it though? Imagine being 16 in this time and age.
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Totally Agree.
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what's the worst word in the world??.... :s
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Freedom is not given to us; it is our right. Mend the rules!!
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In years to come the young people of today will take the country to court claiming their human rights to enjoy themselves, and possibly break a fingernail in the process, had been denied by someone called Farthington-Worthless, who fogot what it was like to be young. I'd hate to be growing up today. Not that it is any fun being an adult either.
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I couldn't disagree any less if I tried! I mean the government seems to be focused on the smallest issues imaginable and blowing them up in your face so as to block our view and power to the big issues affecting the country. The law is far too concrete. If that woman was to get a ticket for loading in a prohibited area she shouldn't be fined on the spot, but only fined if she was causing a problem, which she was not at all!! God Labour and the Law infuriates me!
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I am so glad i grew up in the late 70`s and early eighties...You played footie from dawn till dusk and beyond...When are we gonna learn and tell em to feck off and leave us alone to live our lives as we want!!!! Jezza for PM!!!!
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Have to agree. A friend of the family was pulled over driving her son's car. This lady is in her 50s. She was told she had no driving licence. They called her insurance company who confirmed that she had insurance to drive that car AND SO a driving licence. Police told her to bring it to the station to prove it later that week. A few days later they broke down her front door during the night, and carted her off in handcuffs, without letting her call anyone else to look after her other two young screaming children. The law and the way it's applied has become an ass.
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This is a tricky one. It strikes me that an awful lot the blame based society can be placed squarely at the door of the kind of people who write articles in the press blaming other people for their problems. (Jezza?) - we're in blame based society where everything has to be SOMEBODY ELSE'S FAULT. So time to take personal responsibility for the stuff that goes wrong. That includes who I vote for. Especially if who I vote for promises to protect me from all of the evil baddies by legislating against all the naughty things they do. Like sledging with their kids, or not providing an adequate number of no smoking signs. First they came for the Communists, etc...
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Can somebody please teach this forum to do line breaks? Even a simple nl2br() would be nice. Please? My posts end up looking like some weird stream of consciousness.
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When I read this, I could have sworn Clarkson was talking about us Yanks across the pond. Don't migrate here to the colonies, my friends. It's not much better unless you live in a rural area. It's all about control. What's next, banning sex because we might have too much fun?
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"The System" is beginning to look ever the same, no matter what its particular nationality, which gives me an idea. The Socialists are international, and so are the Greens. Maybe its time for the International "Leave Us The Hell Alone" Party.
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I can tell you that on my side of the pond we have similar government excesses. I feel the problem revolves around insurance companies that want to take our money for premiums, but are unwilling to assume even the slightest risk. The second part of the equation is local District Attorneys that overcharge cases in the hope of bullying you into accepting a less than fair plea bargain. lastly there are those one in a million idiots that lead the government to think we are all like they are, reckless.
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It isn't a system. It's a theology. Someone seems to have mistaken Plato's Republic for a shop manual. Neo-Platonism is a species of pagan idolatry. Its adherents are called Academics, after name of the school Plato founded. I'm afraid there is only one cure, and it is a painful one. We must refuse to make any sacrifices to their idols. Safety is one. There is a difference between finding a way to do something safer, and sacrificing to Safety as something valuable in and of itself. Varro might have called Safety a "natural" idol, because it has no image made after it.
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Can u not tell, which word it is.....
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I totally agree with JC, but I think some of the problem lies with the courts. If judges who listen to the insurance claims for "injured" parties just told the people they should have looked where they were walking/seen the car before crossing the road/realised the shopping trolley coming towards them was unatended and to go home and not waste his time! In other words, people look out for yourselves and stop being greedy. I agree, JC for PM - and maybe James and Richard should be with him just to keep decisions realistic!!!
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Soon critisizing the system will be banned just because a motoring journalist was right.
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Thanks Jeremy! Finally someone who dares open his mouth. You should run for Prime Minister^^
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I've been an avid reader of this site for some time, but never felt compelled to comment before. I'm 30, and grew up in an age where kids fell out of trees, stubbed their toes, walked home all by themselves from school (the horror!) and when we were students, I was once delivered home by a policeman when shopping trolley racing in a supermarket car park went wrong at 3 in the morning and I was too drunk to do anything about it. Today my parents would be in fear of being picked up by the state for neglect and lack of caution for letting their beloved child out alone, and I could sue the supermarket for recklessly leaving trolleys about after hours. Where is our sense of responsibility for ourselves?? I agree with Jeremy - the state should LEAVE US ALONE. And as a society in turn, we should grow up and start taking responsibility for ourselves. I love the idea of teaching your daughter to drive in a paddock - my Dad did it for me when I was 13!! Have fun!!!
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Brought a tear to my eye. *sniffs*
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I live in Finland and I can't really believe this kinda stuff. Is the government in Britain really that stupid? Hopefully we won't get stuff like that.
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I drove home, through town, when I was 13. The daddy had nagged me long enough to take the wheel at least once. It was the eve of dec 31st too... He urged me not to change up to 4th though, I went quite fast enough for him. Best thrill I ever had. I couldn't even see over the wheel, I could hardly turn it. No steering aid... When I was four, my usual seat was on the armrest in the back, for the view of course. With hindsight, that was not so smart.
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@Vislami: not only in Britain. Us on the continent suffer from it too. Governments seem to believe that the enjoyment of life should be suppressed at every opportunity, like drug abuse.
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One Word: ANARCHY!!!
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Totally agree, lets lose the one eyed scottish idiot...JC for PM! V8 not G8!
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"nothing is quite as much fun as it used to be when you could make a buggy from bits of an old pram and see how fast it would go down a steep hill." You've brought back memories sir... On a cairtie (as this 1 1/2 eyed Scots idiot called it) on a very steep hill and on the pavement! Out from a footpath at the side comes a woman with pram. Choice - pram, garden wall, parked car. I wasn't even slightly killed, the wall lost a lot of harling and the cairtie never ran again. It was my choice, I took the risk and I was responsible - which is why I went for the wall. It would cause least damage to the innocent. If I'd ended up with two broken ankles it would have been my own fault. Thats the problem - people used to take the risks and do the silly things and knew it was their own stupid fault. Now they look round for someone else to sue and having once done so (even unsuccessfully) it opens the door to the jobs worths who don't like fun.
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How come it is the ones who are not in a position of power that always have the right ideas. The reasoning for all this is quite straight forward and simple. The fat, greedy, lying politians just want to sit back and stuff their pockets full of our money, and the only reason were not given the go ahead to play 'high risk' and 'dangerous' games is because they don't want a huge public out cry about the loss of a life while they were walking there dog. There a load of useless sods that are all as bad as each other, and, you know what, they've create the injury claim culture. I can garuntee that Hazel Blears will sue someone, some how about her car. Lord mandy sued someone when green slime was thrown on him, and that woman no one knows ther name of sued twice for being egged. get them out.
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I do agree with you Jezza up until a certain point. That example you gave with the boy being towed behind his fathers car at 8mph could have easily gone horribly wrong and he would have ended up underneath the car or underneath another persons car. The father would only have himself to blame but would still want to blame someone else, no one taking responsibility for their actions really pee me off. The world in itself is slowly going mad and our kids are the ones that are going to suffer. Personally I blame the Americans for bringing this blame culture to us in the first place. :)
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Clarkson, the voice of reason in a country gone mad with freedom-choking laws and bureaucratic idiots. The government is invading privacy more than ever, and the way this is going, in 30 years time England will be like Orwell's 1984. And it's not even our safety they're looking out for, it's just the money making... Pretty soon farting will be prohibited under health and safety laws. And a £50 fine for whoever dealt it.
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You have to love South Africa. If the company really made a mistake, you will be compensated. But if you were just a clumsy idiot and fell on your face in a shop, the man from the shop would come to say sorry and that... Actually nothing would happen. Except you would get shouted at if you got blood on the floor
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"Becoming like 1984"? I read that book 2 years ago and was terrified at how many things in that book you could apply to every day life. I don't even want to re-read it, purely down to the fact that the only thing left I can remember that hasn't happened is the giving out of drugs to surpress free thinking! The new Muse album (for anyone interested) is loosely based on 1984. Spot on JC, this country is going mad. It seems you can be sued for pretty much everything and anything. If any campaign needs to be started, it's to get rid of the part of the Human Rights Act that has screwed everyday life for us folk who live the life normal, not the life criminal.
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Absolutely right Jezza! I first read that article in the TG magazine but reading it again has hammered it home.
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I'm going to depart from the chorus of roars of approval here, and offer some different ideas about Mr Clarkson's article. I'm not dim enough to expect JC to reply in person, but I'm just going to post an alternative view. Mr Clarkson said I could, so I?m going to.What strikes me is how enormously petty all this is. If Clarkson was serious about liberties being taken away, he?d be talking about ID cards, ?anti-terror? legislation that imprisons people without trial, libel laws that gag free speech in favour of the rich, assaults on peaceful political protests.
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If he was serious about wasting tax payers money, he might say something about PFI, or replacing Trident, which cost a wee bit more of taxpayers money than giving speed guns to cops. But they don?t play well with the target audience ? comfortable, mildly indignant people, living in one of the most affluent societies, who want to feel that they?re an oppressed minority in some way. Better stick to the everyday grumbles, and the ?you-couldn?t-make-it-up? stories. They?re simpler.
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But then, Jeremy Clarkson, like most opinionated columnists, will never have to put his money where his mouth is. He?ll never form a party, stand as an elected official, found a charity, foundation or pressure group to try to make changes, like Joanna Lumley did, for two good reasons. One, he knows that he couldn?t change any of the things he moans about, and he?s not daft enough to try. Second of all, he doesn?t need to.
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It?s far easier (and more lucrative) to do what opinionated columnists do ? take the occasional excesses of official stupidity, amplify them to the extent that people think they?re happening all the time and then spin the whole thing into a ?the-whole-country?s-going-to-the-dogs? diatribe, to be lapped up by his constituent audience ? largely white, middle-class pub-bores.
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As a footnote, here?s a fine example of what happens when the ?we?ll-change-the-system-and-put-some-bloody-common-sense-in-its-place? demagogues do get into office. Enjoy: http://andys.org.uk/media/peter_davies_toby_foster_bbc_radio_sheffield_08_06_2009.mp3
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GF: The UK is affluent? The only thing I own that has "Made in England" stamped on it is a London Cab and I had a devil of a time getting one on the west coast of Canada. There are, at a rough estimate, 50,000 british refugees living on Vancouver Island. The UK is bankrupt, overpopulated, relies heavily on imports and has a very small reserve of food and fuel. This "affluent society" nonsense is built entirely on a massive fraud called fractional reserve banking, and that is about to implode with less than pleasant results. The UK hasn't seen poverty on this scale since the Henry VIII looted the monasteries.
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Just a note regarding green flash... Say what you like about JC, but at least he doesn't hide behind a pathetic alias... Also, If there was a single politician in this country that dared speak his mind in the same way as JC does, then maybe we wouldn't be living in a bankrupt (both morally and financially) crap hole that is known as the (not really) United Kingdom.
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Just a note regarding green flash... Say what you like about JC, but at least he doesn't hide behind a pathetic alias... Also, If there was a single politician in this country that dared speak his mind in the same way as JC does, then maybe we wouldn't be living in a bankrupt (both morally and financially) crap hole that is known as the (not really) United Kingdom.
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Totally agree. In a recent interview Duncan Ballantyne passed the comment ?Common sense is not that common? which just about sums it up.
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we live on a farm and when the snow comes we get one of those really big peat bags and tie it onto the back of a really old peugeot 205 diesel. and he drives it around the farm when the snow come and lets me sit on the bag its fantastic fun but scary the wind, the big plume of diesel smoke and all the slush its great fun if that was illegal it would be stupid. i think the son being towed behind the pickup is great and that should not be illegal. prision for it is rediculos. and cyclists should be praised for going over 10mph its very hard especially on uphill parts. as for the traffic wardens our closest village is 2 miles away and it has one traffic warden the village has a hill with double yellows up it and lorries have to drive up this hill and when cars are parked it causes huge traffic jams. the traffic warden who is fat spends all his time plonked in a van only getting out to ticket people who visit a hardware shop on a dead end road
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Jcanuck - yes, the UK is affluent. The lifestyles of most people in the UK, even with our large gap between rich and poor, are better than the vast majority of people in the world. We're not as rich as we were, but we cannot realistically be described as a poor country. Get over it. Stever - can't help you haven't given your full, real name, or slated anyone else off for using an alias. Why is that, I wonder?
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suing is stupid if you get hurt in an accident all that you should take away is the memory of it you as a person can prevent it happening it again by taking your own personal precautions based on your opinions. in an accident get over it and laugh about it when your better.
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Poor means what? Zero income? 'Round here we call em crackheads. If zero is the baseline then the bigger the gap the better. I'm not sure the consequences of paper money have sunk in yet. The bubble part was fun, wasn't it? But what do you import food and fuel with when foreigners won't take your worthless paper? IIRC the one-eyed man sold all your gold for someone else's worthless paper. It's not stupidity. It's Idolatry. Makes fools even of the smartest.
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Blimey jcanuck, take some deep breaths, would you? All I'm saying is, in a world where vast amounts of people don't have clean water, stable food supplies, access to electricity/telecoms, then yes, the UK is affluent. But we're getting off the point I was making here. JC is a lazy journalist, blowing small silly stories about local councils into the decline of Western civilization and the death of freedom for an audience all too willing to believe it.
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Blimey jcanuck, take some deep breaths, would you? All I'm saying is, in a world where vast amounts of people don't have clean water, stable food supplies, access to electricity/telecoms, then yes, the UK is affluent. But we're getting off the point I was making here. JC is a lazy journalist, blowing small silly stories about local councils into the decline of Western civilization and the death of freedom for an audience all too willing to believe it.
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Ok. Some say he bills the BBC only 5 pounds a week, and once paid a 100 pound wheelie-bin ticket in gold sovereigns....
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i wouldn't be surprised if one is required to have a permit to hammer a nail on a wall, or perhaps even the right to cook on an oven in the future. governments around the world are putting up laws that make people dumb, and to manipulate and rip them off. citizens have the right to remove an oppressive government through non-violent but effective measures. we don't need smug babysitters. we need a government for and from the people. and to the parents out there, please refrain from telling your kids "don't do this... don't do that" all the time. let them explore. let them experience life. you are simply perpetuating this system.
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Safety. Society. Liberty. Equality. Fraternity. Gaia. Race. Poverty. Democracy. Do any of these sound familiar? They are pagan idols. Things we are told to sacrifice for, or throw rocks at. I know we don't call them "pagan idols" anymore. But that is what they are. Rome collapsed when their debased money failed, and their newly unpaid armies went on a great effing rampage. It was idolatry which brought them to the point of failure. The money was merely a symptom.
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"Even if you're going under the speed limit on a bright shiny day while wearing a high visibility jacket, a stray deer or piano could send you six feet under in a flash." Especially if you're on top gear and driving a Morris Marina!
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Mr Green Flash, studies prove that this current health & safety culture is damaging the psychological health of children. A child bought up indoors on computer games will not have as good development as a child raised on traditional childhood games. Basic skills are not being learned (think building dens, mud pies, lego). The final result is people who cannot contribute as well to society. We've already stated earlier that people are dying because medical and nursing staff are afraid to get involved in an out of hosptial cardiac arrest for fear of being sued. I find death and developmentaly stunted children quite serious. You need to think laterally when reading JC's article and get rid of your tunnel vision.
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One of the many points I was trying to make with that post is that we need to deal with problems on our doorstep before we start addressing problems over on the horizon. Tony Blair was more concerned with foreign issues during his "reign" and look how our country suffered as a result. I am not belittling the suffering in third world countries but our own children are the most unhappy in Europe. That must mean something.
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Here in Norway you aren't allowed to sit on the bicycle over an pedestrian crossings, because it's so damn dangerous, you can be seriously killed. anyway, the goverment can fine you for 90 £ because you cycle over an crossing. that's how absurd the civilised parts of the world have become. i should have been fined for 180 £ just today if idd followed the norwegian law.
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I agree with the comments made in the article. In short we have become a mini-America, with a paranoia about law-suits because Labour allowed no win-no fee claims. We live in the Age of the Lawyer, and coupled with Political Correctness and an erosion of our basic democratic right (to protest) removed because we have to ask permission to demonstrate (and when you do, you'll be beaten to death by unidentifiable cops for walking home). It's like living in a combined vision of 'A Clockwork Orange' and '1984'.
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Watch this can you imagine something like this in modern F1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehLyDof0NWs&feature=rec-HM-r2
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In the last 20 or so years the amount of people claiming for injuries has increased steadily yet there are more rules and regulations too prevent these injuries from occuring in the first place. How long before this dictatorship goverment has us all arrested and sent to Gauntanamo Bay for daring to criticise them and their policies.
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GF: JC will tweak the noses of cherished idols -- it's why we like watching him -- but no he won't go further. It is the BBC after all. We'll know he's gone to far if we hear of his tragic death in a "Lambo fire".
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Nothing's any fun anymore. I'm 16 and I can't even go into 7/11 with three friends anymore, because they're sure that I'll ransack the place and run a truck through the wall.
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Political incorrectness has turned all of us into incoherent jaded human beings.
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Im a 15 year old and by reading this article i toatally agree with what Jeremy is saying. i wont write stories i have have heard like the one with the sledge. but as you all know there are many, briefly this one. a man was sitting out side the pub on his moterbike talking to his friends and having a drink and a police officer came past and fined and prosocuted him! b******s! As i said im 15 and am going down a mechanical route with carsand bikes but im really concisdering going into parliment and sorting this country out! that is how seriously rubbish this country has got! a 15 year old wanting to go into Parliment!
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Get out of UK! I just got back from Laos where there is NO nanny state. I took a corner on a wet mountain road in the rain in a Ford pickup and put the car on its side after losing traction on all 4 wheels and spinning 180, thus putting the nearside wheels in a drainage ditch. EVERYBODY who went past stopped to help until we had enough guys to push and pull the vehicle back onto its wheels, then LIFT the back end onto the road out of the mud. NOBODY left until we had replaced one trashed wheel with the spare and got the car going and back fully on the road. Only one guy spoke both English and Lao and all of us - Hong Kong English, Czech hitchhikers (sorry about scaring you!) and Lao - worked together with no fear of being sued or prosecuted. Even the Aussie car hire guy who owned the car told me on the phone, "Our mechanic is busy, tip it over and drive it out if you can." Can you imagine this in the West?
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hahahaah fiesta , owsome
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the trouble is if we take h&s out of the equation all we're left with is survival of the fittest and so most of you would be dead. I can't really feal anything less than pitty for the fool of a father of the year's dad who ties his kid to the back of the truck and drives by the cops and gets busted. honestly, how dumb can one get? The real issue here isn't realy where, when and what we do but how stupid are we allowed to get.. and according to health and safety.. pretty f87king stupid ! These laws allow for and escalate the extinction of common sense.. completely take it out of the equation.What you're left with than is survival of the thickest and that is truly a scary thought ! :D
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and those of you who think your parents had more fun.. you're probably right.. Don't blame the system though or society for thsat matter .. blame yourselves for being boring guits !!!
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Welcome to the FREE WORLD.
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So Jeremy, when were you going to announce your candidacy for Parliament again? You're right, of course, but being right isn't enough. You need to do something. We'll help but we're not rich enough to do it ourselves. Clarkson for PM!
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Someone said "Move to America"??!! Are you kidding? We practically invented the system. If you want your liberties back, you need to get involved with your local government.
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I have to agree with sixty_cycle_hum. Moving to America won't solve your problems. I've lived here 40 years, and seen the USA go from relaxed and fun to rigid and bound by a fear of lawsuits. In the USA, you can be sued for nearly anything, including "Breathing Toward Someone in a Threatening Manner." I agree with Jeremy, and will expand it across the pond to the USA as well. The system needs a reboot. It's grown weak and stupid and needs to go. Rather like the Prius, that.
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Once again mr. Clarkson, you say what most of us are thinking. But sadly i feel that sometimes common sence is so rare it's a superpower. but unfortunatly 'the system' is trying overcompensate. So in the end the nannystate is killing the ones who want to live, which just isn't right. I'm half greek and in greece where there is less control and enforcement of certain rules, i find people to think more for themselfs resulting in more common sence. So in my conclusion let people think for themselfs, thats how everybody learn. And it you feel like graping an uninsulated wire, you WILL get shocked. Let humans be humans and don't keep them in kindergarden all through life. //Purumal
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South Africa is a great place. You can go fast on a bicycle (50km/h ) and pass a cop car on the left side and they won't do a thing. In fact, this guy sped up to me and asked me if I wanted to race! lol. Point is, rules are always going to be broken. Sometimes even by the lawmakers themselves. Hey, I don't know anyone who kinda sticks to the speed limit around here and none of them are dead. Or even slightly dead for that matter. And, as far as I know, you're still allowed to ride a bicycle on public roads here, even if you have insurance! Howzat!? Bring back freedom and fun for the UK!!!
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Your right on the money Mr Clarkson. And sadly, all the frightening things I see going on over in the UK are taking a proverbial boat over to the west coast of the United States and then slowly oozing across the continent to swallow up the freedom left in this country. At least we still (mostly) have our guns. Something I know you would appreciate. But what can we do? Those of us (even the younger ones like me at 31) feel so out numbered by the extremely vocal safety nazi's that want to wrap us all up in bubble wrap and tube feed us wheat grass for our own "safety". At least we have a few political figures fighting for a return to freedom over here, Ron Paul for one. Hopefully we will have some success stemming the tide of freedom loss. We can only hope that the same happens for our friends in the UK. -Ben
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Dear Mr. Clarkson, I might be your biggest IRAQI or even ARAB fan. I really like your show, Top Gear, and I've almost never skipped an episoed for the last two years and I even watch it online!!! I agree with you on the fact accidents are natural happenings. In fact some people might even link them to super natural forces!!! But having have lived in a 3rd world country my whole life, and having seen the ignorant and dangerous way people or authorities deal with stuff, make me appreciate the safety precautions your government take to ensure your and your family safety and security big time. Nabil Mohsen
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not so long ago james spent a couple of days in a house built by geeks made of a pile of second hand lego and some wood.Hmmm... A couple of weeks later he walked away from crashing some shady shad invention into the ground... Maybe health and safety are just an excuse perfect to abuse for those who dare not ? ...
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The best line of the article, and one I intend to shamelessly copy for personal use in the future, is: "I could sue. But I'm not going to. It's not the way of the gentleman." Using that line won't carry much weight here in the States (not that we need any help in that area) but I will enjoy it immensely. All the best.
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You know Jeremy, this thing that you mentioned is like the best thing about living in a country like Malaysia. The courts here are backed up by about 8 years or so, so that pretty much discourages lawsuits. Also the laws over here aren't as extensive as they are in the UK, so lots of little things fall in the grey area. I saw a video recently on YouTube, it was filmed from inside a car, which was racing against one of the newer Mitsubishi cars that the Royal Malaysian Police use, with the policeman driving it. Not bad eh? I once heard that in the US, if a thief injures himself on your car while attempting to break through your window, he can actually file a suit against you for his injuries. Isn't that marvellous? It'll be great to be a thief over there, you don't even need to steal anything, just cut yourself up a bit on the windows.
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So, Clarkson, I am pleased to say that you are not the first to get to this conclusion. I live here in Brasil, and i know about this old guy living in Florida that came to realize that about 40 or 50 years ago... Please watch the second half of a movie called Zeitgeist Addendum (made by Peter Joseph), you can find it to watch online in google. I bet the M5 that I still don't own, that you will be very astonished by it. Start watching it in the minute 54.
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Open Car Bar
Boland39 commented on this article
10 August 2009
I totally agree. It feels like the government or "system" would much prefer us to syat in our house locked up so we can't cause anyone or ourselves any damage. it's riduculous when you think most "problems" we cause can be solved simply. Traffic wardens should let us off if we park for 2/3 mintues illegally for just collecting something, posting something, or as you say moving a refrigerator. The Government won't resolve this because it's run by old people who live in a seperate world and don't realise they ruin a lot of people's lives by bringing in new, stupid laws and rules, and when they get in trouble they can get away with it as they're the ones in power.
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