Alan Turing is a true hero of mine – as a computer scientist and a philosopher. He was clearly a genius and a good man too I think, humble and introverted yet authoritative when necessary. It was a few years after studying Turing’s work academically that I learned about the great tragedy inflicted upon him – his forced chemical castration and subsequent death by suicide due to his conviction for ‘gross indecency’, a tragically ironic charge given what was done to him in the name of decency. The story always makes me profoundly sad.
When I saw this event that’s being organised by Manchester City Council in Turing’s honour it was anger I felt more than anything. The apologies of a couple of opportunistic MPs is possibly the cheapest tribute that can be paid to the man. The establishment which they represent did not make a mistake 57 years ago – it demonstrated its moral bankruptcy and its intractable power.
A government apology is a like mafia apology and the only way we should accept it from either is if it is accompanied by a laying down of guns, of power and threats because otherwise it will just happen again – oppression of those who cannot defend themselves, in some other form.
KeyThing