[bryan appleyard] why the right blogs are more successful

Bryan has this to say about the success of the “rightish” British blogs:

[The] left's rhetoric has been inhibited by a variety of self-imposed restraints - broadly those known as 'politically correctness', but also by certain, as it were, theological dogmas such as the need to blame America for everything and to insist that America can only do evil. PC and dogmatism have progressively tightened the gag on the rhetoric of the left so that, in effect, they can say less and less about more and more.

The right, by contrast, has not really acquired any such fixed dogmas. It is more pluralist. The reason for this is the left's dogmatism and package of prejudices combined with an “if you're not for us, you're against us” mindset. This restricts entry to the left club and excludes anybody who might dissent too readily from the prevailing orthodoxy.

My take: The left is incessantly on about rights and legislating for inclusion, citing a mythical 'pie in the sky' of which they want their slice. The right realizes there are no rights, save what we create for ourselves by dint of hard work. We make our own contacts, we conduct our own business, we 'makes' our money, we protect those dear to us and ourselves. Providing everyone else also has a 'trade' mentality, it works well. Along the way, our network of contacts gives us all the protection we're ever likely to get.