Tuesday 20th January

The trouble with Conservatism is in the name; they only really want to conserve influence and wealth for the few.  They actively want to roll back any advances in Social Justice and Welfare for the poor.  Conservatives believe in the Individual over Society, in other words – as an individual you should be able to do just what you want in spite of the harm it may do others.  In many ways this is the harsh lesson every child must learn.  We all want to get our own way, to have more toys than everyone else, to be able to do precisely what we want.  Part of growing up is the realization that your actions often impinge on other people, learning to take others into consideration allows Society to work.  Margaret Thatcher declared that there was no such thing as Society, and did her best to destroy it.  But ever since we came down from the trees humans have lived in Societies and caring for each other and acting in the whole groups best interests have been the keys to progress.

But the idea of the individual is not at all bad, as long as it is understood that the collective freedom we have from acting together is more important than the individual freedoms exercised within Society.  It all depends on how you define freedom.  Conservatives like to define this as freedom to (make money, exploit others, take advantage of those less able and to act with impunity as long as one has the money to defend oneself).  If you define freedom as the freedom from ill health, poverty, poor education, bad housing and exploitation you will not be a natural conservative.

What tends to happen to most people is that when they start off with very little they are Socialists but as they get more power and possessions they want to stop other people from getting a slice of the cake, they want to kick the hands reaching up the ladder beneath them and become Conservatives.  But life should not all be about which political philosophy benefits oneself best.  I have happily voted Labour in the past even though It meant I would inevitably pay more tax myself.  I will never be a Conservative I am afraid.