I see that Nigel Farage MEP may be summoned for his outrageous rudeness to Herman Van Rampuy. Farrage will become wet with smugness that if it goes ahead. It will give him more media attention, and an opportunity to rant about EU as a threat to free speech. To be banned from the EU Parliament would give him a great deal of satisfaction and pleasure.
Farrage's attack is a classic example of the debating style of extreme right wingers. They major in ad homs and personal abuse. To try to exchange insults with a free market fundamentalist would be as if to enter a crapping contest with an elephant.
Why are extreme conservatives like this? The reason is that as fundamentalists, they believe that their point of view is absolutely and completely right. They scorn any kind of relativism, and they regard anyone who differs from their POV as 100% wrong, and stupid with it. They regard the rest of humanity with contempt, and for them, society does not exist.. The EU to them is a socialist plot, a deep conspiracy dreamed up by unnamed defeated Communists who went underground in 1991.
The best punishment for Farage would be somehow to compel him to debate the philosophical basis of his faith in such a way that he was unable to use personal abuse. His presupposition, that the individual human being is the basic building block of economic reality, if not of all reality, would be shown to be absurd. The out-workings of his philosophy, from his boorish and contemptible words in Parliament, to the monstrous, debt-based free market economy that is predicated on his philosophy, will be exposed as the dysfunctional behaviours that they really are.
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Doc even as one who believes in AGW I do appreciate given all I've read about human cogntive and social biases why people can still be sceptical.
Throw in that science doesn't always get it right and can have its own social inertia, plus I don't think even with the droughts etc we can point to this or that and say 100% that it isn't -at this stage- just natural variation.
& while Climategate is a huge beatup it did show that scientists are human and have the same weaknesses that other humans do.
One point I've taken away is that historically humans have gotten away with all the biased and irrational thinking even if on a local scale that has lead to civilisations falling. But now we are coming to a point were there is nowhere to run to to start again when short term self interest and other biases screw things up.
The Enlghtenment was just a baby step , we have a long way to go yet.
Anyway I don't think this sort of reaction is particular to the far right, IMO both sides have their pet beliefs and both respond to emotive rationalisations when that pet belief is questioned.
As someone who overall is progressive but with contrarian views I've found many progressives just as appalling.
UKIP would ban Al Gore film in schools
Yikes!
Simon, while the Left/progressives do also react emotionally, I have the impression that they are more inclined to be ad argumentum. The only way to answer this impression would be to do a big survey, which is not going to happen.
Science always has uncertainty. What is certain is the political decision that arises from the science - we have to decarbonise for reasons of AGW+scarce resources+acid sea.
The neo-libs will not hear of decarbonisation because it is an interference into the sacred workings of the free market. No matter that the interference is based on science and reason - anything that transgresses the free market has to be wrong.
They are just philosophical idealists.
Phil, Al Gore's film is a bit old now, so this is not so much of a loss. UKIP haven't said they would ban the Age of Stupid.
I work with a few UKIP voters whose cars look like a French bill board with a mass of exaltations as to why we should have nothing to do with anyone beyond our shores......I for one, think we need to embrace more of our Europeaness, especially sustainable transport ideas......I marvel at French 'bike parks' and the affordability of bikes and bike hire; as for Nigel Farrage - I just think the man is really ignorant!
Hi Frugal Queen, I love your blog, it should be required reading for all home owners.
Yes, Europe has a lot of good points, and some bad points - like it still is a bit democracy-lite. I can live with things being a mixture of good & bad. UKIP see only the bad. In this they have much in common with neurotic people.
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