2Blowhards is shutting up shop. Which is a shame since it was one of the best culture blogs out there. I must of been one of the last to know but Michael Blowhard's real name is Ray Sawhill. I think he has a great blog and recommend that you visit it. I don't agree with all of his views but his opinions are intelligent and informed unlike 99% of the blogosphere.
Whilst browsing his blog I stumbled upon a piece by Michael Oakeshott entitled, "On Being Conservative". I had briefly skimmed upon some of Oakeshott's writings in the past but they failed to capture my imagination, but I put in the effort on this piece and sadly, it was wanting.
Oakeshott's contention is that Conservatism is a disposition, a resistance to change. Valuing things for the way things are and and as such not wanting to meddle with them. Basically Oakeshott's reiterates the view of the Progressives, that conservatives are people who unthinkingly resist change by virtue of their temperament. They are the treacle in societies progress; the dead weight inhibiting change. Timidity and anxiety their virtues.
Bullshit.
And this is all the more depressing that this opinion comes from a man who was professor of philosophy at the London School of Economics. If conservatism is "Intellectually light" its because of rubbish such as this.
Oakeshott's conservatism is by nature "value light", in that man can have a conservative disposition in all sorts of social political circumstances and by his definition called a conservative. According to Oakeshott's view, an elderly British colonel tending his roses and Russian bureaucrat in the Brezhnev Soviet union (a time when the communists were loathe to change anything) could both be considered " Conservative". Nazi's who resisted policy changes by the party could also be considered " Conservative". What matters is not what you believe in, but on how prepared you are to change. Stupid people, who take a long while grasping new Ideas could then be considered de-facto conservatives.
Who's side is he on?
Firstly and foremostly, Conservatism is not a disposition: it is a weltanschauung, a world view, a metaphysical system. Conservatism is not a resistive disposition, rather it is a metaphysical system which believes that there is a reality, truth or good which man bases his life on. Be that Shiva, Jesus, Allah, Science etc.
Conservatives of all stripes have ideas on what constitutes the good. And in the words of an Australian commercial, "When your on a good thing, stick to it". We don't resist change for the sake of it, rather change is resisted when thing are changed for the worse. And frankly over the last 100 years or so a lot of the social changes have not been for the best.
Conservative are right to resist change when it is from good to bad, but they're moronic if they resist change which is an improvement on the bad, something people disposed to reject change are liable to do. In a sick or corrupt society, it's the Conservatives which are the radicals agitating for change, wanting to change the way things are to the way things should be.
Sometimes I really despair.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Two Good Posts by Fred Reed.
I like Fred, I like him a lot. He's put up two posts which echo my thoughts.
Killing Feels So Good.
Hooking Up.
Enjoy.
Killing Feels So Good.
Hooking Up.
Enjoy.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Thoughts on the Attractiveness of European Women.
After several visits to Europe I thought I would offer my rating of the attractiveness of women (18-35) from the various countries that I have visited. Firstly, every country has its fair share of attractive women but it would appear to me that there is quite a variance in the "mean" of each country.
With regard to my scale, My tastes unfortunately tend to align with Roissy's with the exception that I prefer slightly older women. With that in mind:
Northern Italy:
Mean of 7 with standard deviation of 0.9.
I was pleasantly surprised. Not only were most of the younger women of normal to low BMI but they dressed in a way that was both feminine and not slutty.
Germany:
Mean of 5 with standard deviation of 1.2
The Aryan race needs some work. An abundance of fatties and no dress sense. Zero style but all in all a cheery bunch. Most are unfeminine.
Switzerland:
Mean of 6 with standard deviation of 1
Home of the mountain trekkers and it shows. Pleasant enough variety and no real fatties. Women are feminine in a school mistress type of sense. Appear boring. Dress expensively but clothes are unfeminine.
France:
Mean of 5.5 standard deviation 1.5
Quite a disappointment. Natual French beauty was pretty much rare. But to give the French girls their due, they did the best with what they had. Fashion generally good (though not as good as in Italy and Croatia) and quite feminine.
England:
Mean of 4 standard deviation 1.2. (Obviously the distribution didn't follow a typical bell curve, the mean was far more heavily slanted towards the bottom end.)
The glory has departed. Really, English women can be divided into two groups. The prole class which are by and large overweight and dress trashily. The middle and upper classes dress in manner that could best be called vicar's wife style. Frumpy. Most also appear to be chronically unhappy. Still, one of the most beautiful women that I have ever seen on my travels was English.
Croatia:
Northern Croatia, 6 with standard deviation of 1.
Typical Central European/Slavic stock with the exception that they dress well. Bit dour.
Southern Croatia (Dalmatia)
8 standard deviation 0.4.
I had independent verification on this one as I thought I may have been biased. Virtually no fatties. Less feminine than the French or the Italians. Italian inspired dress sense. Summer is glorious.
American female tourists.
Hey you see a lot of them. Mean 6 standard deviation 1.2. Better than the English but loud. American women are in many ways similar to the English. An overweight loud prole class which is totally declasse and an upper middle class that that seem to have a formulaic approach to beauty that makes it appear artificial. Tense.
I spoke to some of the local players as well. The consensus was that the more Northern a woman the easier she is to get to bed. Italian, Croatian and Spanish women tended to be the hardest to seduce. Though some of the older players stated that things were changing. Czech girls are reputed to be the easiest.
With regard to my scale, My tastes unfortunately tend to align with Roissy's with the exception that I prefer slightly older women. With that in mind:
Northern Italy:
Mean of 7 with standard deviation of 0.9.
I was pleasantly surprised. Not only were most of the younger women of normal to low BMI but they dressed in a way that was both feminine and not slutty.
Germany:
Mean of 5 with standard deviation of 1.2
The Aryan race needs some work. An abundance of fatties and no dress sense. Zero style but all in all a cheery bunch. Most are unfeminine.
Switzerland:
Mean of 6 with standard deviation of 1
Home of the mountain trekkers and it shows. Pleasant enough variety and no real fatties. Women are feminine in a school mistress type of sense. Appear boring. Dress expensively but clothes are unfeminine.
France:
Mean of 5.5 standard deviation 1.5
Quite a disappointment. Natual French beauty was pretty much rare. But to give the French girls their due, they did the best with what they had. Fashion generally good (though not as good as in Italy and Croatia) and quite feminine.
England:
Mean of 4 standard deviation 1.2. (Obviously the distribution didn't follow a typical bell curve, the mean was far more heavily slanted towards the bottom end.)
The glory has departed. Really, English women can be divided into two groups. The prole class which are by and large overweight and dress trashily. The middle and upper classes dress in manner that could best be called vicar's wife style. Frumpy. Most also appear to be chronically unhappy. Still, one of the most beautiful women that I have ever seen on my travels was English.
Croatia:
Northern Croatia, 6 with standard deviation of 1.
Typical Central European/Slavic stock with the exception that they dress well. Bit dour.
Southern Croatia (Dalmatia)
8 standard deviation 0.4.
I had independent verification on this one as I thought I may have been biased. Virtually no fatties. Less feminine than the French or the Italians. Italian inspired dress sense. Summer is glorious.
American female tourists.
Hey you see a lot of them. Mean 6 standard deviation 1.2. Better than the English but loud. American women are in many ways similar to the English. An overweight loud prole class which is totally declasse and an upper middle class that that seem to have a formulaic approach to beauty that makes it appear artificial. Tense.
I spoke to some of the local players as well. The consensus was that the more Northern a woman the easier she is to get to bed. Italian, Croatian and Spanish women tended to be the hardest to seduce. Though some of the older players stated that things were changing. Czech girls are reputed to be the easiest.