Most notable is his first entry: Neil Harding, whom I referred to earlier as a moron, has been brought back from the dark side. This is a major victory for the blogosphere and one in which I am proud to have played my part, humble and tangential though we all agree it to have been.
However, we must all reflect on the man that is Neil Harding. He has argued his case extensively and forcefully. This has been an extraordinarily tough battle covering an enormous chunk of his output - and I dread to think how much of his time - for the best part of a month. The discussion threads in each one of these posts are equally extensive. What is noticeable is that whilst the debate has been heated - both sides having heavily entrenched positions - it has remained civil throughout. The ball was played, not the man.
P-G Prescription:
I disagree, very very deeply, with Neil's position on a great number of important topics, but where previously I dismissed him as a moron I must now repent. Neil has shown himself to be principled but fair. He has conducted the discussions in such a manner as to allow the issues to be thrashed out properly. This is sterling work and, sadly, a rare occurence in politics. What is even more notable and infinitely precious is that he has faced up to the force of argument arrayed against him and chosen the path of reason over dogma. He has been convinced to change his mind.
This requires a commitment to reason as the arbiter of men and very substantial guts on his part. This sort of behaviour is worthy of the deepest respect.
Neil's objections are primarily technical in nature - that the technology will not work - rather than principled - that ID cards change the fundamental relationship between the citizen and the state. We therefore still have some work to bring him fully into the fold.
(HT: Longrider, who has been active in the discussions chez Harding also)
6 comments:
On the issue of principle, that image strikes home to me far more than all the reasoned argument on both sides of the debate. A picture paints a thousand words and all that...
Each time I see it, it sends a shiver down the spine.
Longrider:
Welcome to Infinitives Unsplit. Nice to have you here.
" that image strikes home to me far more than all the reasoned argument on both sides of the debate"
I disagree strongly: this image is reasoned argument of the highest order.
;-)
BTW: apologies for the shameless theft of the image - I did want to drop you a short note to warn you in advance, but was thwarted by the apparent lack of an address on your site.
Toodle Pip!
P-G
That's okay, it isn't my original. Indeed, I'm not entirely sure where it originated. So far as I'm aware, it's in the public domain and people are using it freely, which is, I believe, the best thing.
I am linking to this forthwith; the best anti-ID argument I have seen yet. Thank you both.
If ID cards can rid Europe of Yids then we must welcome such documents wholeheartedly.
And how brave of you to stand up and be counted for your views.
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