In 2008 I authored a piece for an international organisation entitled ‘A Charter for Marriage: Reconsidering the Foundations of Marriage for Twenty First Century Secular and Multifaith Britain’. I saw it doing two things: first, finding a centre ground between the patriarchal cultures of Britain’s immigrant communities, who valued marriage as the centre of extended… Continue reading Marriage in the Twenty First Century
A Woke Critique of Spotify?
One day the great moral counsellor Zarathustra was out for a drive in his Maserati with his friend Ziggy. It may come as a surprise to the reader familiar with his exploits that he had such things (friends I mean, not sports cars). But being a person of great integrity, it was quite possible for… Continue reading A Woke Critique of Spotify?
Ms Bouquet Meets Her Year 9 Class
The scene is a classroom in a high school in Lewisham. The year 9 students are awaiting the arrival of Ms Bouquet, who will be taking the Citizenship class. Although she is new to the school, she has many years teaching experience and is confident in holding her own in a new class. Ms Bouquet… Continue reading Ms Bouquet Meets Her Year 9 Class
An Extended Lexicon for the Moral Maze
In my previously published Lexicon for the Moral Maze, I set out a number of phrases commonly employed in what passes for contemporary moral debate and offered some assistance on how anyone starting to find themselves bewildered can unpack the jargon and glean an understanding of the proponents’ real agenda. The debate has moved on… Continue reading An Extended Lexicon for the Moral Maze
The Economic Future of the Nation: Human Value and Institutional Wealth
Introduction Until the present crisis and the cessation of most social and economic activity the main concern in people’s minds was the economic challenges and opportunities created by Brexit. By contrast with the challenges ahead presented by the economic fallout of the national lockdown, those posed by Brexit now seem insignificant. Predictions vary as to… Continue reading The Economic Future of the Nation: Human Value and Institutional Wealth
How Useful Are “R” Values?
We in the UK are 60 days into a lockdown which has devastated our economy in an attempt to address a Covid-19 outbreak which is by now largely on the retreat. But like a rabbit in the headlights, we are stuck with a policy which, although it has successively changed its justification as each of… Continue reading How Useful Are “R” Values?
Legality and Morality: A Marriage of Convenience?
In a previous essay on Legality and Morality: Can Man Serve Two Masters? I considered whether respect for the law is a requirement of morality and presented my case against the proposition. I would like to continue on this theme in the following, looking at the related proposition that moral ends can be served through… Continue reading Legality and Morality: A Marriage of Convenience?
Privacy at the Dawn of the Totalitarian Digital State
What we witness today in Xinjiang, with the mass surveillance, incarceration and re-education of the Uighur population, is not just a violation of the fundamental rights of those people but a testing ground for the total surveillance society. 2020 will see the completion of China’s compulsory enrolment of every one of its citizens in a… Continue reading Privacy at the Dawn of the Totalitarian Digital State
Are we witnessing the death of freedom?
Don Trubshaw There have been voices raised against the flow in recent weeks, decrying the imposition of authoritarian measures in an attempt to bring the coronavirus pandemic under control. Some see in this the death of freedom. While I am sympathetic to these voices, I believe that the present crisis is only exposing a fundamental… Continue reading Are we witnessing the death of freedom?
Observance of the Rite of Lockdown
It was the 20th day of the ordinance of lockdown when Zarathustra, that renowned prophet of postmodernism, reflected that during that time his flock in the neighbouring villages might be missing his counsel. It was not that he didn’t consider his engagement with the community to be “essential” travel meriting the few hours drive in… Continue reading Observance of the Rite of Lockdown