I see that Mr E has decided to call it a day. The decline in libertarian blogging seems to have been a steady trickle since May and the demise of the Labour government. In so doing it fulfils a prophesy. That said, I do tend to share the sentiment expressed by Mr E:
The other half is a noticeable dropping off in my levels of rage since the prime raison d’etre for that fury were ejected from office in May. I share the scepticism of some readers towards many aspects of the new government’s platform, and worry that their reforms will be too timid, their policies wrong-headed, their instincts far from libertarian. I worry, in short, that they will disappoint us, as I know you do too.
But what I don’t have now is that same hate. The last administration filled me with disgust; the mere sight on my telly of a Charles Clarke, a John Reid, a – God forgive me for even typing the words! – Patricia Hewitt, sent me flying into almost uncontrollable loathing.
Yup, since they were ejected, my rage has diminished to a sense of disappointment and betrayal. It’s much how I felt about eight or nine years ago. Prior to that, my rage had been directed at the John Major government when they were proposing identity cards back in the nineties. Then it was Michael Howard who sent me into paroxysms of incandescent fury. It resurfaced with David Blunkett’s assault on our liberties in the wake of the Twin Towers attacks.
I fully expect it to return because the coalition is not and has never pretended to be libertarian, merely less awful than what went before. Sooner or later, political expediency will take precedence over our civil liberties and the rage will be dusted off once more and with a little polish will be as fresh and new as it was when the egregious David Blunkett announced his “entitlement” cards. So, I guess that rage has to build up a new head of steam and that may take a little while.
Will I run out of that steam in the meantime? Who knows. While I still feel inclined to hit the keyboard, I will. I might write about other things that take my fancy. Recently, my comments have been of a more general, essay-like nature. Maybe that’s the way to go.
A case of rage taking a holiday. But all holidays end.