Thursday, March 30, 2006

Why I am no longer a lefty

The Nameless Tory points out that people do move rightwards as they get older. Or maybe that it is just common sense. Anyway:

I reject cultural relativism; Britain IS a better place to live then Saudi, and the reaons for that are cultural.

I do not believe Israel is the source of all evil in the Middle East. I believe prison can work.

I believe immigrants should integrate.

I believe it is time to ram, forcibly, the concept of free will down the throats of the judiciary; no-one makes you nick cars, no matter how poor you are.

Animal testing is necessary.

Foxhunting is not morally equivalent to genocide.

We can, and should, intervene in countries where people are being slaughtered en masse by their own governments - all the world leaders who were present at the UN Rwanda debates c.1994 have blood on their hands.

And I do not believe that the majority of the population of this country are suppressed raving racists who would rise up and start burning mosques, but for the armies of peole with the dreaded words 'diversity' and 'outreach' in their job titles.

However, I still maintain that the State should step in where people are unable to help themselves, and that health and education should not be run for profit. I believe in the right to strike, abused as it is these days (it enrages me when tube drivers strike for yet more money; miners used to go on strike for a better air supply underground.) And that the rich should be heavily taxed.

[steps down from soapbox]

I suppose you could call me Borisist, in some regards. Or maybe a Borist? Borisian? Borisite?

The problem with this blog is that I can never decide if I want to tell stories a la Greenfairy, do comedy like Scaryduck, or plunge straight into full-on politics like the Devil's Kitchen.

3 Comments:

Blogger GenghisBlog said...

Placed something similar on my own site a while back but after scrutinising your post, I see that we differ in certain key areas!

I don't believe that we should intervene in other countries where thing are happening of which we disapprove; who made us the world's policeman? We are at present sending British soldiers to help prop up a regime in Afghanistan, a friendly little nation where they applaud the execution of some poor bastard because he wants to change his religion!

I don't subscribe to the philosophy of taxing people according to their wealth, let everyone be taxed equally, with no breaks for anyone, and that may well produce a fairer shake.

Perhaps we share one thing in particular, a simple ability to listen to alternate viewpoints. You will probably never alter my beliefs, and I doubt if I could ever argue sufficiently to change your stance on anything at all, but at least we accept that there are more than one opinion on any subject!

10:14 AM  
Blogger Serf said...

I have to agree with everything you say.

Its all common sense really. Its about Respect innit.

3:40 AM  
Blogger Oscar Wildebeest said...

I've got more left-wing as I've aged. I think it must be all those years struggling for an identity. Or maybe it's just the years of endless corruption brought about by the Tories and their natural successor, New Labour.

I agree with your last paragraph (I have the same problem) but there is no temptation to turn into a mouth-frothing sort like the DK.

6:15 AM  

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