Posted by Nick on July 04, 1999 at 17:49:59:
In Reply to: Re: Vance and sensitive subjects - no such things posted by Martin G. on July 04, 1999 at 16:14:15:
: There is no such thing as society,
: There is no such thing as a free lunch,
: And there is no such thing as a useful and sensible discussion with someone who calls others insane for not sharing his beliefs,
: Or uses the words right-wing, left-wing, conservative, liberal or socialist as terms of abuse.
: And obviously no such thing as insight with suchlike people.
Hi Martin,
Perhaps I was wrong about the goodwill bit,>].
I assume you are refering to this quote:
I would suggest that anyone who said "There is no such thing as society" would be quite insane.
Plz could you read the post again to be sure i am calling a contributor insane, is it possible i was referring to the Thatcher 'quote' rather than someone on the board? Nobody on the board ever said this, they were quoting M. Thatcher, so if i was insulting anybody I would suppose it was her (I wasn't by the way, though I am happy to do so on a range of topics.)
Secondly i have not used any of the terms you quote as a term of abuse.
I have referred to left-wing critics and 'our left-wing freinds'.
I can't see how you could confidently infer a generalised insult from either post. I would be interested in you're thoughts on this.
Forthly, I cannot think of many great political, political or scientific thinkers who do not "use the words right-wing, left-wing, conservative, liberal or socialist as terms of abuse.'
Are you suggesting that Gould, Nietzche, Tolstoy, Dickens, Greer, Steinem, Kissinger, Heller, Baldwin, Camus, Beckett, Whitman etc etc are lacking in insight. You must be a pretty clever chap. Strong views do not always conceal weak or closed minds.
Nick