If there's one thing we're all still entitled to, it's our own opinions—although, here in Europe, governments seem increasingly keen to police even these.
I grew up in some of the roughest parts of Dublin and knew plenty of Rogers and Jacks . If I thought for a moment that these boys were deterred by government or the law, I'd be first in line at the ballot box but experience has proved to me otherwise. I won't bore you with stories of our local men trying to protect their neighbourhoods only to find the authorities taking Roger and Jack's side, or of people being pursued more vigorously for their political affiliations than for acts of violence, for, as you say, our world view is shaped by experience, and mine has convinced me that Roger and Jack rarely pay much attention to government or the law.
So no apologies necessary. Mutual respect is far more important and I think we do have that.
That indeed we do.