[Sam Cree]

"He probably would have been a Whig had they still existed"

My reading of Tolkien has caused me to surmise this also. Particularly because of his creation of the Shire as a mythology for Anglo Saxons. I believe the Whig philosophies were rooted directly in Anglo Saxon traditions.

Interestingly, I believe F.A. Hayek, who is one of my inspirations, also considered himself to be in the tradition of the English Whig. And I have read that both Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan are admirers of Hayek. Certainly many of our founding fathers thoughts were also derived from the Whigs.

Hair, did you see my response in the Hole to your post to me?

This is turning out to be a fairly interesting thread, I was worried about it. Still wish Viggo would have a little more sense about politics.

[HairOfTheDog]

I am not familiar with Whigs...

Yes, I did see your response, and wondered if you wanted to continue the conversation here, since the hobbit hole has moved off in five other directions, as is its habit ;~D

But I have to run in to town (evil wicked city of men) in a bit, so I may be slow to respond.

[The Iguana]

I say "Whig" because of some of Tolkien's pointed comments about "privelege" at Oxford - namely, his fight to ensure better qualified candidates to top academic posts over titled lords.

Tories of the mid-century were in most respects equivalent to the Whigs of a century previous: classically liberal, mainly middle or upper middle class, strongly in favor of property rights and democracy, traditional in most social mores.

Burke, of course, was also a Whig.