George Pitcher of The Daily Telegraph writes in his latest article: "A reception in a garden of Westminster Abbey the other day, under the shadow of the Victoria Tower of The House of Lords, was the unlikely setting for me to be called an unreconstructed old Leftie. I had just expressed some mild-mannered view that I hoped an incoming Government would commit itself properly to the education of our sink-estate underclass. "The trouble with you Lefties," said a young man in the group, amiably enough, "is that you just spout what is politically correct"."
"I don't know that I'm a Leftie. I don't like a big, intrusive State, but I want to be properly taxed for good public services, including education. I believe in personal freedom, but that includes the freedom to think liberal thoughts. I'm against capital punishment, but also vehemently opposed to assisted suicide and euthanasia. I hate religious extremism, but I am, unsurprisingly, pro‑religion."
"I dare say Dave Cameron and his "progressive Conservatives" covet my vote at the forthcoming General Election. Perhaps I'm Mediapolitan Man, or Sussex Git, or Baby Boom Bastard, or some other soubriquet that his focus groups have come up with. But evidently to a breed of invariably young Right-winger, I'm a Leftie if I express a view that isn't entirely on-message with the neo-con creed. And this presents the Cameroons with something of a challenge, I suspect." Continue reading this "politically correct" and quite "Leftie" article here.
There was one comment on that article that I started reading, but quit before it got me too distracted..
ReplyDelete"I have had this recurrent nightmare of a governing Tory party being taken over by Melanie Phillips clones.... According to them, the global warming agenda is part of a left liberal conspiracy... These people are socially authoritarian... They oppose Darwinism (according to them another left liberal conspiracy) and espouse the questionable doctrine of intelligent design (which is creationism by another name).
They plainly do not like Britain as it is, but constantly hanker back to the Britain of yesteryears which will no longer be a reality."
Notice the 'will no longer be' at the end, perhaps even this fellow admits it is not hopeless yet and our desires may yet come to pass!
Keep on dreaming - dreamers are everywhere. They're even on The Daily Telegraph website. You must read all the comments, they're hilarious.
ReplyDeletePitcher isn't conservative, but then neither seemingly was the young man. Pitcher is a member of the metropolitan sensualist-agnostic class; the young man a member of the young man class, whose traditional exuberance we can perhaps excuse.
ReplyDeleteGod forbid we have an educated population, I mean, what has education ever done for us?
ReplyDeleteGood god, if this is the best the 'conservative' youth have to offer, we are in dire trouble.
Perhaps one should chart per capita spending on government education vs. leading cultural indicators.
ReplyDeleteExcellent idea Jeff.
ReplyDeleteI would back that one.
I was young once. I was also a sensualist and an agnostic. One day I saw this very bright Light. It was as a dream. I haven't been the same since.
> Pitcher isn't conservative, but then neither seemingly was the young man
ReplyDeleteThere is trouble in deciding who is conservative or not conservative. What are your criteria?