Withnail
Apologies for the lack of blogging, I have been engaged in a post exams ale session, inspired by the classic film Withnail & I.
So, to business. Roy talks here about how much he fears a Cameron government. I must say that I think his reaction is most conservative. I am not a Tory, although I have voted for them in the past. Their last election manifesto was about as reactionary as they come though in many ways preferable to the David Miliband esque New Labour spin. Cameron, it seems to me, is the type of Tory someone on the centre left could vote for. Someone like Roy would never even consider the prospect of putting an X in the box for the Conservative Party and it seems to me that he suffers when he limits himself in this manner. Cameron has positioned himself in the political centre - this is basic Tory politics. The Tory party was successful in the last century because it appealed to the centrist voter. That means capitalism - but with social services. It might have been Labour who created the welfare state, but the Tories kept it alive by ensuring the economy was healthy enough to support it. A healthy and growing economy is the single most important thing for a modern country to possess. In many ways I find it comforting that the condition of the economy is now, to a large extent, out of the hands of elected politicians. Obsessed as they are with getting elected, they seldom look at the big picture. Courage is a rare trait in a politician. Pericles had it, Winston (sometimes) had it, Blair had it on Iraq. I am disturbed by Roys reactionary stance when it comes to Cameron - he really is a nice bloke, you can trust him with the public services.
I won't bother posting about Roys cricket obsession. I enjoy the odd session with the willow and the seam, but Roy takes things too far. Anyway the real world cup starts soon and that is going to be a blast. As long as Rooney's metatersal gets better - that man is more than a footballer, he is a force of nature.
Roy descends into class warrior mode in his post about the ending of the AUT strike. A shame, because once the red mist descends it blunts his usually insightful analysis. The strikers were offered a perfectly reasonable pay package which was rejected without a ballot and resulted in students being screwed over because of the greediness of the unions. Organised labour is generally a good thing, but it can so often end up mimicking the arrogance and selfishness of the management which it so often defines itself against. I especially liked this beaut of a quote:
He implies universities ought to be privatised, sneering that the fact Oxford and Cambridge are in the Top 20 universities in the world is "pretty impressive for a state-run education service", a remark that makes me very angry indeed
For those of us that live in the real world and who don't have their opinions formed by an outdated dogma of resietance to everything not owned and operated by the state, this statement is simply ridiculous. The fact is that, like it or not, American universities are the best in the world. This is because they have more cash. This is because they are private institutions not dependent on miserly governments for their funding. Now, it seems to me that, if British universities want to close the gap, they would do well to mimic this model. The US spends 3% of its GDP on higher education, the UK just 1%. Oh, and University lecturers get far better pay in the US where they are employees of the private sector, not agents of the State.
I am no longer a libertarian, although I hope to return to those hopeful pastures one day where faith in human nature is at its peak. I do beleive in state provision in some areas, mainly those where market influence would be detrimental to the common good, but in this case it seems absolute madness to stick with a system which proved itself defunct years and years ago. As with many things, the best solution is the most radical one. As is often the case, the most radical solution is opposed by conservative elements on both sides of the political spectrum.
Thats it, I'm done. At least for the next few days anyway. I must return to my post exam state of sozzlement. I leave you with a link to the Dudes latest article. Toodles.
-posted by Adam
