Last edited by colin (2012-02-05 11:45:19)

Last edited by Sammy Ambrose (2012-02-05 09:00:50)

Note: I gave the firing squad episode a tiny bit of a Hollywood makeover but the essence is honestly true!

When you call Dostoevsky a genius, do you mean Bruce Forsyth type Genius or are you speaking out of context again?

Come to think of it, what's the alternative?  And when was the last time a Labour frontbencher uttered the 'S' word in public?  Even Balls seems to want nothing better than 'a more caring capitalism', rather than letting the market rip.  The Labour Party was useless even by the time MacDonald got his hands on it - although it continued to attract people of extraordinary ability.  It was pathetic at a local level, especially in London, by 1939-40.  Its members now are often a joke.  Just watch Conference this year.  Well-meaning idiots duped by smug women like Caroline Flint.

The Met - remember 'Our Friends In The North'?  "Obey the law - even though we don't". 

Not convinced that form of devolution would work, though I'm happy that the Welsh get to do some of their own business.

I suppose it highlights a big problem for (New) Labour. If the general consencus rarely critiques the suggestion that "there is no alternative", including New Labour, then they're always going to look like they lack direction or are weak - if it's a weaker version of the coalition's plans. Or at least Ed Milliband isn't a force of nature...

I can't help but think that Labour will have to properly explore the idea of a more moral/less selfish capitalism. An alternative to neo-liberalism. Of course, the current ideas put forward are largely rhetoric rather than anything stronger. It could of course lead to nothing or be unachievable. Just my random thoughts.

Last edited by colin (2012-02-05 13:51:25)

Better Ed Miliband than Burroughs: possibly the worst and most pretentious author of the post-war period.  Oh, but, then, of course, there was Vidal, Pynchon, Mailer, Salinger...  Ed might be out of his depth, but his heart - unlike that of his odious brother - is probably in the right place.

Yes, but will wearing a navy blazer with grey pants make me look like a Marxist security guard in a novel by Dostoevsky?

Is "Prince Myshkin" a good name for my Trad blog?

Pleased to report that, in Year Seven, my daughter wrote an extended essay on 'Northanger Abbey'.  Mostly, though, even when they do read, the books are junk.

Last edited by Liam Mac (2012-02-05 15:00:46)