Recently when reading a newspaper I came across an article headlined – Why Socialism became a dirty word in 2019. The newspaper declined to give the author of the article so maybe it was from a right-wing source. The paper seems only too happy to publicise its friendly left-wing sources. The article concentrated on Britain and European countries. My distinction between the two is deliberate as I am of British heritage and don’t regard Britain as part of Europe or myself in any way European. By the by, neither does my wife and she is English. Britain has nothing in common with Europe, and indeed, some of the countries within Europe have nothing in common with each other. Hence the inevitable demise of the EU and its gang of highly paid left-wing henchmen. Thank God Britain is leaving.
Back to the point – the decline of socialism. The problem the left has, particularly the hard left, the Jeremy Corbyns of this world, is they want to return to the bad old days, which to them are the good old days, where the government controlled everything. The result is that for it to work everyone has to end up on the same level, thereby destroying ambition and the incentive to better oneself through hard work. The irony is that the left call this “progressive”. In the newspaper article Tony Blair says “The choice for Labour is to renew itself as the serious, progressive” (there’s that word) “non-Conservative competitor for power in British politics, or retreat from such an ambition, in which case over time it will be replaced.”
Using Italy as an example, the article says political fluidity is another challenge. Gone are the days when you stuck to your tribe for life. To me this is no better exemplified than by Trump’s and Johnson’s election wins. Trump may have had some luck due to the way elections are run under the electoral college system but what is relevant to this discussion is that he won in the rust belt with blue-collar workers. Johnson replicated this, winning over the workers in the north-east and the Midlands.
This is something the left, and definitely those on the far left, have to come to grips with. It is human nature with most people, apart from the likes of Shane’s nephews, that if you are brought into this world you want to make the most of your short time on the planet. That means having the ability to work hard and succeed. Those on the left, if our MPs are anything to go by, appear to be lacking in this regard and therefore support the socialist doctrine where the State does all the thinking for you mainly via their paymasters, the union bosses.
It stands to reason then that the only system that works is the capitalist one. It’s not perfect by any means but it allows human nature to behave as it should. To aspire to achieve, to take the ups with the downs, to cope with the school of hard knocks and to come out the other end hopefully a better person. The other option is the road our Captain is taking us down, the road of mediocrity where Shane’s nephews can sit on the couch all day because the so-called rich pricks, farmers, landlords and other hard workers will fund your lifestyle through paying exorbitant taxes. It probably won’t be too long before the nephews will only have to go as far as the front door where the courier man will be standing, welfare cash in hand.
This is why, this year, it is crucial to elect a right-wing coalition. I know those of us on The BFD have differing views with regard to the minor parties but ACT, with its Epsom seat, is realistically, the most if not the only likely option to partner with National. Anything else risks staying on the road we are on which, in my view, can only come to a dead end. To avoid confusion, the dead-end will be due to leftie economics, not climate change.
