Karl Popper is without doubt my favourite character in political philosophy. He was rational, believing knowledge and truth to be objective, but aware of the boundaries of reason. A scientist but concerned with the mechanisms of society. By humanitarian inclination a social democrat — when that meant “Marxist” — but […]
Read MorePost Tagged with: "Society"
The American Museum in Britain, Bath
This past weekend, we visited the American Museum in Britain. It was thought-provoking: America was of course conceived in liberty but American history, like every nation’s, is filled with examples of man’s inhumanity to man. The exhibition began with a wall of quotations from significant figures. These particularly stood out: […]
Read MoreIndulge your selfishness. Go and help someone | Janice Turner – Times Online
Good news via Indulge your selfishness. Go and help someone | Janice Turner – Times Online : Even hard-nosed City types are discovering the benefits of volunteering. So how can we harness the itch to be altruistic? … [T]he most louche and ambitious people are falling into voluntary work. Something […]
Read MoreThe Cobden Centre: for honest money and social progress
I am delighted to report that I have established The Cobden Centre, an educational charity for honest money and social progress, together with founder Toby Baxendale. You can find out more at our web site. The Cobden Centre provided this site’s previously-published reading list, Rethinking Economics. Over the coming months, […]
Read MoreChild stabbings almost double in five years – Telegraph
Via Child stabbings almost double in five years – Telegraph: Youngsters aged under 18 needing hospital treatment for wounds from a knife or sharp object have leapt up by 83 per cent since 2003, NHS figures show. There has also been a sharp rise in the number of children needing […]
Read MoreD-day Commemoration
On a grey and showery day, skydivers at Weston on the Green commemorated D-day, not by skydiving, but by jumping static line at what for us is a low level: 3500ft. It makes you think. D-day Commemoration – Dornier G92, originally uploaded by stevenjbaker. Sport parachuting is relatively low risk, […]
Read MoreGordon Brown: Labour’s dilemma | Editorial | The Guardian
Even The Guardian has had enough of Gordon Brown: Political reform can no longer be put aside as an abstract idea, of appeal to dreamers but not to voters who face the harder realities of life. The public is calling furiously for a better system. People want an honest parliament. […]
Read MoreIDS: “Broken Britain can be fixed by its army of social entrepreneurs”
Broken Britain cannot be rebuilt by the state, but can be fixed by an army of social entrepreneurs, grass-root charities and focus on voluntary organisation As this deep-rooted recession hits Britain’s families, businesses and you, our charities, I am more certain than ever that it is the voluntary sector, not […]
Read MoreCCF Seminar: knife and gun crime
Updated Tonight, I heard some remarkable and shocking accounts of knife and gun crime in Britain and what is to be done about it. I’ll not repeat the accounts of the crimes themselves: some are too grotesque to publish here. And that is part of the problem. Some young people […]
Read MoreCampaign: “There’s Nothing British About the BNP”
Tim Montgomerie has launched There’s Nothing British About the BNP. Sign the petition declaring your support here. See also IDS writing on ConservativeHome: Reflections on a visit to Auschwitz amid political crises back home. For an insight into the surprising kind of society which degenerates into barbarism, see Haffner’s Germany: Jekyll […]
Read More
