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[personal profile] fpb
A number of friends, including [livejournal.com profile] johncwright, [livejournal.com profile] eliskimo, [livejournal.com profile] shezan and [livejournal.com profile] notebuyer, have posted links to my last entry, and as a result a number of previously unknown (to me, of course) readers have visited my LJ. I am glad to have raised so much interest, but all the same I feel I have to deliver two warnings.

One. I myself do not identify as a conservative, much less as the American brand. To mention one thing that is very much in the news right now, I am fiercely in favour of what American conservatives call, never without a shudder of disgust, "socialized medicine". I oppose the death penalty except in wartime under martial law; and I favour limitations and public control over the use of guns. I regard big business as a huge, stupid feudal system, remote from the discipline of competition and naturally rapacious, a necessary evil at best. I regard regulation as a necessity for a civilized country. I say this as a warning, just in case some of us who agree with me on the matter of religious freedom and national identity may be disappointed when some of my other views take them by surprise. You are welcome to stay and lurk or friend me, as you please, but you have been warned.

Two. While I am pleased and proud with my country's reaction to unreasonable judicial tyranny and oppressive atheistic fanaticism, the last word is by no means said. There is always a weak sister somewhere, and as in too many cases, the weak sister is in government. It may surprise those of you who only know Mr.Berlusconi from the ugly and careless caricatures spread by the media, but one of his great weaknesses is an abiding need to be liked. From this comes his biggest weakness as a boss (otherwise he is brilliant in his field), a constant unwillingness to sack anyone; from this, too, his unwise dallyings with international villains such as Gheddafi and Putin. He has long shown that Catholic morality is not his forte, either, and I have no doubt that he would not think much of throwing his Catholic allies overboard if he felt it suited him. Already a bad signal has come from government: they are saying that they feel perfectly confident that they can get the sentence overturned by legal means. What they should have said is that the European Court had no right to rule in this area and that their sentence was going to be ignored. Their reaction shows a worrying desire to accept the picture of legality dictated by the court.

Date: 2009-11-25 01:47 pm (UTC)
ext_1059: (Default)
From: [identity profile] shezan.livejournal.com
Well, being French I favour a national health system as long as it's ours. (Golly are the Americans going to get the worse of both worlds - ridiculous costs AND rationing.) I have a European reflex re:guns, although I have to remark that some of the worst gun crime areas in the US are in places where guns are at least as restricted as they are here. It's really a question of specific history, tradition, relation to the Second Amendment, etc. I am a latter day competition law junkie, so favour a LOT of frameworks to ensure a level playing field in business - then let the more innovative/faster on their feet win. (But government intervention à la française? NOT BUYIN' IT. Propping up GM? Absurd.) I have no strong feelings for or against the death penalty - it's one of the State's regalian functions. Whenever you send people out to war, you exercise it in fact. However it seems to be inefficient and self-defeating in most Western practices.And anybody who lived in France in the mid-80s has seen Silvio Berlusconi in action; he is a remarkable individual.

Date: 2009-11-25 02:01 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] fpb.livejournal.com
That's all right. Most of this is for American use anyway. The thing is, I have had previous cases where people have come in via what you might call my social conservatism (and the high opinion I have of one or two conservative politicians, such as Sarah Palin) only to be bitterly disappointed to find that I did not share in about half of their political positions, and indeed that in one or two cases I was as strongly opposed to them as it is very well possible to be. I do not want to let anyone down, and I don't want the kind of enduring hostility one can sometimes get after disappointments.

As for Mr.Berlusconi, I would be interested if you enlarged on your description of him as "a remarkable individual". It sounds a bit alarming. 8-)

Date: 2009-11-30 01:37 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mindstalk.livejournal.com
some of the worst gun crime areas in the US are in places where guns are at least as restricted as they are here.

Thing is, those restrictions have little teeth. They can bother a law-abiding resident of such jurisdictions, but hardly anything hampers the movement of guns from a more gun-friendly place. It's not like DC or NYC is searching cars at the border. Imagine that France banned guns but Germany didn't, and there was no border control whatsoever.

Date: 2009-11-25 01:57 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] affablestranger.livejournal.com
What they should have said is that the European Court had no right to rule in this area and that their sentence was going to be ignored. Their reaction shows a worrying desire to accept the picture of legality dictated by the court.

Precisely.

Date: 2009-11-25 04:44 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] elegant-bonfire.livejournal.com
What they should have said is that the European Court had no right to rule in this area and that their sentence was going to be ignored. Their reaction shows a worrying desire to accept the picture of legality dictated by the court.

This is disappointing, but typical of political correctness at its worst. "Everyone has to be offended by the same things."

That's an interesting view on Berlusconi, and one that I've not heard before. It makes sense, as some of the worst managers I've worked for were the ones who wanted everyone to like them/be their buddies. I'm sure that translates into politics too.
Edited Date: 2009-11-25 04:44 pm (UTC)

Date: 2009-11-25 04:51 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] fpb.livejournal.com
Bear in mind that Berlusconi is by no means a bad boss. To the contrary, he has been spectacularly successful at everything he has undertaken: first construction (his MILANO 2 development is popular and functional to this day), then football (he took the bankrupt and demoralized Milan team and made it the world's best for a while), then TV, then politics. He is an amazingly efficient and successful man, which drives his enemies crazy. But he still hates sacking people and loves to be everyone's buddy - which more cynical people exploit.

Date: 2009-11-25 04:56 pm (UTC)
cheyinka: A sketch of a Metroid (eeek! a metroid!)
From: [personal profile] cheyinka
I don't read you because we agree on every point (since we don't!) but because you write well and intelligently, and even when I disagree with you you make me pause to think about why I do. :D

Date: 2009-11-25 05:21 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] fpb.livejournal.com
And you have known me for years. This article was mainly for people who only know me through the links. I had some enthusiastic comments, but they suggested that some people might mistake my politics, and as I've had some grief with that before, I thought it best to clarify matters.

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