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Tallis in Wonderland

Emergency Reflections on Political Philosophy

Raymond Tallis exposes a disintegration of democracy.

I was tempted to call this piece ‘How I Became Radicalised’, but in the present climate it would be unwise. Two strokes of a search engine by those charged with watching over us, and Bingo! the offices of Philosophy Now might have some unwelcome visitors. The sad truth is that your mild-mannered columnist has, for the first time for decades, taken to the streets, marching with others equally incensed, chanting slogans, waving arms and banners, exercising the right to freedoms of assembly and of expression before it is too late.

Behind this mighty distraction from the my customary philosophical preoccupations is a big story, and I want to share it with readers of this column, as I have done with anyone who will listen in the pub, because it is relevant to political philosophy and Edmund Burke’s ‘little platoons’ – of whom more presently. Although most of what I will say is triggered off by the selling and breaking up of Britain’s National Health Service (NHS), international readers please do not stop reading here, for behind this ideologically-driven vandalism is something affecting us all in Western democracies: the ever-increasing political power of the greedy, and the increasing greed of the political classes.

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