One day, I am pretty sure historians will look back at 2007-2008 as a key turning point, when the world changed in a significant way that we still don’t seem to have grasped. It should have taught us something we didn’t learn, and consequently the effects are still playing out. Anyway, a tangent … We are currently looking at secondary schools for our son. There are two obvious choices within walking distance, and the ethos contrast is quite stark....
Two books I read in recent years stay with me and keep bouncing off each other: One is called “The Invention of Good and Evil”, and one of its core themes is that human society is the product of evolution just as much as any species. That what that society considers important and moral and ethical is shaped by its response to the pressures on it and the solutions collectively found that allow it to thrive....
I have a problem with socialism. I can discuss it intellectually and rationally, and see why it appeals to others. But, like a lot of core political things, I conclude that most of us have emotional instincts, and one of mine struggles with the concept of taking things from some people and giving them to others, no matter how well-intentioned and for everyone’s good. So, while I do accept redistribution is necessary to some extent, and am open to discussion about what that extent might be, fundamentally those who believe in equality of resources are always going to have an uphill struggle persuading me....