Memo to the Occupy protesters: here are ten things we evil capitalists really think (Daniel Hannan)

Chatting to some Occupy protesters this morning, I was struck by how wide of the mark were the beliefs they attributed to me as a Right-winger. In the interests of deeper understanding, here are ten things which – trust me – most of the Tory scum I hang around with think. Obviously, I don’t expect to turn my Leftie readers in a single post; still, they might get a clearer idea of what we actually believe.

One thing I have to take issue with is his comment that Nordic/Scandanavian societies have this peaceful, stress-free lifestyle. He’s right in that the loss of freedom required for such equality isn’t worth it to conservatives, but he fails to note that the reason for it isn’t the “equality”, but rather, the culture in those societies. Until a decade or so ago, they were culturally and ethnically homogenous, and therefore, crime was low. Once they started letting the Muzzies in, things changed for the worse.

Once they started letting the Muzzies in, things changed for the worse.

Yes. And no. Certainly with the growing Muslim population there have been problems. But I would argue it is not their mere presence, but the difficulties they are having would have occurred anyway because engineered economies by a government class always lead to failure. Muslims did not cause the problem, social and economic engineering did.

Having said that, the presence of Muslims is exacerbating the problem because they are intentionally working to destroy western culture.

9. Talking of fairness, let’s remember that the word doesn’t belong to any faction. How about parity between public and private sector pay? How about being fair to our children, whom we have freighted with a debt unprecedented in peacetime? How about being fair to the boy who leaves school at 16 and starts paying taxes to subsidise the one who goes to university? How about being fair to the unemployed, whom firms cannot afford to hire because of the social protection enjoyed by existing employees?
10. Let’s not forget ethics, either. There is virtue in deciding to do the right thing, but there is no virtue in being compelled. Choosing to give your money to charity is meritorious; paying tax is morally neutral (see here). Evidence suggests that, as taxes rise, and the state squeezes out civic society, people give less to good causes.

Well, there you go, comrades. I don’t expect the tents outside St Paul’s to fold overnight. But perhaps we might at least engage honestly on some of these issues rather than talking past each other.

Great post, newheart...

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