We who live in developed world are watching in disbelief as the society that took centuries to construct crumbles before our eyes.
That is some claim and you’d be right to be sceptical. After all, we all live in democratic countries with a rule of law, we have enough to eat, water to drink, surplus income, cars, transport, power and all the other jolly things we deem essential.
In the forthcoming series of blogs I’m going to explore the above and, hopefully, give the reader some food for thought.
But first it’s only reasonable for my readers some idea of my potential biases. My parents were semi-skilled working class people; paid their dues, worked hard, were always poor but respectable, always treated me well and taught me right from wrong, showed me what obligations and duty were along with all the other things good parents do. They also encouraged me to do better in life than they had in terms of qualifications, career and income.
My education was in state infant and primary schools. When I reached the age of eleven I was fortunate enough to pass the 11+ Exam and so went to state grammar school. There were many things I wasn’t keen on at grammar school but I do remember that every day my fellow pupils and I were told ‘You’re intelligent and can do any thing you want to’. An aspirational message maybe but my peers and I have all done reasonably well in life.
Moving on into early manhood I was a product of my upbringing i.e. aspirational working class. I was, Lord help me, a socialist full of vim and vigour about equality, distribution of capital and all the rest of the creed.
But even then I wasn’t really a socialist. I remembered as a small boy watch Harold Wilson trying to explain how devaluation of the pound had not affected the value of the pound. I thought that was absolute nonsense; the definition of devaluation is clear enough.
I watched the unravelling of the Labour utopia that culminated in strikes and the Winter of Discontent. Thatcherism was a necessary counterbalance to that nonsense but I always felt it wasn’t a satisfactory long-term solution.
I tried the middle way between socialism and Thatcherism aka the SDP and it seemed reasonable. I was so keen that I was sounded out to stand as a MP acting as cannon fodder against a Labour MP who held the constituency with an unassailable majority. If I had put up a good showing I would have been parachuted into a better seat at the next election.
Tempting and flattering as it was my heart wasn’t in the fight as I was beginning to realise that both socialism and capitalism were the battles of the previous century. Those arguments were utterly irrelevant to Britain in the 20th century and they are even less relevant in the 21st.
I decided that I was a Minarchist and the fight was between individual liberty and a global, corporate hegemony.
So these are my biases. I believe in free trade and the primacy of the free market, I believe in the absolute freedom of speech regardless of any ‘offence’ caused, I could not care less about anyone’s race, creed, colour, sexual orientation or other beliefs provided their actions pose no danger to others or myself and, crucially, I believe that any government has three primary tasks to perform. Anything else a government does should be by consent of the people.
These are the three tasks are the absolute minimum a government must do or else the state fails.
1. Defence of the realm (invasion-proof, capable of resisting aggressors, defeating terrorists, pursuing foreign policy when force is necessary and diplomacy has failed)
2. Keeping the economy sound (economic growth and sound currency)
3. Safeguarding the liberties of the British people (to be free and go about their lawful business without fear of hinderance or persecution by the state).
So, dear reader if you are British can you give me any examples where any British government has achieved these requirements? If you’re not British now does your country’s leaders perform?
I cannot think of a single instance when any western government has achieved them.
No British government has. Our governments have run down the armed forces, allowed porous borders, have given into terrorists, steadfastly avoided diplomatic or military confrontation with those who wish us ill, have allowed our economy to become indebted to a frightening degree and presided over a declining value of the currency, have allowed the rights of offenders to prevail over the rights of victims, installed a massive surveillance network of the British people and passed laws and regulations to limit their legal behaviours while failing to detect and punish criminals.
All of this is in the public domain and will be explored in future posts.