Some of you may have noticed that I have not posted much “politics” stuff recently. There is a good reason for this. I have been putting myself through a bit of a personal revolution. I have been reading weighty tomes which have challenged the way I think about things. To a degree I am like Lord Derby in that I bear the imprint of the last philosopher to sit on me. After I read Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged I spent a few days being argumentatively libertarian. Atlas Shrugged calls for a society with no state whatsoever, a society held together only by contracts between self-interested parties. Rand even seems to say that charitable giving is a no-no in her Utopia.
What we should never do, as individuals with our own experiences, intelligence and opinions, is to copy and paste one person’s entire worldview and make it our own. One thing I am becoming increasingly convinced by is the idea that the world is far too complicated to be able to write down a simple set of rules by which everyone would be able to live in personal heaven. This is what self-proclaimed intellectuals assert. Whether they are Marxists or Libertarians, these intellectuals tell us that it should be possible to write down (preferably in a couple of sentences) a set of rules under which everyone can be happy, productive and fulfilled. But the mistake that these people make is to think that everyone wants to live in the same kind of world that they do. Idealists seem to lack empathy with their fellow beings.
In Not With A Bang But A Whimper (review coming up shortly – watch this space!), Theodore Dalrymple explores the idea that societies are better muddling on through rather than by being preached to by people who think they know better. He says that the ideas that are preached by the “elite” end up being corrupted as they filter down into wider society. He says that while someone of huge intelligence, learning and good upbringing might be able to handle Total Freedom™, other people who are less well endowed get themselves into an awful pickle. In other words, he is saying that revolution has its side effects.
So if there is not a system within which we can all live perfect lives, are we doomed to failure, frustration and disappointment? I don’t think so. I’ve been examining my own existence. I rail against a lot of the things which have been done by parliament over the years and it makes me angry. I think the pendulum has swung far too far on civil liberties; law and disorder; taxation and public spending; European integration; rights and equality, but when I stand back for a minute I still love my home town and my country. I don’t really want to emigrate as much as I keep going on about it. How can I square those two contradictory positions? Well despite all the horrible things which have happened in recent decades this is still a bloody good place to live.
Surely the ultimate aim should be to create a society where even people who disagree about fundamental parts of the “constitution” can still lead relatively free and contented lives? A country where one can have half his money taken away by the state but still have quite enough to live comfortably on; a society where being eccentric is perfectly acceptable; a political system which encourages people from all parts of the spectrum to stand up and be counted. And you know what? I think we do pretty well in this country. As a great man once said, we are getting things “broadly right”.
For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.
That’s the crux of it old chap. You can have all the rules in the world, or none at all. Doesn’t matter we’ll all do as we please or as we no we shouldn’t at somepoint. It’s what we do.
In 2001 the thing that made me seriously enquire about emigration was a doubling of council tax. This plus a pay freeze and no bonuses, doubling of fuel bills which had to be paid from the already taxed salary, took all the savings money, and much of the spending money from the household.
Suddenly the opportunity and the weather in California or New South Wales or Provence looked very appealing.
But we moved far in the UK instead.
Many friends did go aboard. Around 25% have come back since. Divorce, family issues at home, business opportunities, illness. The remainder seem happy enough.
People keep telling me of the wonders of Malta. Really, I fancy Purumph, Nevada.
“Well despite all the horrible things which have happened in recent decades this is still a bloody good place to live.”
Correct. Having recently been to hot and arid Cyprus – apparently an idyll among expats – I can vouch that nothing can replace greenery, fresh rain and a real British pub.
“…a society where being eccentric is perfectly acceptable…”
We used to prize our eccentics. Now, we fear them. What went wrong, and why?
I so envy you, Blue. I lost most of my (considerable) ability to read and hold ideas in my head when I had my accident. I know most don’t understand that (Ellee might as she supports ‘Headway’) but after the accident I would get half way through a sentence and forget what I was saying. People joke about that but it was real and constant for me and utterly horrible. I’m a double graduate and was always quick but I had to re-learn vocabulary. So people would talk to me, normal not difficult conversation and I would have to ask them to remind me what they were talking about. It shattered my confidence, I felt so stupid as people would treat me as such. I still can’t read ‘weighty tomes’ like I used to and would love to read the books of ideas you have. But now I must rely on those whose opinions I value to translate. So thanks for this post and I look forward to the other book review
We used to prize our eccentics. Now, we fear them. What went wrong, and why?
It seems to me that there is a government approved idea of how we should live in quite precise detail. Right down to the contents of our fridge. I find that fearful indeed.
What went wrong? We lost our freedom, our autonomy. Big Brother took over.
It must be hard, P, to know that you have lost something so important to your lifestyle. If you had been born stupid like so many of our compatriots you would never have known what it was like to have a good memory and intelligence and so you would not be worrying about it… I hope that isn’t rude!
No it’s not rude, Blue, I’ve thought the same thing myself. The biggest difficulty was not being ‘me’ any more, whatever that was. The upsetting thing was that there was no compensation for that, as there ARE stupid people in the world. If I were a pianist and they’d chopped my hand off I’d have had compensation for that.