Support for the culture of death in government is considerably less virulent among politicians as it is among civil servants, the think - tanks and the other non - elected elites. There are in fact few politicians who wholeheartedly support the culture of death on a personal level with real conviction. The ones who do tend mainly to be found on the hard left, and usually belong to a faction of malcontents. However there are very many 'pro-choice' politicians who say that they are not personally in favour of abortion (i.e. Tony Blair),and yet who openly vote in favour of it at every opportunity. And now like Gordon Brown they try to impose the party line on those who don't.
Why? Because politics and political parties by their very nature depend heavily on patronage. To have any real power, political funding and influence they need the support of the lobbies and interests that have influence, in particular the media. They have much to lose in not supporting the culture of death. The media, business and academic lobbies who are behind it have much clout! In politics, as ever, there is a stark choice between principle and pragmatism...
The vested interest of civil service and the other non - elected government bodies in abortion and euthanasia, particularly in health care, is very different. They are appointed rather than elected bodies, and do not get directly involved in the political battle.
Why? Because politics and political parties by their very nature depend heavily on patronage. To have any real power, political funding and influence they need the support of the lobbies and interests that have influence, in particular the media. They have much to lose in not supporting the culture of death. The media, business and academic lobbies who are behind it have much clout! In politics, as ever, there is a stark choice between principle and pragmatism...
The vested interest of civil service and the other non - elected government bodies in abortion and euthanasia, particularly in health care, is very different. They are appointed rather than elected bodies, and do not get directly involved in the political battle.
Their interest could be explained by their natural tendency to see people as mere statistics rather than persons created in God's image and likeness. Their main priority is to allocate and use public money most effectively as they see fit. To them the terminally ill and aged are a major drain on resources which could be better spent, while it is cheaper to abort children rather that to support them in education, health care and social security benefits. A cynical viewpoint, not based on principle, but on statistics.
I have made a brief mention of the malcontents, which seem to be the only people who support the culture of death out of personal conviction rather than self interest. While they feature in politics, they are a class of their own: the next exhibit.
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