Neil O'Brien - arsehole

"Are you on the Left or the Right" asks O'Brien, director of the supposedly "new politics" Policy Exchange. For those who may be confused about the Aristotelian logical fallacy of petitio principii or begging the question, in which a conclusion is "demonstrated" by reference to premises that presuppose it, his questionnaire is a primer.

Like most such people, it is when he tries to be clever that he reveals the depths of his stupidity. Note that all the "correct" answers are the second, or right hand choice, even though most of them are definitive of the "left". The categories themselves are revealing: anyone who believes the "left" vs. "right" manichaeism has any analytical usefulness whatever is too stupid to talk to.

What the Q and presupposed A (each also illustrating false dichotomy) reveals is the smug, self-reinforcing mind-set of militant mediocrity that characterizes those who believe themselves to be "progressive". Each and every one of them reveals a brutal lack of intellectual sophistication and a brow-beating indifference to nuance.

The "clever" object of the exercise is to demonstrate the alleged gulf between "left" and "right" that Policy Exchange supposedly bridges. On the showing of this exercise, it is a ramshackle ramp going nowhere.         

Traditional social structures
1) Traditional institutions and monarchy v. Republicanism.
2) Traditional British history v. Unbiased view of our colonial past
3) Pro-family policies v. Neutral view about different types of family
4) Patriotism v. Internationalism
5) Personal responsibility v. Needs-based welfare, universal and unconditional
6) Opposition to immigration v. Anti-Racism, freedom to migrate

Traditional morality
7) Anti-gay rights, gay marriage v. Pro
8) Anti-Abortion/Pro-life v. Pro-choice
9) Anti-stem cell research v. Pro
10) Anti-Drugs v. Pro-liberalisation
11) Anti-Prostitution v.Pro-liberalisation
12) Anti-Premarital sex v. Pro
13) Anti-Euthanasia v. Pro-choice
14) Coarsening of the culture & swearing, violence and sex on TV v. anti-censorship, free expression
15) Fear of “political correctness” v. Anti-racism, anti-homophobia
16) Pro-faith schools, large role of Christianity in public life v. Secularism

A strong state
17) Tough punishment, longer prison sentences v. tackling the social causes of crime (poverty, racism)
18) Strong armed forces v. de-militarisation, disarmament
19) National security, control orders, DNA database v. Civil liberties, liberal judicial activism

Freedom from the state (freedom “from” rather than freedom “to”)
20) Fox hunting v. Hunt ban
21) Anti-nanny state, anti-“elf ‘n safety” v. Safety at work
22) Opposition to the smoking ban, anti-drink and cigarette taxes v. Public health
23) Opposition to “political correctness”, quotas, equalities legislation, v. Equality, positive discrimination, anti-racism