[Cameron] intends to do more to outline his own political philosophy, which is best described as a realistic radicalism of the centre.Huh?
Seriously, what does that even mean?
Actually, it does mean something: it means even dyed in the wool fan boys can't cobble together a defence of the Dave without descending into madness. Ditto, Anderson's claim that one of the least qualified PM's in history is 'reinforced by experience'. What experience? His sole experience outside politics is as a senior flack for a media firm. In other words, he took a break from smoozing politicians and journalists to spend some time smoozing journalists and politicians. He's a renaissance man!
True, Cameron does have no fear of power, in much the same way George Best had no fear of booze, but what's it all for? When even his fans admit that Cameronism means accepting public spending moving ever skywards, what's it all about? Bled dry by the NHS, or bled dry by the NHS plc, who really cares?
Ditto, what kind of conservatism is it which refers to the ' false antithesis between the individual and society'? If conservatism doesn't mean defending the individual against the collective, then what is it actually about?
For that matter, what form of conservatism is it where 'ethical questions' are simply a pretext for the extension of state power?
So maybe we should give him that: Anderson actually does a pretty good job of pointing out the basic absurdity of Cameronism: if fiscal conservatives, libertarian conservatives and social conservatives are all thrown under the bus, what exactly is left?
1 comment:
I'd say there is a false antithesis between the individual and society, because they can't be separated. Society is an emergent property of groups of individual people, and the real false premise is what Hayek called the animist view of society: society as a “thing”, with a will, mind and opinions of its own, distinct from the individuals whose interactions create it, a viewpoint which leads to the dangerous equation of society with the government and ultimately the destruction of any meaningful society.
Cameron's “Tories” have fallen for that fallacy hook, line, and sinker.
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