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]
|
Rethinking core principles I have been keeping an eye on David Cameron’s videoblogging efforts since I was alerted to Webcameron by Thaddeus. It is providing an interesting depiction of the modern Conservative party. Take the entry where Cameron brags over the success of the recent Tory conference. He proudly declares
We had debates each day; should we ban advertising to children? Is it time to end cheap air travel? Are companies a force for good or not?
That Cameron thinks the first two questions are worth debating confirms he’s the statist grub most here labelled him long ago, but when the final ponderance was mooted, someone really should have jumped up and declared the affirmative answer beyond question, and if anyone wants to debate this further then here’s what they need to do to resign their membership of the party. Completely disregarding the outcome of this debate, I find it absolutely jaw-dropping that the Tories would hold a discussion over whether companies are a beneficial force in society. Unbelievable.
|
Who Are We? The Samizdata people are a bunch of sinister and heavily armed globalist illuminati who seek to infect the entire world with the values of personal liberty and several property. Amongst our many crimes is a sense of humour and the intermittent use of British spelling.
We are also a varied group made up of social individualists, classical liberals, whigs, libertarians, extropians, futurists, ‘Porcupines’, Karl Popper fetishists, recovering neo-conservatives, crazed Ayn Rand worshipers, over-caffeinated Virginia Postrel devotees, witty Frédéric Bastiat wannabes, cypherpunks, minarchists, kritarchists and wild-eyed anarcho-capitalists from Britain, North America, Australia and Europe.
|
I admit I haven’t followed British post-Thatcher domestic politics nearly as much as I should have, and I realize that my American-perspective “Tory=Republican, Labor=Democrat” mapping is oversimplified, but… what the hell is going on? When did the Tories go from being at least somewhat pro-capitalist to sounding like Ralph Nader?
David,
Since british politics became about personalities and not policies. Since pandering to the tabloid press took over from standing up for principles. Since ‘the public good’ became something decided by the politicians and not by the public.
Damn them all, they’ve destroyed my faith in democracy. I’ll probably never vote again.
Such a debate could be useful if it were only knife sharpening so they might better slice the Statist enemy to verbal hamburger.
T’is a shame that is not what they are about.
It is by no means certain that the limited liability company is an unmixed blessing. As an invention it was probably critical to the industrial revolution, but it was and still is a creation of government, protecting – to a degree – individuals in business from the consequences of their actions.
A quick search on google turned up critical articles at mises.org and in the Journal of Libertarian Studies.
But that is not what Cameron is talking about, Ian, nor it that the basis of the debate. He is talking about “should companies be regulated politically because they are not a force for good?”. THAT is actually the debate.
… and of course implicit is that is that politics and politicians are a force for good, you just have to vote for the correct party.
I cannot see ‘Dave’ ever asking the question “Can politics by its very nature ever be more than a necessary evil that needs to be minimised?” because that would require politicians to see themselves in ways they would rather not and would rather you did not.
Dave was just playing to the crowd. The amoral plutocrat has become a truly iconic villian figure in so many people’s minds over many years that Dave is just being populist. The irony that villianous corporation exploiting the third world or destroying the planet or falsifying test results to get an FDA license (an especial favourite) is largely a construct of film and TV industry is lost on many people…
I’ve tried explaining this to leftists and they just don’t get it. It’s like trying to convince the Pope that Jesus wasn’t resurrected.
Well, that’s it exactly Perry. They’re like gamblers waiting for their number to come up while all the time their stack of chips dwindles.
Not that it matters because, as the UKIP leader said yesterday, Britain now has three social democratic parties. I’d say four myself: The Brownites, The Blairites, the Torylites and the Mingers.
Not wishing to spoil a good thread about what Cameron said and what I beleive you have correctly inferred from what he said, but the actual debate he mentioned was about “global” companies and the vote I beleive (though I wasn’t paying that much attention) went in favour of global companies.
That is, of course, unless there were two debates on the topic of companies.
SJG
Mandrill,
Ah, your wisdom is beginning to show. Democracy is just legitimized mob rule when it doesn’t have a constitution to restrain it.
Far better idea is to throw your vote away on a doomed candidate than to not vote. You and a lot of other people might just have more in common than you think. There’s only two ways of changing governments. Bullets or ballots. THere is absolutely no reason to resort to the former when there is a near plurality that is not even voting.
I have nothing against Cameron using manipulative bullshit (or having a staged fight with the right) to get left wing votes and hide a real conservative agenda. In reality it would be the only way to get a tory government. I’m just not getting any hint of a real tory agenda.
Indeed. If I got a pound every time I heard someone claimi that David Cameron is a real Tory using this sort of blarney to win power, I’d be wealthy beyond the dreams of avarice by now.
I think Cameron is just a guy who wants to win power and keep the mixed economy, post-Blairite setup on the road, with a few nips and tucks here and there. For all I know he might be quite decent on some civil liberties issues etc, but the omens are that he is cut from statist cloth. I see no real originality or willingness to challenge preconceptions.
I have become a bit tired talking about this vacuous, if reasonably intelligent man. The Tories have made a cynical calculation that they would awfully like to go back into power, with their limos, their residences, their ministerial salaries and flunkies, and bugger the consequences.
The Tory Party ceased to be an institution for which I had any respect some time ago. I will be voting for UKIP at the next election.
Right, so David Cameron is posing as leftie merely as a ruse to win power, at which point, he will cast off the mask and reveal that his true agenda has been Thatcherite all along. Is that what some people think?
No, sorry, its fantastical guff. Even if was at the back of the Cameron mind, he would have no mandate for free market reforms if he got elected on the back of his promise of more and deeper social democracy.
Cameron is an Ad-Man run by Steve Hilton. They think they are slick and smart but anyone can see they are simply sleazy and oligeanous and so they are a busted flush.
I can see why Cameron was called Puff at Mallory Towers (aka Eton) and outside Whites and Boodles I bet he hasn’t found anyone to take him seriously
Even someone who has repeatedly committed themselves to liberty whilst in opposition tends to find it very difficult to roll back the state in office.
As for pretending to be statist in opposition and then being a good guy in office – sorry the universe does not like that.
Even if Mr Cameron wanted to he can not go on about expanding the state in opposition (he was at it again today – a new “Board” for the N.H.S. to “protect” it from elected governments and another board to “represent the interests of patients” plus, of course, a promise of yet more money) and then reverse his course in office. Not that the swine wants to do anything of the sort of course.
Mr Cameron (in the very unlikely event he ever became Prime Minister) would be another Blair.