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Post by cato on Jan 12, 2018 12:23:06 GMT
I don't like the idea that all politicians are the same and that they are greedy etc but the older I get the more attractive it becomes.
I was much saddened by the conversions of so called self identifying ,but rather silent pro life politicians to a pro abortion position during the recent farce of an enquiry into the 8th ammendment. They normally claimed to have been swayed by facts . The fact the facts were generally provided by the abortion industry was ignored. Critical thinking doesn't seem to be a feature of political life in Dail Eireann.
The predetermined stitchup , loaded committees and the ignoring of any argument for defending the constitution are all reasons why people become cynical about politicians. Back in the 1980s those opposed to the 8th said it was unnecessary ( because abortion was unthinkable across the board) and that we should trust our elected representatives.
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Post by Séamus on Aug 13, 2018 9:17:22 GMT
(apologies if the subject is a bit too old for the heading)
I was handed a photocopy of an article published in latest QUADRANT,a bimonthly magazine that I've heard mentioned often, but have never physically never seen: EDMUND BURKE'S ENDURING LEGACY IN AUSTRALIAN POLITICS by David Furse-Roberts,a research fellow. Actually, there's very little concrete about his direct influence; mostly it deals with the influence of Burke on Whiggism, which in turn shaped Australian colonies. At one stage the colonial governor of New South Wales was another Dubliner named Richard Bourke, Edmund's cousin, said to have been strongly influenced by him. I don't know wether the surnames were a coincidence or whether one branch of the same family dropped the 'O'. Bourke disestablished the Anglican Church in New South Wales in 1836,Furse-Roberts believes this was influenced by Burke(without-an-O)'s ideal of religious toleration. The author believes that Samuel Griffith, Henry Higgins, Isaac Isaacs, John Downer, Edmund Barton, Alfred Deakin and George Reid, all of who helped shaped the Australian Constitution, were all influenced by Burke. Most of these men are no more than names to me, but all their names are familiar for places named after them. In more recent years, recent prime minister Tony Abbott quoted Burke often, while John Howard, another former pm, received the Edmund Burke Award in 2016 and described his legacy as a 'precious one'. Of course he couldn't have done otherwise on that occasion, could he?
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Post by Maolsheachlann on Aug 13, 2018 9:53:25 GMT
Burke's influence seems to be perpetually indirect. From what I've heard of his ideas second-hand, I've often felt "Burkean conservatism" was the best description for my own view of the world, at least in matters political and social and cultural. But whenever I've tried to read Burke himself I've been frustrated. He wrote very little (if anything) in the manner of a treatise or a work of political or social philosophy. His writings seem to be all on controversies of his time, so the ideas have to be abstracted from those. And, to be honest, I haven't had the patience for that, so far. The nationalist tradition in Ireland seems to have viewed him as a West Brit, and Chesterton was notably unfavourable towards him. And yet I consider myself a Burkean. I must get around to reading him one day. |
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Post by cato on Aug 13, 2018 10:49:52 GMT
Burke's influence seems to be perpetually indirect. From what I've heard of his ideas second-hand, I've often felt "Burkean conservatism" was the best description for my own view of the world, at least in matters political and social and cultural. But whenever I've tried to read Burke himself I've been frustrated. He wrote very little (if anything) in the manner of a treatise or a work of political or social philosophy. His writings seem to be all on controversies of his time, so the ideas have to be abstracted from those. And, to be honest, I haven't had the patience for that, so far. The nationalist tradition in Ireland seems to have viewed him as a West Brit, and Chesterton was notably unfavourable towards him. And yet I consider myself a Burkean. I must get around to reading him one day. A big chunk of his Reflections on the Revolution in France was on the Inter Cert English prose course in the mid 1980s as was John Henry Newman - I think the Idea of a University. I doubt if modern 14/15 year olds get similar exposure to the great writers. I have started Conor Cruise O Brien's The Great Melody, his biography of Burke, which got all sorts of praise when it was published but gave up due to other distractions. The same story with the Reflections. Maybe it's time to start again. Burke is very popular among certain American conservatives. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2018 19:07:55 GMT
Burke's influence seems to be perpetually indirect. From what I've heard of his ideas second-hand, I've often felt "Burkean conservatism" was the best description for my own view of the world, at least in matters political and social and cultural. But whenever I've tried to read Burke himself I've been frustrated. He wrote very little (if anything) in the manner of a treatise or a work of political or social philosophy. His writings seem to be all on controversies of his time, so the ideas have to be abstracted from those. And, to be honest, I haven't had the patience for that, so far. The nationalist tradition in Ireland seems to have viewed him as a West Brit, and Chesterton was notably unfavourable towards him. And yet I consider myself a Burkean. I must get around to reading him one day. My tribute to Burke: Burke Said It Best
Burke said it best: A culture must conserve. Revolutions that raze their history, Sire squalor and mayhem. A champion of liberty Wed to rational authority And cohesion to the past. Preserving while renovating. Reckoning the radical as poison. Seeing the ruin in passion & mobs Warning us: “when bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle”. The sinew of tradition Holding the frame together Advancing to a better future. Good change owes its debt to the past. Good change owes its debt to the past. |
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