A man lies dead in California after an FBI sniper’s bullet ended a hostage drama at a local bank. The agency, in its typical bureaucratic flourish, claims the shooting was ‘necessary’. Necessary?
Perhaps. But let us not gloss over the deeper rot. This is a nation where the state embraces the role of executioner with a swiftness that would make a Victorian hangman blush.
Compare this to Britain’s own recent travails: the Guildford pub siege, where armed police negotiated for hours before a single shot was fired. Efficiency versus restraint. The FBI’s trigger-happy approach might save time, but at what cost to the soul of a nation?
The victim, now a cautionary tale, was a man driven to extremity by the very society that now judges him. We live in an age of intellectual decadence, where we celebrate the quick fix over the painful, sustainable solution. The Fall of Rome began with such pragmatic barbarism.
Let us hope Britain remembers its own history before it too succumbs to the allure of the instant resolution.
