Hitchens Drives Stake Through Thatcher's Rotten Corpse

[rhod]

Bit late for the thousands of families devastated by her disastrous policies, but better late than never. Maybe he's got some inside info on the impending collapse of the Conservative Party?

Nice to think of all those infuriated Mail readers this morning...

PETER HITCHENS: The great con that ruined Britain

 

[brogdale]

Bit late for the thousands of families devastated by her disastrous policies, but better late than never. Maybe he's got some inside info on the impending collapse of the Conservative Party?

Nice to think of all those infuriated Mail readers this morning...

PETER HITCHENS: The great con that ruined Britain

I think I may even have been taken in by the prophecies of a great share-owning democracy.

More like made a lucrative career of shilling for the fuckers.

 

[cantsin]

He's deffo on the turn a bit isn't he, that video of him going to a Corbo rally all gooey eyed etc ....

 

[bi0boy]

He's deffo on the turn a bit isn't he

Like orange juice left out for too long which now has a bit of a fizz to it.

 

[two sheds]

Awww 'Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article"

 

[DotCommunist]

He's deffo on the turn a bit isn't he, that video of him going to a Corbo rally all gooey eyed etc ....

can't tell if he's for real or just on the troll.

 

[JHE]

He's deffo on the turn a bit isn't he, that video of him going to a Corbo rally all gooey eyed etc ....

Not a left turn. He's a Tory who thinks the Tory Party should be Tory, not liberal.

 

[treelover]

He's deffo on the turn a bit isn't he, that video of him going to a Corbo rally all gooey eyed etc ....

Same with Peter Oborne

 

[killer b]

Neither of them are 'on the turn' ffs. Neoliberalism has enemies on all sides .

 

[butchersapron]

The piece is classic right-wing conservatism. Have people really forgot what that is?

 

[stethoscope]

I read it as a bit of a yearning/nostalgia for 'good old fashioned British traditional conservatism' with a rejection of the last 30 years of neoliberalism, but its certainly not any kind of move leftwards whatsoever.

 

[elbows]

If he's only rejecting the last 30 years then thats an improvement, normally when I see him on Question Time he seems to have a problem with at least the last 300 years!

 

[SaskiaJayne]

I think Tories are having to admit that they are finding it more & more difficult to defend the 'experiment' they started in '79 even though it has been clear for yrs that is is a failure. Probably the slow death of capitalism but it's going to take a few years yet until we get a proper left wing government. I think the worst aspect right now is just the sheer ineptness of those in parliament both in government & in the 'opposition'. Nobody knows what will happen in the next few years but it should be interesting, we may even get a sort of revolution.

 

[brogdale]

I think Tories are having to admit that they are finding it more & more difficult to defend the 'experiment' they started in '79 even though it has been clear for yrs that is is a failure. Probably the slow death of capitalism but it's going to take a few years yet until we get a proper left wing government. I think the worst aspect right now is just the sheer ineptness of those in parliament both in government & in the 'opposition'. Nobody knows what will happen in the next few years but it should be interesting, we may even get a sort of revolution.

I think it's more a case of some tory MPs becoming more self-interestedly concerned that the political economy of neoliberalism is becoming increasingly incompatible with any democratic accountability. From the perspective of global, financialised capital it would be wrong to regard the 'experiment' as a failure, far from it...they are rapidly achieving the goals that they desire.

 

[SaskiaJayne]

I think it's more a case of some tory MPs becoming more self-interestedly concerned that the political economy of neoliberalism is becoming increasingly incompatible with any democratic accountability. From the perspective of global, financialised capital it would be wrong to regard the 'experiment' as a failure, far from it...they are rapidly achieving the goals that they desire.

It's a failure in the UK & we still have a democratic system. Most people vote for the party they believe will make life better for themselves personally & over the years those who thank the Tories making it possible for them to own their own houses will gradually become less & those who cannot afford houses will increase. I think UK voters will increasingly take account of the social aspects of neoliberalism, the way in the UK for the w/c it replaces well paid industrial jobs with low paid service industry jobs.

The Tesco superstore in Colchester stands on the site of the former Colchester Lathe Company that made machine tools exported worldwide. The irony of course is that young people stack shelves now on the very spot where up to the 80s they could have been doing an engineering apprenticeship. On this forum we have been banging on about this for years but perhaps the general populace is becoming more & more aware of this now? When their house owning grandparents have died off & none of that money has trickled down to them(remember the 80s Tory mantra about creating a society of house owners with the wealth cascading down through the generations?)Those shelf stackers may vote for a left wing government that offers to build affordable rented homes for them.

In the end life is about having a warm comfortable home that you can afford to live in & that you know you are not going to get chucked out of. That's the basic need of anybody before they do anything else. If you have not got that its difficult to get on with the rest of your life & in the end people will vote for that as they did in 80s when the Tories sold them their council houses & told the banks to stop asking people how they were going to repay it before they lent them money to buy a house.

It's going to take a few years yet & it needs politicians with real ability but politicians want power & in a democracy they will do whatever it takes to get people to vote for them.

 

[elbows]

When their house owning grandparents have died off & none of that money has trickled down to them(remember the 80s Tory mantra about creating a society of house owners with the wealth cascading down through the generations?)Those shelf stackers may vote for a left wing government that offers to build affordable rented homes for them.

It was of interest to me that in the immediate aftermath of the financial crisis, 'trickle down' lies are the one thing the mainstream both here and in the USA seemed to be willing to sacrifice - they admitted that the idea was dead, but the emergence of the full political implications of this seems to be happening in slow motion.

 

[LeslieB]

Not a left turn. He's a Tory who thinks the Tory Party should be Tory, not liberal.

He's basically a Cornerstoner, isn't he?

Cornerstone Group - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

He does hold the odd interesting view, like supporting rail re-nationalisation, but he's basically another overpaid newspaper talking head.

 

[butchersapron]

That's peter hitchens who has poured scorn on the cornerstone group as being stuck in the past fantasists.

 

[Flanflinger]

It was of interest to me that in the immediate aftermath of the financial crisis, 'trickle down' lies are the one thing the mainstream both here and in the USA seemed to be willing to sacrifice - they admitted that the idea was dead, but the emergence of the full political implications of this seems to be happening in slow motion.

I was under the impression the gap between those who own and those who rent was widening in favour of those who own. Of the 24 houses in my road only 7 are still in the social sector.

 

[LeslieB]

That's peter hitchens who has poured scorn on the cornerstone group as being stuck in the past fantasists.

Pot. Kettle. Black.

 

[elbows]

I was under the impression the gap between those who own and those who rent was widening in favour of those who own. Of the 24 houses in my road only 7 are still in the social sector.

Well the trickle down I was on about wasnt all about housing, although I know thats how it came up in this thread. Anyway it was always laughable bollocks, a really cynical excuse for the conspicuous wealth of the yuppies etc. I'll admit I didn't study in great detail the uk/tory-specific 80's version, as opposed to the more overt USA version going on at the same time, but I expect most of the differences were minor style ones.

To be honest I don't think the mainstream media even tried to explain properly why the financial crisis was the time to acknowledge that trickle-down was bollocks - it had already been obvious for a long time that wealth spread and social mobility were reducing not increasing, and we hardly needed the financial crisis to prove that dodgy debt was being used to fill in the gap in an unsustainable manner.

 

[rhod]

"I was seduced"

Peter Hitchens’ Devastating Critique of Thatcherism

 

[T & P]

Even if he occasoinally expresses a decent opinion, he's a proper nutjob with some very dodgy views (autism & dyslexia are made up conditions, ardent death penalty cheerleader, women are best placed at home bringing up children, etc etc).

 

[LeslieB]

He doesn't believe in ADHD either.

 

[JHE]

Peter Hitchens’ Devastating Critique of Thatcherism

Hitchens: “I think we need to reconsider, and particularly people of the conservative frame of mind, such as I am, need to think very seriously about the enthusiasm conservatism has had for free markets and free trade has been misplaced, because in fact it has done more to destabilise society than anything else I can think of.”

A couple of prescient Non-Tories: "Constant revolutionising of production, uninterrupted disturbance of all social conditions, everlasting uncertainty and agitation... All fixed, fast-frozen relations, with their train of ancient and venerable prejudices and opinions, are swept away, all new-formed ones become antiquated before they can ossify. All that is solid melts into air, all that is holy is profaned..."

Of course real Tories, like Hitchens, are liable to see problems with rampant capitalism. If you want to preserve traditional forms of social order, capitalism is a problem. It's destructive of the things you want to conserve.

 

[LeslieB]

It will be interesting to see if traditional conservatives and newly re-leftwinged Labour can work together in the next 4 years.

We've already seen one small example of this in the recent vote not to extent Sunday Trading hours......

 

[treelover]

He's deffo on the turn a bit isn't he, that video of him going to a Corbo rally all gooey eyed etc ....

Same with Peter Oborne

Even if he occasoinally expresses a decent opinion, he's a proper nutjob with some very dodgy views (autism & dyslexia are made up conditions, ardent death penalty cheerleader, women are best placed at home bringing up children, etc etc).

He can join the club with Galloway, Rees, plenty of the direct action/occupy brigade with their obama myths, Putin support, etc.

 

[treelover]

Hitchens: “I think we need to reconsider, and particularly people of the conservative frame of mind, such as I am, need to think very seriously about the enthusiasm conservatism has had for free markets and free trade has been misplaced, because in fact it has done more to destabilise society than anything else I can think of.”

A couple of prescient Non-Tories: "Constant revolutionising of production, uninterrupted disturbance of all social conditions, everlasting uncertainty and agitation... All fixed, fast-frozen relations, with their train of ancient and venerable prejudices and opinions, are swept away, all new-formed ones become antiquated before they can ossify. All that is solid melts into air, all that is holy is profaned..."

Of course real Tories, like Hitchens, are liable to see problems with rampant capitalism. If you want to preserve traditional forms of social order, capitalism is a problem. It's destructive of the things you want to conserve.

i could work with tories who support a decent welfare state, thing is all the MP's voted for the welfare cuts, etc.

as did LP in the recent past.

 

[LeslieB]

Before we all get too excited about Hitchins, let's not forget this nasty little blog post. PETER HITCHENS: One benefit reform that would make us happier... and richer

His views may have changed, but I've seen nothing to that effect in the columns I've read. (My mum and dad take the Mail and I visit them most sundays)

 

[hot air baboon]

from the radio interview

- so are you becoming more of a socialist ?

- No. Ive been a socialist & I found that unsatisfactory but I think socialism doesn't have a monopoly on compassion or concern for the poor but the problem is that the belief among many political conservatives that social liberalism would solve the problems for everybody without any intervention has turned out not to be the case


...there's really some interesting old progs from the BBC archives about Callaghan & his administration currently being shown on the BBC Parliament channel.....and the slow painful death of the pre-Thatcherite 1945 Keyensian concensus as it succumbed to crisis & entropy....after a similar 35 yrs or so as a paradigm we are now living through a similar crisis of the system that replaced it seems like...