More Arse

I see that others have picked up on Richard Murphy’s latest little temper tantrum.

I have noted (and those who read the comments on this blog will also have noticed) that my blogs in support of government spending – which is the only (and I stress only) way to avoid depression in the UK and other economies – have not gone down well with the libertarian community. They think that all tax is theft; all government activity is bad and those who win a mandate for government spending from democratic electorates are ‘statists’.

I suspect that this little fit of petulance is, as is usual, because people have dared to point out that Murphy is talking twaddle. The idea that raising taxes and spending our way out of recession is a sensible policy takes a fairly large degree of delusional thinking to rationalise. You do not spend your way out of debt – ask anyone who fell for those nice adverts on the telly offering them thousands of pounds to pay off their debts. That worked out well for them, didn’t it? It doesn’t work, it never has and it never will.

The problem here is that Murphy cannot take being challenged. His response to a contrary opinion is to censor and claim that those who disagree with his wibble are no better than racists. To any causal observer, he is a fool. To anyone paying attention, he is an enemy of reason and certainly an enemy of liberty. His belief in the state being the benevolent provider of all our needs is not only deeply flawed on so many levels, it is misanthropic in the extreme. For this man who peddles what is little more than communism to claim that libertarianism is vicious is laughable in the extreme. His philosophy is proven to be nasty, violent, destructive and misanthropic.

I do not believe in this callous, self interested view of life. It offends my Christian beliefs that suggest we have a duty as a society to fulfil the instruction – present in all major religions – but not in libertarianism that we love our neighbour as ourselves.

No, libertarians believe that people are inherently capable of looking after their own lives – they do not need god-botherers to tell them what to do and they don’t need the state to look after them. They can, in fact, do it perfectly well for themselves. It is Murphy who is the misanthropist here, not the libertarian. It’s also a strawman to suggest that we do not love our neighbours or would not wish to help them. Libertarians do not oppose collective action, nor do they oppose the idea of looking after those unable to look after themselves (Timmy pretty much sums that one up). And, frankly, it disgusts me when people use their religious belief as an excuse for their behaviour. Being a Christian does not justify using tax as a punishment. In fact, religion should play no part in one’s work, it is a private matter and should remain so.

I make clear I think this as repugnant as racism.

Then you are an idiot. A repugnant idiot at that.

Why is it then that this vicious, self interested and, might I suggest inherently socially violent group are allowed to make this sort of contribution – as they do all over so many blogs where those with real concern for society, from across the mainstream political spectrum, seek to discuss issues in an open, rational and respectful fashion?

As Timmy points out; freedom of speech. Clearly this is something Murphy cannot stomach. That he deletes perfectly reasonable comments from his blog is testimony to this. Of course, he is entitled to do this on his own space; but make no mistake, this man is an enemy of reasoned discourse, and his ideas on tax as a punitive tool make him an enemy of liberty and society as a whole. Despite his claims of being a centrist, he is an extreme statist.

I would love, for example, to see far-right libertarians thrown off the Guardian [sic]bogs as a matter of course – which might improve their appeal to many others as a result.

Yes, I’m sure you would, you nasty little turd. I note that his somewhat flexible “Christian values” do not extend to respecting others’ freedom of speech. His ideas must be “respected” ours must be banned. That, frankly, is all you need to know about this evil little man.

It is time we named these people for what they are – as being amongst the enemies of civilised society.

I’m sure that I can return the favour; Richard Murphy, enemy of liberty, misanthropist, statist, and an anathema to civilised discourse. Sixty years ago, we fought against a nation that adopted this type of thinking. For four decades afterwards, we held it at bay before it rightly collapsed. Murphy clearly pays no heed to history.