Stephen Gough - the "Naked Rambler" - is an activist, and a former Royal
Marine. In 2003-2004, he walked the length of Great Britain naked. He did it
again in 2005-2006, but was arrested in England and in Scotland. He has been
repeatedly rearrested for public nudity within a short period, each time he was
released.
On his walks he wear nothing but boots, socks, rucksack and sometimes a hat,
after having quit his job as a lorry driver. He has been arrested and
imprisoned numerous times during the course of his rambles. In UK law it is not
actually illegal to be naked in public but if a member of the public complains
you can be arrested for a breach of the the peace. He has spent six years in
prison - most of it in solitary confinement (as he refuses to wear clothes).
My initial impression of the guy is that he was probably an exhibitionist and
mentally disturbed. It does strike me though that he has an illustrious
forbear: the Cynic philosopher Diogenes who despised possessions; openly
masturbated in public; taught a back-to-nature approach to life; and was one of
the first to warn of the dangers of "civilization".
Maybe Stephen Gough is just the latest in a long line of English eccentrics.
But maybe we need more naked ramblers - more people who can wake us up from our
slumber and our obsession with conspicuous consumption.
Here he is . . .
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b039086d/The_Naked_Rambler/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b039086d/The_Naked_Rambler/
