Roger Scruton
1. Left vs Right: comes from the French revolution based on those who sat on the left or the right of the King. However their distinction in today's politics is not just based on the distinction of capitalism and socialism.
2. Capitalism vs Socialism: not in the same catagory; one is a description of an econmic system (free market and private property); one is a project with a goal of bringing about another society. The left is winning because it is easy to demonize Captialiism (weakness: insight knowledge of how system works can cream off without any contribution of assets; asset stripping), and promise of a new rivary system.
3. Adam Smith describes a society that fundmental relations of trust and shared royalties are never questioned. 'Sense of responsibility'. On the left: trust comes from a shared project; on the right sees it as inherited and part of living and enbodied in wider institutions of society (marriage, family). What right lacks and what is the positive of the Left?
4. Growing up in the cold war, what socialism means? English Socialiism: economic stagnation. trade unions, nationalized industries, shortages; inabilities to cope with global changes; but seemed to compatible to democratic system and civl freedom which held people to believe its good intention of more just distribution of goods and advantages. The state is in charge of economy as well as social justice, clearly in the realm of education (removal of choice of schools, no more Grammar school which is as good as a private school; a greater class distinction; criticism of government was permitted and BBC was impartial, which has ceased to be)
5. The right lacks an articulated belief in its values. We are comfortable with the current state of affairs and 'muddle along'. The people want a statement of the belief's renovated and radicalized Labor party. Thachter's slogan: west alliance of 'Freedom'. Now it does not hold as a great of appeal for the young generation. The activist on the left has more slogans for persvasion. For the ordinary people, the idea of home, place where they are, embedded legal order and their country as an icon of that. Come under fire, dismissed as racists and xenophobia.
6. The left's promise to go forward with a new social order. Human makes distrinction between past or future (unknown, can be changed). Natural division between human beings between those who want to change things (but we don't really know how to do it, and the past experience is that changes are usually bad) and those who want to know things (from the past, backward-looking attitude). The left's emphasis on the negative: leave the comparisons outside the picture, but stress the negative and concentrate on the injustice (Tower blocks). Criticization requires a comparative judgement. Marx never bothered asks why institutions and law exist. Getting rid them because of the power they represent, but never asks all the great things they do. Culture of repuidiation: resentment of institutions and customs because they are ours, but that leads to rejction to everthing (the irony is that the democratic socialist are not ready to give up theirs). The state taking over makes a risk-free society.
7. The causes of the left is shifting: institutions of society denounced as oppressive (family, marriage, incompatible with new forms of liberation).
