Back to the Future

Back to the Future: The Case for a Return to 19th Century Individualism

8.15pm, Thursday 6th Week, Hilary Term 2006, Lecture Room 6, New College

Rory Geoghegan, a third year PPE student, will propose a return to theindividualist politics of the 19th Century..."For too long the State has involved itself in areas of the economy andsociety to which it has no legitimate claim. The popular assumption that theState knows best, or is somehow best placed to make decisions affecting ourlives, has for too long gone unchallenged. The result of this misplacedtrust has been the failure of public services, the betrayal of generationsof British citizens, the replacement of economic poverty with moral andsocial poverty, the punishment of the responsible and reward of theirresponsible, and the sacrifice of excellence in preference to mediocrity.The time has come in Britain for a sustained and sustainable return to theindividualist politics of the nineteenth century."

This is part of a new initiative whereby Hive members who want to propose their ideas, argue over them and see whether they stand up to scrutiny will have the opportunity to do so.