We are developing the social individualist meta-context for the future. From the very serious to the extremely frivolous... lets see what is on the mind of the Samizdata people.
Samizdata, derived from Samizdat /n. - a system of clandestine publication of banned literature in the USSR [Russ.,= self-publishing house]
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Samizdata quote of the day “Perhaps Corbyn really is just unlucky. But it seems more probable that he’s not. And that, far from being the decent man of legend he’s actually thoroughly indecent. The only possible alternative is that he’s thunderously, crushingly, toe-curlingly thick. On balance, however, it seems more probable that he is, in fact, both. Enough of this. Enough, already.”
– Alex Massie (Spectator is behind a registration paywall.)
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He is still a communist in the face of irrefutable evidence that communism is a really bad idea. That is pretty solid evidence that he is a bit stupid.
I would unhesitatingly bet everything of which I am possessed on the correctness of this.
– In today’s credentialist world, Jeremy 2E’s Corbyn, of posh-enough background and grammar school education, would appear to be certified stupid according to the reasoning of his own side.
– While it may be useful to have pictorial proof of it, it was obvious long ago that Corbyn is just an unusually unpleasant example of the rule that those who yell ‘Nazi’ at whoever argues with them are usually channeling some of the national as well as the socialist aspects of Adolf’s ideology.
BTW I don’t like him much either. 🙂
In the prior thread, Tim Worstall mocked the pointlessness of calls for Corbyn to apologise or resign, and I see Tim’s point. However this furore has some use. Labour, the Grauniad, the beeb and left-wingers in Britain’s Jewish community all still include some people who will break if you can make the brutality of the contrast between a self-image of “Our enemies are like nazis” and an actuality of “Our leaders are like nazis” just too hard to ignore. They may, as Tim suspects, leave many a Labour apparatchik and many a hard-core Labour voter behind them but the key thing is, not enough of them for Corbyn’s purposes.
I would go with both. The man’s got to his sixties and still believes that Marxism is a good idea.
He may well be stupid or just not very bright, but that does not seem to be the reason why he likes Marxism – the reason for that seems to be that he likes any ideology that makes it OK to order other people about, and to take their property and even their life using as much violence as may be necessary. That has nothing to do with intelligence, it has everything to do with a particularly nasty kind of personality.
Of course none of that is meant to describe everyone who likes Marxism, as with some (especially the young) it is in fact the result of stupidity and/or ignorance – but that’s not a description that fits Mr. Corbyn.
I agree with Alisa, he is a complete Terror in the making, hating every one but himself!
As I and others have stated in previous threads.. if Corbyn gets the push, we have McDonnell waiting in the wings.
A truly dangerous and evil bastard, if you pardon my french.
YouGov:
“When it comes to who people think would make the best Prime Minister, Jeremy Corbyn’s rating has fallen to its lowest level since May 2017 with only 22% backing the Labour leader. By contrast, 36% of people prefer Theresa May. A further 39% answered “not sure” and 3% refused to choose.”
While it’s weird to see that over 1 in 5 people still think Corbyn is the best leader, I’m comforted that a plurality (42%) couldn’t or wouldn’t choose between the commie dimwit and the odious authoritarian who for some reason is still the Tory leader.
God help the country if Labour dumps Corbyn for a less obvious anti-semitic Chavez wannabe. They would crush May.
Alex Massie is such a colossal cunt that he actually makes me sympathise with comrade Corbyn.
Only a little, mind, but even so…
He is not ignorant, he is a social supremacist.
“God help the country if Labour dumps Corbyn for a less obvious anti-semitic Chavez wannabe. They would crush May.”
The big danger is the “moderates”, the Blairites, growing spines and managing to wrest control of their party back (which would, in fairness, eliminate the immediate danger of Britain becoming the next Venezuela, but would bring with it dangers of its own – not least to Brexit – and would undoubtedly result in a surge in support). Because it seems to me that he’s probably the most electable, voter-friendly, face Momentum has. If they had anyone less obvious, he’d have been elected leader, not Corbyn, in the first place.
I spent a couple decades living on the fringes of his constituency & stamping ground. Inevitably one hears things. Impression I got was this. Very nice bloke if you don’t actually know him. Very nasty piece of work if you do.
bloke in spain: THat reminds me of something said about US President Benjamin Harrison (1889-1892):
“Impression I got was this. Very nice bloke if you don’t actually know him. Very nasty piece of work if you do.”
A politician, in other words.
I dunno, Sam. Is Pres. Trump a politician? I suppose I’d say, Yes and No. In any case, lots of Internetters say that while the public persona might be insufferable, in private he’s really a very nice and decent guy. (Maybe except while negotiating? Heh….)
Mr Corbyn didn’t elect himself leader.
Labour members did.
And just how bright were these overwhelmingly pro-EU people to choose a man with a decades long history of EUscepticism at precisely the time when a referendum on EU membership was becoming a probability rather than a remote possibility?
“Is Pres. Trump a politician? I suppose I’d say, Yes and No. In any case, lots of Internetters say that while the public persona might be insufferable, in private he’s really a very nice and decent guy.”
I don’t think so, not by disposition, and certainly not as a career (and maybe I should have added that prefix). Career politicians have to be well-liked by the public, more or less by definition, and it helps if they’re ruthless to their acquaintances.
Andrew Sullivan wrote a long and very good analysis of Corbyn.
A new generation of young fools did not have personal experience with socialism, and are enthusiastic about it. The old commie Corbyn rides this wave.
Pete, I’m not sure his keenest supporters were all that unreservedly and clear-headedly pro-EU. Pro absolutely unfettered immigration, very much yes; pro EUrocrats telling Greek socialists what to do, not so much. The last part of my old post notes the “wide range of opinion”.
That said, there were probably some who thought that, since only far-right racists could possibly object to the EU, of course Labour people, even if very far left, would toe the smart set’s line. (These people probably also thought Corbyn would keep his anti-‘zionism’ inside the lines.) Yes, any such were stupid.
Jacob,
I’m about 3/4 of the way through the Sullivan piece (it’s rather long). I highly recommend it but have stuff that needs doing.
I have subsequently finished my work and read the rest. Corbyn is clearly evil. I sincerely hope mossad get him and hope what they do to him is not over quickly and he doesn’t enjoy it. And Len McClusky ought to be fed to huskies. Cock first.
I would suggest that it could be grossly unfair to single out and focus solely on Corbyn by suggesting that he may variously be the decent man of legend, or actually thoroughly indecent, or that he’s thunderously, crushingly, toe-curlingly thick.
Whatever they may be, politicians are, first and foremost, undeniably just that – i.e., politicians. They can thus be relied upon to dissemble, or do/say whatever it takes to get/stay in whatever powerful positions they may have or aspire to. With seemingly few exceptions, they are apparently, as a class, expected to and prepared to subsume whatever passes for their principles/morals/standards to their need for survival and upwards mobility. The voters vote for these people and deserve what they get.
Corbyn as a prime example of a bad potential PM would arguably have some pretty hot contenders in history from actual PMs, some examples of which sparkle in my reading of scattered bits of modern history:
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Harold Wilson (Labour) – who, after reputedly taking a breather from banging Lady Forkbender on holiday in the Seychelles or somewhere, announced the devaluation of the British pound with the confusingly implausible statement that “This does not mean that the pound in your pocket has lost its value” (OWTTE), thus seemingly introducing a fascinating new and paradoxical concept into the official lexicon of socialist economic theory.
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James Callaghan (Labour) – who, on arriving back in the UK from an overseas trip and being asked on the tarmac by a TV reporter what he thought of the current financial crisis that had broken whilst he was overseas, apparently displayed a serious deficiency in his spectacles’ lens prescription by replying “Crisis? I see no crisis.”.
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Ted Heath (Conservative) – scoring a second class degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Balliol College, Oxford, Heath subsequently scored an economic first with the far-sighted introduction of his 3-day working week, and also followed up his mentor’s (Harold Macmillan‘s) earlier attempt to get Britain into the EU Common Market, duping the British voters into acceptance of the EU by traitorously omitting mention that it would almost certainly and inevitably be heading them towards Federalism and loss of British independence, democracy and sovereignty.
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Then, of course, one should not omit mention of what is perhaps the most famous recent example, Top-of-Class Tony Blair, the best of which I could say about him being to quote the caption to a photograph of Tony Blair and Jimmy Saville, seen standing together in the middle of a ploughed field, grinning at the camera:
“Andrew Sullivan wrote a long and very good analysis of Corbyn.”
I stopped reading there.
Likewise Sam 😆
But I almost stopped after “Andrew Sullivan” as he has had his head up his own arse for quite some time now.
Sullivan used to be a very sharp guy and a good writer. I always figured the syphilis finally kicked in.