The most dramatic and far-reaching social change of the second half of [the twentieth] century, and one that cuts us off forever from the world of the past, is the death of the peasantry. Eric Hobsbawm I fear I must disagree with the late Professor Hobsbawm. The death of the peasantry has been much exaggerated,Continue reading “On the return of the peasant”
Tag Archives: society
On the vision for a New England
Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country. President John F. Kennedy (attr.) I am, as I believe I have mentioned before, a citizen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, or at least that’s what it says on my passport. That countryContinue reading “On the vision for a New England”
Book review: Limits to Growth
Who could have predicted the climate crisis? Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic, 31.12.2022 This is a review of a deeply unfashionable book. It was published a little over half a century ago, which is certainly inconvenient for those who, like M. Macron, would like to suggest that these issues are a recent development.Continue reading “Book review: Limits to Growth”
On activism
Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing. John Stuart Mill And yet what, as Lenin asked a very long time ago, is to be done? Lenin has been dead for almost a century, of course, but while I wouldn’t claim to be aContinue reading “On activism”
On knowing your place
Home’s where you go when you run out of homes. John le Carré, The Honourable Schoolboy In British usage, at least, telling someone they should know their place is (or used to be) a rebuke. It meant knowing their place in the class hierarchy – with the not very subtle subtext that their place wasContinue reading “On knowing your place”
Predictions for 2023
Predictions are a mug’s game. Nigel Farage So another year draws to a close, and as is my custom I’ll be looking back on my predictions for 2022 and having another bash for the year to come. So this what my crystal ball showed last time: (1) Russia to invade or annexe Ukraine but notContinue reading “Predictions for 2023”
On the Vast Machine
We are being watched, but who is in charge of the watching? Although some of us freely offer up our private lives to the Vast Machine, we have no knowledge of how the information is being used and who is using it. Criminals can duplicate our identities. Corporations can manipulate our spending behavior [sic]. GovernmentsContinue reading “On the Vast Machine”
On education
In George Orwell’s prophetic novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, the various government ministries are named for the opposite of what they actually do: the Ministry of Peace is responsible for the perpetual state of war, the Ministry of Plenty is in charge of rationing, and so on. (I will admit that I was a little worried inContinue reading “On education”
On free speech
Freedom of speech is a principal pillar of a free government; when this support is taken away, the constitution of a free society is dissolved, and tyranny is erected on its ruins. Benjamin Franklin, On Freedom of Speech and the Press (1737) Let me begin by stating frankly that I am not, personally, at allContinue reading “On free speech”
On the atomisation of society
No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend’s or of thine own were;Continue reading “On the atomisation of society”
The sound of falling leaves 