Red Toryism: A gross misreading of liberalism?
The “Red Tory” debate continues today, with David Green, director of Civitas, arguing that Phillip Blond’s call for localism represents an outgrowth, rather than a rejection, of classic liberal ideas. Green also accuses Blond of mistaking liberalism for anarchy, and suggests that Blond should revisit the work of great liberal thinkers such as John Locke and Immanuel Kant.
Green’s contribution to the debate comes hot on the heels of yesterday’s response from Catherine Fieschi, which described “progressive conservatism” as an “ideological con,” while earlier retorts from Rupert Darwell and Kieron O’Hara suggested respectively that Blond lacks an understanding of how markets operate and has misread Adam Smith.
Somehow it seems unlikely that the argument will end here….
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For more on how Blond can avoid equating communitarianism with narrow tradition, see:
http://thesocialbrain.wordpress.com/2009/02/13/red-toryism-and-new-communitarianism/
For a friendly but critical view, fellow travelling perhaps, see:
http://blimpish.wordpress.com/2009/02/12/on-blond/
Its a pity the reviewer had to say ” I can only surmise Blond hasnt read Locke “..etc when he in all liklihood has.Why do people on the internet always sneer at everyone. It gets very tiring to read. I dont think it sounds clever to sneer like that.It would also have been more interesting if he had given some attention to the rest of the article , which had many interesting things in it.Less sneers would and a bit of politeness would raise the standard of debate.I am sure there was plently more to say in criticism or appraisal.
It is so important in these days to emphasise what liberal attitudes really mean, especially in relation to economics and the relationship between state and individual. These are under sever and continuous attack by this Government and by others around the world. One rarely hears a word of dissent from the opposition parties or from the press & media so we are indeed in great danger of revering to an authoritarian state not seen here for 200 years.
Too often the libertarian or individual rights issues are portrayed as uncaring and empathetic to islamist terrorists, which is quite the opposite of what we should be arguing for. One suspects that many in Government and media simply do not understand the idea of individual liberty in a form which is consistent with both security and collective effort.