Douglas Carswell's Blog

Freedom is universal

I'm told that the populist revolt in the Arab world began when a young Tunisian, Mohamed Bouazizi, died after setting himself alight. He did so after state officials confiscated the vegetable stall he used to earn a living. He did not have the right permission authorising him to do so, apparently.

When I first heard that tragic tale, I was reminded of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged when she wrote of a nightmare world where "in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing".

Back to all posts