The new 'sensibility'?
"SHE: — I have zero confidence in those procedures as you call them; they are much too nice; too pacific; there is no conflict any more. Whenever there is a dispute, we gather around the table, we talk, and we reach a conclusion. It is now about governance, and that’s the final emasculation of politics. No teeth. No guts. No balls."
I think this could be the debate of the 21st century. Domestically, at least, the preference for a strong ideological stance seems to have withered away, and re-emerged on the fringes as UKIP or the BNP, groups whose ideologies are overly simple and anachronistic. In some ways HE is right because, the kind of people involved in these groups have reduced something very complex to a simple, single issue. There undoubtedly is a danger to the adherence to a single, all powerful Truth. But that doesn't mean it can't be useful to at least toy with the idea so long as it doesn't become dogmatic.
I think it's fair to say that we, of the liberal leanings, tend to be sceptical of unambiguous claims, we prefer 'points of view', 'perspectives' and when we summon up some passion we focus it on a band or a film, something apolitical and safe, the reason we love it comes down to personal taste and preference, it needn't be reflective of our overall political standpoint. And if it comes to that, we try to skirt the issue...
This is just as true of the current alternative mindset (I'll explain what I think this is in another post). There seems to be a love of all things twee and cutesy, whether it's Joanna Newsom or fairy cakes or pixie ears. I'll admit I'm a big fan of the middle one, and I'm sure there could be a discussion of the political economy of traditional recipes and cooking, but this side of things tends to remain in silence, explicitly politicising these issues seems to be taboo for the alternative. There is a whiff of the 18th century notion of sensibility about this stance - of compassionate emotion that appears to be outwardly directed but is actually a self-gratifying sense of one's own goodness...
I think this could be the debate of the 21st century. Domestically, at least, the preference for a strong ideological stance seems to have withered away, and re-emerged on the fringes as UKIP or the BNP, groups whose ideologies are overly simple and anachronistic. In some ways HE is right because, the kind of people involved in these groups have reduced something very complex to a simple, single issue. There undoubtedly is a danger to the adherence to a single, all powerful Truth. But that doesn't mean it can't be useful to at least toy with the idea so long as it doesn't become dogmatic.
I think it's fair to say that we, of the liberal leanings, tend to be sceptical of unambiguous claims, we prefer 'points of view', 'perspectives' and when we summon up some passion we focus it on a band or a film, something apolitical and safe, the reason we love it comes down to personal taste and preference, it needn't be reflective of our overall political standpoint. And if it comes to that, we try to skirt the issue...
This is just as true of the current alternative mindset (I'll explain what I think this is in another post). There seems to be a love of all things twee and cutesy, whether it's Joanna Newsom or fairy cakes or pixie ears. I'll admit I'm a big fan of the middle one, and I'm sure there could be a discussion of the political economy of traditional recipes and cooking, but this side of things tends to remain in silence, explicitly politicising these issues seems to be taboo for the alternative. There is a whiff of the 18th century notion of sensibility about this stance - of compassionate emotion that appears to be outwardly directed but is actually a self-gratifying sense of one's own goodness...
posted by Nick at 11:59 am
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