In Uganda there is a law against annoying the president, and last night I met an incredible person who has been jailed 12 times for breaking that law. Andrew Mwenda, founder of The Independent newspaper, was giving the keynote address at The Bastiat Prize and asking why the West was so timid in defending free markets and the open society which people like him put their lives on the line to support. A crash isn’t a crisis of capitalism, he said, it’s a characteristic of capitalism – when banks err they are punished. Why do so few in the West make this point?
I asked him later if he worries that next time he’s arrested it will be worse than just a night behind bars. I’ll never forget his response: “Yes, maybe. But I would rather have died yesterday for liberty than live for a thousand years appeasing tyranny.”
Britain’s best politics newsletters
You get two free articles each week when you sign up to The Spectator’s emails.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Comments
Join the debate for just £1 a month
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for £3.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just £1 a monthAlready a subscriber? Log in