IT TAKES ALL KINDS

We are encouraged to look on all people as our brothers or sisters (sorry, I forget the trans minority), quite a tall order for someone as encrusted in bias as I am. Much of my bias is unconscious and somehow innate, but I cannot deny its existence. I get on best with my own kind – anyone else is more of an effort. This may not be ideal but it is realistic.

The three great trendy sins of the present time are racism, sexism and ageism – totally overshadowing the revered usual suspects, nationalism, fascism and communism. Dragged before a ‘liberal’ kangaroo court, I would certainly be found guilty of all three sins, if the charges were put baldly, but I would maintain there are useful and mitigating

Charge No 1 – I am a racist, probably expressed by the accusing Twitterati as “a filthy bigoted old racist” for good measure. My response to this heinous charge is to resort to definitions. You cannot mean I dislike all the races in the world - nobody’s mind could encompass such a multitude. I will only answer the charge of being hostile to those UK citizens who are not racially identical to my particular UK group. True, as a White Scotsman, I find modest fault with the foibles of White English, Welsh and Northern Irish, but such petty criticisms fall far short of racism. All these people would be welcome to converse, break bread, take tea or walk down the prom with me, or even marry my daughter, if I had one.

Stop waffling, I hear them say. You know what we mean: why are you hostile to black, brown or Far Eastern Britons? My answer is an indignant rebuttal – I am nothing of the kind. True, I know very few black, brown or Far Eastern Britons but those I do know are perfectly civilised and acceptable. (What do you mean “acceptable”? Who are you to pass judgment, you racist oaf?) Frankly I prefer well educated Britons with basic good manners, kind hearts and a love of their country. (OMG! You are an elitist, nationalist racist – you must be “cancelled” forthwith!!!) I admit to some human bias, but not much more.

An unbiased Scottish look at the World

I quickly skip over the charges of being sexist and ageist. I sympathise with the basic tenets of Women’s Lib, but I wish its advocates were less strident. I never had a woman boss in my business career, and probably would not have enjoyed having one. The talent of many women is extraordinary (viz. Margaret Thatcher) and of course our gracious and noble Queen is an iconic figure. I have had the good fortune to be married to a lovely, remarkable and dynamic Greek lady for 51 years which has proved to me the truth of the observation that our thought processes being only tangentially related, though their interaction is always warmly cherished! The sexes are a breed apart. OK, yes, I am a sexist, but a loving one.

Vive la Difference!

As for ageism, it seems to me self-evident that old people are on the whole wiser than the young. Experience matters and it is usually a dependable guide. Our great leaders were relatively old; Churchill was first Prime Minister at 66, Adenauer was Chancellor at 73 and de Gaulle President at 69, Reagan at 70. Mind you, the exception that proves the rule is probably infantile Donald Trump, currently an erratic 74. In my book anyone over 60 is the cat’s whiskers (ageist idiot!) So, I plead guilty of ageism, but who cares in any event 

For this debate between Freedom and Ideology was fought and won by Freedom 3 centuries ago. The rationalism of Locke, Berkeley and Hume in the English-speaking world, supplemented by the philosophies of Voltaire, Kant, Hegel and J S Mill transformed our way of thinking, blossoming into the vibrant schools of Nietzsche, Bergson, Russell and a hundred others. The intolerance of BLM and its Marxist forebears stands out like a sore thumb and has nothing positive to teach us. We act in freedom, we write in freedom and we speak in freedom. We moderate our language so as not to offend the easily-offended, but the libertarian principle must hold ultimate sway. In Britain, freedom of speech within the law, was enacted and embodied in legal precedent; in the USA, it is enshrined in the First Amendment of the Constitution.

Yet the ideologues who outlaw selected actions and suppress forbidden thoughts are among us in the West in force. The Leftist message has been disseminated like a slow poison to the teaching, acting, media and academic professions and thence to younger generations throughout our nations. This is where BLM, the LibDems and Labour get their traction.

BLM's illegal black power salute Statue in Bristol

               

Yet the forces of Freedom and tolerance are fighting back. The illiberal culture of once-respected newspapers like The New York Times has been denounced by one of its leading journalists in her recent resignation letter, Bari Weiss. An obscure exchange of letters on trans-sexualism escalated when J K Rowling was denounced by a baying mob of the woke only to trigger a furious riposte defending free speech from 150 writers including no less than Salman Rushdie, Noam Chomsky, Gloria Steinem and Margaret Attwood, supported by the likes of Steven Pinker, Thomas Chatterton Williams and Malcolm Gladwell.  In this area, the battle-ground is often the liberal Liberals versus the illiberal Liberals.

Our freedom to say what we like inside our own society is a vital asset – we must make common cause with sensible parties to defend it.

SMD

20.07.20

Text Copyright © Sidney Donald 2020