24-hour CCTV monitoring in our homes? (The inveterate & illiberal paternalism of the left)

In "Lights Out" (The Corner, August 3, 2009), Mark Steyn writes:

In my weekend column, I write that government health care "redefines the relationship between the citizen and the state in a way that hands all the advantages to statists — to those who believe government has a legitimate right to regulate human affairs in every particular."

But don't worry, you'd be surprised how you get used to it. From Britain's Daily Express:

The Children’s Secretary set out £400 million plans to put 20,000 problem families under 24-hour CCTV super-vision in their own homes.

They will be monitored to ensure that children attend school, go to bed on time and eat proper meals.

The national government is installing 24-hour cameras in your home to ensure that you eat properly and go to bed on time. And social decay in Britain (which is at least partly due to the nanny state's assumption of all adult responsibilities) is so advanced that almost everyone now thinks this perfectly normal.

By the way, dig the name of that cabinet position — the "Children's Secretary." Nice chap. Shared a plane ride with him once. Very pleasant fellow. But what an Orwellian title.

[Hat tip to S.K.]