"Spiked online" identifies the 'New Pearl Clutchers'

[Belle]

"Spiked online" self identifies as a left wing publication.

MEET THE NEW PEARL‑CLUTCHERS
PATRICK WEST COLUMNIST 5 January, 2018

Today it’s the liberal-left who punish moral transgressors.

In 2017, it was often remarked upon just how intolerant and censorious the liberal-left has become. How times have changed: 30 or 40 years ago, to be of the left was to challenge and lampoon authority, to dare to say the unspeakable – an ethos epitomised by alternative comedy. These days, by comparison, to be of the liberal-left is to censure and to censor, to stop others speaking the unspeakable, to stamp your authority upon those who break your precious taboos.

A curious role reversal has taken place. Back in the 1970s and the 80s, conservative morality was still dominant. The prevailing areas of taboo were homosexuality, pornography, blasphemy, drugs, infidelity, profanity, disobedience and challenging parental authority. Conservative morality censured those who affronted accepted mores relating to these areas. This was the era of Mary Whitehouse, a time when cinemas refused to show Monty Python’s Life of Brian, an epoch when the Sex Pistols and Frankie Goes to Hollywood were banned from the BBC’s airwaves.

That morality has mostly vanished, replaced by a new system and a new list of transgressions. Today, now that the liberal-left has become the puritan ‘moral majority’, the three cardinal sins are racism, sexism and homophobia. Anyone who offends this triumvirate of taboos faces disgrace, public shaming or worse. Even harmless joking or innocuous insubordination isn’t tolerated, as Tim Hunt found out. ‘Offensive’ or ‘inappropriate’ remarks can now even cost you your career and livelihood.

Just like the old conservative morality, the new liberal morality not only defines itself in negative terms, in terms of things it prohibits, but it also places in the pillory any transgressors. Lewis Hamilton, who was scolded for having the heretical opinion that boys shouldn’t wear dresses, was the final victim last year of this egalitarian fanaticism. The first victim this year (already!) has been Toby Young, currently being pursued for posting a few ungentlemanly tweets six years ago.

People possessed with vehement moral righteousness are unyielding in their sanctimony, and today’s moral majority are no different. This is why the liberal-left has not only become censorious and illiberal, but also positively poisonous. The more ostensibly compassionate and liberal someone is in their politics today, the more they consider it perfectly normal to say that they wish to see all Tories die. It’s become a left-wing virtue to proclaim how much you want your enemies to suffer. This is the curious dialectic of the new caring politics: the more compassionate it is, the more vengeful it becomes.


The ethics of the liberal-left may have replaced the conservative morality of yesterday, but it has not made us more liberal. In many ways, our new morality system, and its dogma of equality, is more intolerant than the one it replaced. This always happens when an ideology has righteousness and good intentions on its side: being ‘caring’ and on the side of Good versus Evil means that any means are justified.

[lennygoran]

"Spiked online" self identifies as a left wing publication.

MEET THE NEW PEARL‑CLUTCHERS
PATRICK WEST COLUMNIST 5 January, 2018

Today it’s the liberal-left who punish moral transgressors.

Belle I thought this might be an article on the Bizet opera-the Pearl Fishers-it wasn't-the article made no sense to me. Gotta ask-what do you think of Trump's morals? Regards, Len

[Belle]

"Pearl Fishers"!! LOL. I won't comment on your President as he's not my President and it would be presumptuous.

But I think the "Spiked" article I've posted makes a lot of sense. One thing; nobody cares about the working class anymore in many western countries - particularly the US and UK. They are the object of derision and many people are commenting about it in this country and elsewhere. I think the working class would make sense of the article since their needs seem to have been abandoned in favour of the educated urban populations. It's a major reason for the Brexit vote. I myself am sympathetic to the working class and the working poor and unless this issue is seriously addressed, rather than identity politics (inter alia), I fear the worst.

This satire is doing the rounds on U-Tube and it might interest you to know what people are thinking about the continuing plight of the working class and its marginalization: these were the folks who went to war bravely and in vast numbers for freedoms we seem to be trashing at a rate of knots. This concerns me deeply.

https://youtu.be/lpzVc7s-_e8

Today we are stuck inside. It's 47.1C and this represents the highest temperature in the area in recorded history. Everything outside the house is dying from this and no rain in MONTHS.

[lennygoran]

I myself am sympathetic to the working class and the working poor...Today we are stuck inside. It's 47.1C and this represents the highest temperature in the area in recorded history. Everything outside the house is dying from this and no rain in MONTHS.

Belle agree on more care needed for the working class and the working poor-also favor less care for the top 1%. Our weather has been very and unusually cold-as I type this it's minus 4 F degrees outside our house-that would be minus 20 C. Regards, Len

[Belle]

I read late last night that the Hudson River has frozen!! Has that happened in living memory? I hadn't heard of it before. Today we face another horror stretch of weather and I feel sorry for the people who have to work outside. Same, of course, in your country where you could freeze to death in no time at all!!

[lennygoran]

I read late last night that the Hudson River has frozen!! Has that happened in living memory? I hadn't heard of it before.

Belle I wasn't aware of that happening with this storm but apparently it has! I'm pretty sure it's happened before. Regards, Len

https://www.workboat.com/blogs/the-nore ... continues/