Off: Right To Decide et. al.

[M Holmes]

CWarburton at OAG.COM writes:

> y'know, I thought this might stir things up (knowing Mr. Holmes as I do

Argumentative? Moi?

> Wakey-wakey Mike, what on earth gives you the idea that Blunkett is a lefty
> - OK, so he used to be the head-lad in the Socialist Republic of South
> Yorkshire (that's Sheffield for you furriners!), but like so many of his
> fellows in the Labour party (Straw, Blair, Clarke...) he's swung so hard
> right it's a wonder he's not spinning with his guide dog orbiting on the end
> of its lead!

This smacks of the "well, they're not really christians" argument offered
by those faced with bad examples of the genre. Simply because someone
becomes very authoritarian doesn't mean they've joined the right unless
you want to redefine right to simply mean authoritarian. The left has
always had its own authoritarians too. In fact it's inherent in much of
left politics inasmuch as individuals are deemed to owe the state some
control over their lives. In the extreme this leads to left mutations
such as National Socialism and Stalinism where individuals live almost
purely to serve the state. IMHO it just so happens that we have a
government that's traveled further down that murky road than any
previous Labour government.

As for my views. I don't like authoritarians of any flavour.

> As for the standards in education issue - as somebody with two teenage kids,
> I am left speechless by the low academic standards of todays exams, and at
> the way that the drive to have "continuous improvement" means that we are
> reaching a point where soon it will be almost impossible to differentiate
> between students on the basis of their academic results.

I'm beginning to wonder if that's not the plan of some folks. How
egalitarian the world will be if we can pretend that everyone is equally
clever.

> > => Not what I said and I'm pro free speech for everyone from Stalinist
> > => Communist right through to the National Front.
>
> I'll (mostly) go along with that too; although some of these people may have
> distasteful views, if they air them in public, you can argue against them,
> and you know who the buggers are!

Arguing's a tough job, but someone as to do it ;-)

FoFP