When your rights are violated and you don’t stand up for them, your lack of action helps enable the violation of other people’s rights, writes Angelina Souren.

In many cases, that is perfectly fine.

In some cases, it is not.

The French playwright and novelist Honoré de Balzac is supposed to have said or written that “Laws are spider webs through which the big flies pass and the little ones get caught.”

You are advised to visit Angelina’s blog if you want to read the full article, but the following two paragraphs leapt out at Yr Obdt Srvt:

The big flies use the laws to their advantage whereas the little flies are often not even aware of the protection the law affords them, or don’t use it. The big flies may count on that, but is that the fault of the big flies or the fault of the little flies?

Waiving your rights is usually much easier than fighting for them. Fighting for them does not mean that you will eventually have those rights honoured, and you may not get anything out of the battle other than knowing that you have made it a little bit less likely that other people’s rights are ignored too, after yours were. Sometimes, that is more than enough.

Food for thought – especially at a time when the likes of Chris Grayling are beavering away, working to cut your legal rights down to nothing.

Follow me on Twitter: @MidWalesMike

Join the Vox Political Facebook page.

Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
bringing you the best of the blogs!
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:

The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:

Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here: