3/14/2006

Iain Dale

I've added Iain Dale to my sidebar.

I admit that I did so more because of his involvement in one of my favorite London bookshops Politico's, which has gone digital.

I'm less Tory than Guido Fawkes or Iain, so I guess I'll have to start linking to other political sites in the U.K..
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Posted by Antoine Clarke at 3/14/2006 02:22:00 am

3 comments:

Guido Fawkes said...

Guido is not a Tory.

10:10 am
Antoine Clarke said...

Well, I did say that I was "less Tory" so that makes me an "anti-Tory"!

Guido Fawkes seems more enthusiastic than I am about David Cameron, the UK's Conservative Party leader.

Having read Guido's comments in the run up to Mr Cameron's election as leader, and with the positive endorsement from two other people whose opinion I trust, I gave Mr Cameron the benefit of doubt long enough to hear his first speech.

What burning issue did Mr Cameron pick? The environment. Did Mr Cameron take an intelligent position? He pandered to the scare-mongering anti-capitalist mob. Did he appear sincere? No, I think he took money from Zak Goldsmith and said what the paymaster wanted to hear.

My conclusion is that Mr Cameron is a joke at best, with zero ideas and principles. At worst I think he will sell policy for cash. I find his demeanour to be that of an upper-class twit.

Given the choice between Mr Cameron and almost any Labour Party choice, I would abstain. It would take a Pol Pot, a Hugo Chavez, or a Ken Livingstone to persuade me to back Mr Cameron. Hillary Clinton would be a better UK Conservative Party leader than Cameron. She's read Ayn Rand and campaigned for Barry Goldwater!

10:33 am
Anonymous said...

Sadly Mrs Clinton choose to follow her mother (a Democrat) rather than her father (the Goldwater supporter).

Well Mrs Clinton followed her father whilst at home and her mother after a year or so at college (when she worked out that a Goldwater supporter would have a much harder life than a "liberal").

It is doubtful whether Mrs Clinton had a strong belief in liberty whilst she was at home, and developed a strong belief in statism at college - it was just a matter of following the strongest power in her environment.

This is what is normally meant by "self interest" - and exposes a basic problem in the ethics of Ayn Rand.

In this world to do the right thing often means to suffer (and, indeed, can ruin someone's life), whereas to act in a bad way (to follow the ways of thought and action that the people of power support) is much more likely to lead to success.

The falseness of the idea that being moral will lead to being happy was exposed by (among others) Harold Prichard - see his "Is Moral Philosphy Based Upon A Mistake?" (Mind, 1913).

As for Mr Cameron - I agree, a disgusting man. I certainly see no reason to vote for his party in preference to a Labour party led by Mr Blair or Mr Brown.

However, Mr Cameron is a worldy success - and (I suspect) a happy man.

12:05 pm

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