James Delingpole on why people choose to be on the right

Jim King pointed out to me yesterday this excellent speech by James Delingpole to the Bruges group in December. It is of much wider relevance than the issue of whether Britain should leave the European Union.

I certainly don't agree with him on all the individual points he discussed but on his basic point about how to arrive at what you believe - it's a good idea to start the process of deciding what to believe by looking at the facts and trying to get them right but unfortunately a lot of people decide what to believe not by looking at the facts but by wanting to be nice - I believe he is absolutely 100% correct.

HIs speech touches on free speech, democracy, virtue signalling, and the fact that there is a much wider range of opinions and mindsets out there than most of us realise (e.g. most people do not realise how many other people do not think the way they do.) It is one of the best summaries of why some people choose to be left-wing or right-wing that I have heard. (There is some mild bad language.)



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