Well, England has still got something going for it when people there can go to a debate between Roger Scruton and Terry Eagleton. The New Statesment notes that it was most interesting for the fact that Roger Scruton declared that he does not like being labelled as "of the Right" (although the magazine just uses small "r" right):
It was at this point that Scruton’s squirming began - both physically and rhetorically. He has, it turns out, a great aversion to being identified as “of the right”.I wonder what Scruton thinks of the Right as currently represented by the Republican Party.
“People on the right don’t identify themselves as such, not as part of a group. We’re just holding on to the things we love,” he said, in what appeared to be a sleight-of-hand justification for secretly quite liking the Changing of the Guard.
“But you said of Thatcher...” Eagleton began, only to be interrupted as Scruton retorted: “I’ve grown up since then.”
1 comment:
It seems rather as if that New Statesman blogger was trying to make a Big Thing out of not much. A spot of quibbling on a live-to-air television debate about the meaning of a term isn't entirely unexpected...
Anyway, I always thought 'Right' was a good blanket term. It's even more generic than 'Conservative', or 'Libertarian', after all, and is a quite useful metaphor for the oppositional form of politics we all know and love*. Also physically quite a useful and apt metaphor, considering the way parliaments are usually structured, with the opposing sides facing one another.
*Stop spluttering! I quite like it, actually.
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