Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Christmas

I am in Liverpool (visiting my parents and siblings) and have deliberately not brought my laptop home with me. Therefore, I am cut off both from my work email and from my feed reader. I thought it would be more painful than it is. Logging onto the computer without having a list of articles pre-downloaded for reading is a strange experience, though.

We bought my father a laptop for his birthday (which is tomorrow) and I have set up a wireless network for them so he can print and surf the web from downstairs.

So far, I have also avoided getting into any heated political arguments. I thought I was going to explode today when I read one of the most hypocritical passages ever seen in an article (in The Independent - where else). I managed to contain myself, however, and took my mother's advice. I've sent them a letter. That'll sort them out...

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Assuming you didn't assign copyright by sending the letter (maybe you did?) perhaps you could post details of your letter here. Or maybe it's on a subject you don't want to get into on the blog...?

Richard Brown said...

Sir,

Johann Hari ("Six good reasons for feeling cheerful", Tuesday 26 December) correctly delights in the breathtaking number of poor Chinese and Indians being lifted from poverty. Has he ever paused, between his tiresome attacks on globalisation, free trade and capitalism, to inquire as to how poverty alleviation on such scale has been achieved?

Yours,

Richard G Brown
London, E1W


To his credit, he replied to me and his position is more nuanced than I suggested. However, he is an incurable statist :-(

(Who are you, btw?)

Anonymous said...

Good letter, if a little short. The productive part of the economy (a.k.a. private business) generates wealth, including but not limited to the salaries of its employees. This is the wealth that can then be taxed to pay for public spending. It beats me why some intelligent people seem to forget - possibly deliberately - that you can't go on increasing taxes relentlessly. The productive economy needs room to breathe. Who am I? - anonymous. With a small a. :-)