Leaches Revisited

It looks as if someone, at least, has read this blog as OfCom are investigating Patientline.

On Communism

The main argument against communism seems to be that citizens enjoy a lower standard of living than the average subject of capitalism. Since, once subsistence is achieved, poverty is purely relative, this problem is a product of capitalism's absurd excesses. Capitalism is dependent on a very high burn rate and constant expansion. In a finite world, this can only end in tears. In the absence of capitalism, the perception of poverty would not exist.

As for the shortages that plague command economies: are we not subject to shortages of housing, medical staff, sports fields and even water now? The prosperity of the capitalist economy is an illusion, dependent upon ephemeral conditions of plentiful oil and expanding markets.

Arguments about civil liberties are a red herring, as the only significant freedom denied one by a communist state, is the freedom to be a capitalist. Conversely, under capitalism, citizens are routinely denied the right to be communists and the right not to be exploited. In the absence of capitalism, the restriction of freedoms necessitated by security would be obviated.

The Unthinkable

An interesting viewpoint in Lenin's Tomb regarding the London bombings.


the essence of which is reproduced here:

Ask yourself: [cui] bono?

The idea that it was Al Qaeda presupposes that an Islamist group, sufficiently well funded and organised to commit what is described as a sophisticated attack is also stupid.

The best strategy for Al Qaeda would be to isolate the US from any potential allies. A way to do this would be to attack only the US and not its allies causing their electorates to dissociate their fortunes from those of the Americans.

If you beleive that Al Qaeda is as organised as we're led to beleive, then you must beleive that they have thought of this too. Why consolidate your foes?

On the other hand, as Raymond so rightly points out, Western elements have very much to gain from it.

Don't knock Raymond. Every society comes to a point, now and again, when someone must think the unthinkable. Let Raymond save you the trouble.

And, truly, we must always be willing to think the unthinkable, because sometimes the unthinkable is done.

Cheers, Tony

So, tell me again: We went to war in Iraq to make the world a safer place?

I feel so much safer now. Thank you Tony.

Moral Equivalence

Compare the experiences of the British and the Iraqis in this 'War Against Terror':

In both cases, a foreign people, of whom they know little and with whom they have no real argument, have come from afar and killed them with bombs.

The only difference is scale and I challenge anyone to make a moral distinction there.

Clearly it is not right that Islamists should bomb our cities. How, then, can it be right for us to bomb theirs?

The Difference Between Communism and Capitalism

Whilst hanging around in Lenin's Tomb the other day, I was privileged to witness a convocation of weighty intellectuals from across the world engaged in erudite contention.

Two broad coalitions strenuously pursued the conclusion that their favoured sociopolitical paradigm could beat up the other side's favoured sociopolitical paradigm.

The main comparator was, by unspoken consensus, to be the historically recorded number of people that had died under each system, virtue being inversely proportional to the number of dead. It was a no score draw.

This seems a poor way to pick your politics.