tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14115431.post2734486837067780206..comments2023-10-16T15:59:02.445+01:00Comments on NEIL HARDING: Don't Easily Dismiss The Ideas Of Those Whom You Consider Less Intelligent.Neil Hardinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01333739272733802133noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14115431.post-2424212274294283692007-12-15T13:09:00.000+00:002007-12-15T13:09:00.000+00:00Finally, I receive a lot of abuse on this blog for...<I>Finally, I receive a lot of abuse on this blog for my views, that is fine. But what really gets my goat is when people say 'your views are no good because you lack intelligence'.</I><BR/><BR/>I agree that such a statement makes no sense.<BR/><BR/>What really gets my goat is people who dismiss the valid objections of others by repeatedly labelling them "irrational paranoid luddites", but of course, that doesn't count, as that's you dishing out abuse, you hyporcrit.John Eckersleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12874387296463362537noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14115431.post-53354013894447741502007-12-14T15:17:00.000+00:002007-12-14T15:17:00.000+00:00'By all means reject what you consider as bad idea...'By all means reject what you consider as bad ideas, but don't blanket reject an idea just because you don't rate someone's intelligence. I think it is this arrogant belief in the supremacy of top-down hierarchy that has failed this country and more recently failed the Labour party'<BR/><BR/>This merely states that NuLabour is ignoring everyone else because they think they are stupid. So why do you think they will listen to you?<BR/><BR/>'what I am really arguing for is the supremacy of democracy'<BR/><BR/>Like as in 22% of the people who voted were able to elect a government with an absolute majority?<BR/><BR/>'I would rather place my trust in the majority than an unrepresentative minority'<BR/><BR/>So would I.<BR/><BR/>'the...'impartiality or otherwise of the media. It is alright having fair votes - proportional representation that makes everyone's vote of equal value, but if one party is favoured by most of the TV stations (like in the US, Russia or Italy)'<BR/><BR/>You forgot to mention the BBC in the UK<BR/><BR/>'You can sit on the sidelines and carry on whinging or you can join the most democratic of the two parties - Labour'<BR/><BR/>You mean those people who have delivered liberties in spadefuls, as set out by Jack Straw in the Guardian the other day?<BR/><BR/>'(around £40bn is spent by unelected QUANGOs thanks to Thatcher)'<BR/><BR/>You forgot to say that these were now stuffed with Nulabour placepersons<BR/><BR/>'But what really gets my goat is when people say 'your views are no good because you lack intelligence'. Of course there are plenty of people out there smarter than me and there are I am sure, some who are not, but I wouldn't have the arrogance to suggest that was a reason to ignore their views.....and everyone should be listened to on merit.'<BR/><BR/>What really gets my goat is when people say things like that and then promptly make the assertion that they are having to put up with 'ignorant right wing bloggers'. It has a ring of inconsistency.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14115431.post-11262745083312425232007-12-14T12:30:00.000+00:002007-12-14T12:30:00.000+00:00I think Mark is right. What you need to do is move...I think Mark is right. What you need to do is move on from this Labour/Tory rubbish - it's a false paradigm. As long as people think like you, they'll be no change for the better. <BR/><BR/>In this post, I wholeheartedly agree with the title and first paragraph, but as soon as you veer off into leftist fallacies, the wheels fall off. Socialist systems do not respect the common man's ability to think for himself, but instead to put in place a class of 'experts' to run society, and keep the common man in place.<BR/><BR/>You dislike what you call 'bloggertarians' because you associate libertarian thought with a thatcheresque 'sod you, I'm alright', but you don't grasp that much of it comes from a simple belief that ordinary, common people are capable of responsible behaviour without being constantly told what to do, by those who think they know better.<BR/><BR/>As far as the bloggertarian versus democracy, I'm not sure what this is referring to. For myself, I'd say it's important to remember the flaws in democracy - no system is perfect, and there is a need to guard against the tyranny of the majority by accepting individual rights that cannot be taken away by the majority. A lynch mob, for instance, may vote to string somebody from the lamppost, and call it 'democracy in action'.Trooper Thompsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01505221473081871071noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14115431.post-29238765525394356452007-12-13T21:36:00.000+00:002007-12-13T21:36:00.000+00:00"Finally, I receive a lot of abuse on this blog fo...<I>"Finally, I receive a lot of abuse on this blog for my views, that is fine"</I><BR/><BR/>Neil, your 'blog is where libertarians and pragmatists (aka "Bloggertarians" - if this is a term of abuse, then I shall wear the badge with pride) come to hone their arguments. You probably get more libertarian discussion going that Tim W or DK (rather bizarrely).<BR/><BR/>You obviously mean well, but you are so deliciously wrong on <I>anything</I> where Nulab has a policy - and, rather weirdly, often right on matters where you have to think for yourself.<BR/><BR/>BTW, the Tories are pretty shit, but nowhere near as bad as the reigning kleptocracy.Mark Wadsworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07733511175178098449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14115431.post-57737520078942429922007-12-13T18:09:00.000+00:002007-12-13T18:09:00.000+00:00Trooper, I agree with you about Brown. I hope Brow...Trooper, I agree with you about Brown. I hope Brown is ousted in the next six months. He is a dithering (if not blithering) idiot! Still the Tories are much worse and that is the bottom line. If I have to choose between being disappointed with Labour or a Tory government with brutal service cuts coupled with higher tax on the poorest, I choose Labour everytime. There is no democracy in the Tory party, they are just more accomplished at hiding their dodgy (often overseas) donors. A history of incompetence, sleaze, managerial ruination of services, anti-democratic quangos, boom and bust in the economy and bludgening of public services is the Tory record. Who wants to go back to that?Neil Hardinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01333739272733802133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14115431.post-13238310547261698582007-12-13T14:51:00.000+00:002007-12-13T14:51:00.000+00:00"what I am really arguing for is the supremacy of ..."what I am really arguing for is the supremacy of democracy"<BR/><BR/>On a day when your leader is scuttling off to Lisbon, to sign a treaty he promised to put to the people in a referendum, you have the gall to talk about democracy?Trooper Thompsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01505221473081871071noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14115431.post-78427329364007741002007-12-13T01:33:00.000+00:002007-12-13T01:33:00.000+00:00Martin, grow up! This is pathetic and very tedious...Martin, grow up! This is pathetic and very tedious.Neil Hardinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01333739272733802133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14115431.post-45258757853324377402007-12-13T01:15:00.000+00:002007-12-13T01:15:00.000+00:00ah, yes "very likely to be wrong on any subject on...ah, yes "very likely to be wrong on any subject on which he seeks controversy" becomes "wrong on everything".<BR/><BR/>Therefore, for Neil, "very likely" must mean "always" and "any on which he seeks controversy" must mean "all". Now it may well be the case that there is no subject on which Neil does not seek controversy, but I doubt it.<BR/><BR/>It could be the case that Neil can't distinguish between concepts like "a lot of" and "all of"; the other possibility is that he pretends not to in order to get himself out of a scrape.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14115431.post-16514613275048967202007-12-13T00:57:00.000+00:002007-12-13T00:57:00.000+00:00Martin, Of course, I am wrong on everything and yo...Martin, Of course, I am wrong on everything and you are always right. <BR/><BR/>With an attitude like yours you will go a long way - your arrogance is astounding.Neil Hardinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01333739272733802133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14115431.post-51556522618095202212007-12-13T00:39:00.000+00:002007-12-13T00:39:00.000+00:00Neil is quite right. I, for one, regard him as les...Neil is quite right. I, for one, regard him as less intelligent than many. However, I came to dismiss his ideas, not easily, but after extremely long and difficult discussions with him led me to conclude that he's very likely to be wrong on any subject on which he seeks controversy.<BR/><BR/>See <A HREF="http://not-little-england.blogspot.com/2006/01/brighton-regency-loony.html" REL="nofollow">here</A> for a long description of what arguing with him is like, and the conditions under which it's worth bothering. Note that he's posted another comment at the bottom of that page, which, to the extent that it draws further attention to the page does not seem to advance his interests ...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com