tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585028625507474093.post7415764302309836152..comments2023-10-17T15:56:22.827+01:00Comments on Velvet Glove, Iron Fist: Another typical smoking banChristopher Snowdonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15963753745009712865noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585028625507474093.post-24426403817346582182010-11-13T00:31:31.216+00:002010-11-13T00:31:31.216+00:00"Aye. I'm inclined to view it the same wa..."Aye. I'm inclined to view it the same way myself. I've met too many libertarian Marxists and too many authoritarian conservatives to see it any other way."<br /><br />Is that a Scots "Aye" or a Yorkshire one? (never mind, am kidding)<br /><br />The idea of "authoritarian conservatives" I can understand, but even Burke could appreciate that people were individuals and had individual needs or desires. The expression "libertarian Marxist" is an oxymoron.ftumchnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585028625507474093.post-50367632542836916332010-11-12T22:55:00.635+00:002010-11-12T22:55:00.635+00:00Now now Mr Snowdon, you know full well that even i...Now now Mr Snowdon, you know full well that even if you disappeared for a year, scores of readers would check this blog every day, knowing that as long as the blog was here, you would be back eventually.<br /><br />Now onto your second paragraph. I genuinly cannot remember, and am too lazy to search, who was it had that brainwave to call every Tech College, College of Further/Higher Education a University, and offer every course Degree Status, even if it was researching the nutritional value of garden peas on black labradors.timbonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06985165416240833253noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585028625507474093.post-43388298563028789192010-11-12T02:47:15.797+00:002010-11-12T02:47:15.797+00:00ftmuch said:
"The real left/right is: autho...<i>ftmuch said: <br /><br />"The real left/right is: authoritarianism/libertarianism."</i><br /><br />Aye. I'm inclined to view it the same way myself. I've met too many libertarian Marxists and too many authoritarian conservatives to see it any other way.Christopher Snowdonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15963753745009712865noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585028625507474093.post-88932879426740996572010-11-12T01:21:08.284+00:002010-11-12T01:21:08.284+00:00ps, I am w'king class through and through, and...ps, I am w'king class through and through, and was brought up so. Never went to Uni.<br /><br />@Dick<br /><br />"Happy with lies, then, obviously."<br /><br />Makes me think of "An Inconvenient Truth"ftumchnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585028625507474093.post-72992312856805855432010-11-12T01:17:07.056+00:002010-11-12T01:17:07.056+00:00As for the left/right dichotomy... this is confusi...As for the left/right dichotomy... this is confusing. Most people still look at this as a difference between "progressive" politics, and "conservative" politics, but we live in a world mired by leftist (Marxist) propaganda. By this, I mean that the Left have done their utmost to distance themselves from a certain German Leader of the 1930/40s, so that now anyone who expresses pride in the National identity (unless they are "recognised minorities") is a fascist of the worst order, ie Mrs Thatcher, and any other Tory. This is bullshit, and these leftists can't see their own fascism at work. Having seen the student riots... I am disgusted, they are like children in a supermarket throwing a tantrum because they have been refused sweets.<br /><br />The real left/right is: authoritarianism/libertarianism. Socialism (Marxism, whatever) cannot be anything other than authoritarian. For it to work, we all have to sing to the same song sheet: we are all equal, elitism is a Bad Thing. Never question, always say the Right Things (and always keep one eye over your shoulder).<br /><br />An example: I studied Lord of the Flies in the 80s. It is a vile book, and shows it's hatred of humankind on it's sleeve. Essentially, without authority, people are little more than animals, they will degenerate so. People are scum, and need controlling For Their Own Good.ftumchnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585028625507474093.post-74639779711572011532010-11-12T01:16:20.424+00:002010-11-12T01:16:20.424+00:00Welcome back Mr Snowdon... regularly drop by... ne...Welcome back Mr Snowdon... regularly drop by... never mind no posts lately, alway enjoy links to the side there... anyway:<br /><br />"When I was in Budapest last year... Nor can I explain why smoking bans are so much more popular on the left than the right"<br /><br />I had a similar (online) conversation a year or two back with a young woman from Romania who expressed the same bafflement at Western politics. She barely remembered the fall of Ceausescu, but her parents kept her informed of what life had been like, and she went on to study politics and economics. She was amazed by the political language coming from us, both here in EU and USA. I suggested that it's essentially a problem of idealism: we have idealists who dream of a fair and equitable utopia. (As one quote I saw in the Graundiad said, with reference to the Soviet Union, "Next time, we'll get it right") I added that we may need to undergo a generation or two of do-gooding tyrannical therapy before we rise and shake off the shackles... I then felt rather depressed. But I stick by this, as CS Lewis said:<br /><br />"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their consciences."<br /><br />It's all for our own good, and the good of the children.ftumchnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585028625507474093.post-79501606512084630002010-11-11T18:18:57.529+00:002010-11-11T18:18:57.529+00:00Welcome back to civilisation. My guess is that the...Welcome back to civilisation. My guess is that the EU have leaned on Serbia like Turkey and said if you do not have a ban then we can't admit you. That is why Spain will have a ban in 2011 as when they were holding the EU presidency they had to show they had done something.<br /><br />Anyway Bavaria's ban is coming under pressure for a number of reasons which I will post later. Not least bars' turnover 3 months into the ban is down 12%.DaveAhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07249090980650806030noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585028625507474093.post-84482950201528616832010-11-11T17:53:12.609+00:002010-11-11T17:53:12.609+00:00Thanks Anon, that's my next post sorted!Thanks Anon, that's my next post sorted!Christopher Snowdonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15963753745009712865noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585028625507474093.post-87361896780786873322010-11-11T17:48:56.922+00:002010-11-11T17:48:56.922+00:00Welcome back Chris. Good article by John Kay at jo...Welcome back Chris. Good article by John Kay at johnkay.com. Who has been talking to?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585028625507474093.post-26217677477463989642010-11-11T17:48:23.866+00:002010-11-11T17:48:23.866+00:00The Herald Tribune didn't like my comment of 2...The Herald Tribune didn't like my comment of 24 hours ago as it's not been published. Don't know why - all I said was that Helena Shovelton has misrepresented a study and proved so with a quote and a link to the wording.<br /><br />Happy with lies, then, obviously.Dick Puddlecotehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01481866882188932892noreply@blogger.com