tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31655026.post2690342913843827177..comments2024-03-29T04:30:50.738+00:00Comments on nourishing obscurity: [summary] ten points to put you off your breakfastJames Highamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14525082702330365464noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31655026.post-17107568342620659012007-04-05T20:45:00.000+01:002007-04-05T20:45:00.000+01:00James, As usual a very provocative post. Thank you...James, As usual a very provocative post. Thank you. <BR/><BR/>Not so bad yourself, old chap. Check a new post soon, mentioning this.James Highamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14525082702330365464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31655026.post-90347589356278303562007-04-05T07:46:00.000+01:002007-04-05T07:46:00.000+01:00James,As usual a very provocative post. Thank you....James,<BR/><BR/>As usual a very provocative post. Thank you. <BR/><BR/>There is obviously no single factor responsible for the declines you chart; but a very significant proportion of the blame can be laid at the doors of elites who have sought to destroy historic and social absolutes and replace them with inherently volatile markets. <BR/><BR/>Instead of an Englishman's home being his castle, it's now his retirement fund. Social mobility is now measured not by the extent of one's education or achievement but how big one's house is - nothing else. Tom Friedman famously, and wrongly, wrote that 'The World is Flat'; well the world is most certainly not flat, but the elites' active pursuit of markets for both morals and values has rendered our social bonds as fungible as the market for a pint of milk. <BR/><BR/>Economics, or more particularly an over-emphasis on the gross selfishness peddled by the faintly diabolical Friedrich von Hayek and rehashed by James Buchanan, Gordon Tullock and others into 'public choice', bears a very significant proportion of the blame. The UK was lost the day Thatcher took out a volume of Hayek, slapped it down on the table and thundered 'This is what we believe'. That was the United Kingdom's real 'Year Zero'; the point where the elites made it clear that all that was old and good about us would be smashed and that we would be remade according to the vision of a foreigner. <BR/><BR/>It was if Magna Carta, the Bill of Rights and the previous 1,000 years of history had ceased to exist. <BR/><BR/>Ir's perhaps no coincidence that the decline of religion and its associated values has seen the rise of economics as a secular religion whose priests believe they can answer all human problems with some back of the fag packet calculus, McEquations, and very liberal usage of the word 'If'. They are slavishly doctrinaire in their adherence to the true faith, and regard all who oppose their beliefs and teachings as heretics.Martinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11219870920638914624noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31655026.post-3374658506852529112007-04-03T19:52:00.000+01:002007-04-03T19:52:00.000+01:00Agree, CbyI. By the way, hope to get you into thi...Agree, CbyI. By the way, hope to get you into things over here as soon as poss.James Highamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14525082702330365464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31655026.post-26974490712882595822007-04-03T18:50:00.000+01:002007-04-03T18:50:00.000+01:00The points you make are of course true and are sym...The points you make are of course true and are symptoms of a serious systematic rot and, IMHO reasonably imminent crisis across the Western democratic world.<BR/>They can see it coming, that's why they are arming themselves against the situation to come.<BR/>I think it's going to get nasty.<BR/>That's just my opinion.Crushedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02479751225625007588noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31655026.post-47014111902437618032007-04-03T18:10:00.000+01:002007-04-03T18:10:00.000+01:00Guthrum [thanks], Liz, Tom, Wolfie, Bag and Welshc...Guthrum [thanks], Liz, Tom, Wolfie, Bag and Welshcakes - many, many thanks. I had a wonderful day for people and to come home and read these just restores my faith in humankind.<BR/><BR/>As long as this side is OK, the technica can take care of itself.James Highamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14525082702330365464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31655026.post-84599885993228134372007-04-03T17:16:00.000+01:002007-04-03T17:16:00.000+01:00Blimey, James, shall I just stick my head in the o...Blimey, James, shall I just stick my head in the oven now? I'm sorry your day started so badly and you have my true empathy re the water supply! Hope the head wound isn't still hurting. There are days when everything is against us, yes.<BR/>It's a brilliant post and I agree with much of it. Yes, a tiny rise in interest rates can tip someone over the edge now and it never used to be like this. I also agree with you on the interconnectedness of it all, as you know. I don't agree that no one's interested in other points of view, though and what I think is great about the blogosphere is that most of us can find something to agree with in blogs which are far removed from our own political standpoint [eg I read a lot of Tory ones because they are well written but I am far from being a Tory]. Hope you have a better evening.Welshcakes Limoncellohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17209759237794290941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31655026.post-61205994355205040932007-04-03T13:52:00.000+01:002007-04-03T13:52:00.000+01:00There is a theory that this is a personal Hell and...There is a theory that this is a personal Hell and everything is happening to you as a punishment.<BR/><BR/>It's why queues you go in stop while those next to you go faster. If you swap the same thing happens there. It's why something you start an interest in becomes banned or restricted. Age limits cause your car insurance to go up as you hit that age where they should come down and theother insurance, life etc, go up all the time. Time limits stop you going to places that you enjoy. Now you can afford to travel a bit it's not seen as a good thing and will cost you more and make you a heathen. Things you believe in suddenly become No No's and nobody can see your point of view. Talking about your beliefs can take you to prison with no recourse. And it's why you stub your toes while walking through your house for the millionth time looking for the last bulb that blew in the middle of the evening just after the shops closed.<BR/><BR/>It's just a theory but sometimes it sounds so true.Baghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09972525000973914288noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31655026.post-76051686606894386402007-04-03T13:39:00.000+01:002007-04-03T13:39:00.000+01:001915A date well chosen, when all we see before us ...1915<BR/><BR/>A date well chosen, when all we see before us now was set in motion.Wolfiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05820269114208456064noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31655026.post-43942084747985504342007-04-03T12:54:00.000+01:002007-04-03T12:54:00.000+01:00Chill, James. Life is better than the alternative....Chill, James. Life is better than the alternative. We have all had days like that. And as for the ten points, I would never willingly have listed them all like that, if for no other reason that I might set my friends looking for the next ten. Any one of them would be sufficient to cope with at any one time!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31655026.post-3601698591738886022007-04-03T11:19:00.000+01:002007-04-03T11:19:00.000+01:00There was a time not so long ago when I would have...There was a time not so long ago when I would have believed the government if they said that the sailors had not gone into Iranian territory (unintentionally or otherwise); now I assume it is a lie. Part of a bigger game in which truth plays no part.Liz Hindshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04646532093872561703noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31655026.post-27289931973637326622007-04-03T10:13:00.000+01:002007-04-03T10:13:00.000+01:00James, I have days like yours, when even the milk ...James, I have days like yours, when even the milk bottle conspires against me. I accept that much of what you say is undoubtedly correct, but the human condition is in constant flux. The degenerate Roman Empire gave way to the so called 'Dark Ages' (only because the classcists of the 18th Century believed they were the dark ages) The Dark Ages were a period in which all previous norms were stood on their head, new religions, laws being encoded, new styles of art. I value the blogosphere because it has given me the encouragement that this is a medium were ideas and the green shoots of new movements and thought are to be seen and read. I prefer to see the medium as a series of challenging pamphlets than online newspapers where you seek to reinforce your own views. I have been challenged once or twice on my views- and it is good. Take heart from the fact that the Government wants to regulate the blogosphere- its because they do not like what they are reading.Guthrumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17499979740864497256noreply@blogger.com