We are developing the social individualist meta-context for the future. From the very serious to the extremely frivolous... lets see what is on the mind of the Samizdata people.

Samizdata, derived from Samizdat /n. - a system of clandestine publication of banned literature in the USSR [Russ.,= self-publishing house]

More than muttering

Down in the West Country, fires are being lit:

Imagine, if you can, a party rally, put on by one of its regional branches, and attended by several hundred decent, ordinary people. Imagine, then, being able to watch a dozen or so people called to the podium to speak fluently and with passion about what they truly think. Imagine also being able to mingle throughout with the leaders and elected representatives of that party. Imagine all this, and you have UKIP.

The excellent speeches from that rally can be viewed here.

I spoke to Sean Gabb the following day. He told me that he perceived a ‘great suppressed anger’ among the people he met.

Good.

23 comments to More than muttering

  • Joe

    I just took a first look at the UKIP webpage and have come out a little confused. Why is a libertarian party campaigning on an anti-immigration platform?

  • ResidentAlien

    UKIP don’t pretend to be a libertarian party. “mall government – perhaps. Strong on civil liberties – yes. I have voted for them at recent opportunities but that decision was mostly out of a desire to punish the Conservative party and send a message that the “regime” parties need to hear.

  • ResidentAlien

    Ooops. I mean small government. Although, government by the private business interests in the mall, hmmmm interesting idea.

  • mall government

    You buy those things you need or value, and leave on the shelf those things which are of no interest or you can’t afford?

    Sounds great. Where do I get it?

    I think your typing mistake may end up hijacking this thread.

  • Mall govt – works for me. As long as there is sufficient parking.

  • Brendan Halfweeg

    Pall Mall Government anyone?

    MPs known as mall rats?

    Customer always right?

  • Sunfish

    Although, government by the private business interests in the mall, hmmmm interesting idea.

    Watch out for the civil war between the Orange Julius and the Cinnabon, which will become a wider conflict if not stopped. And I don’t think the Steak Escape will be able to mediate this one. Last time, the poor bastards at the cellphone case kiosk never saw it coming and had to take refuge behind the Banana Republic.

    Of course, There is a highly-trained crack security force ready to keep the peace.

  • It was indeed an interesting day.

    One memory is of having to veer wildly at one point. Eager to point out how local I was, I was about to mention having been born in Dartmouth (in reality, Torquay, while my parents lived just outside Dartmouth) when I realised that my interlocutor was the Earl of Dartmouth and was unlikely to be impressed.

    So, who is going to be joining the party? SW Region welcomes new members…..and would this be an appropriate place to state:

    Vote For Me!

    ??

  • The last toryboy

    Bah, the more I hear of Sean Gabb – who was a complete unknown to me a couple of years ago – the more I like him. And I live in Exeter, and only found out he was lecturing here after the fact.

    Sigh.

    Maybe next time?

  • RAB

    I live in Bristol Tim, and I certainly will be voting for you.

  • Excellent RAB…one by one….

  • Gabriel

    Genuine question: is Sean Gabb head of the Libertarian Alliance the same person as this Sean Gabb

  • The last toryboy

    Quite possibly, Sean Gabb is an isolationist, and likes the US about as much as he likes the EU.

    Incidentally…

    http://www.seangabb.co.uk/flcomm/flc170.htm

    Interesting reading regarding UKIP and its libertarian credentials.

  • Gabriel

    Well, if so, he is a very wicked man indeed. As far as I can tell, anti-Americanism is a secondary concern for the “Sudan Foundation” Mr. Gabb heads, which is an ill disguised fron group for the Sudanese government and appears to blame allegations of oppression and murder of South Sudanese Christians on “anti-Islamic” propagandists, most notably – dum de dum – zionists.

    It doesn’t mention anything about this on his wikipedia profile, but seeing as the Sudan Foudation appears not to have done anything in five or so years, perhaps his involvement in this group is being suppressed (Libertarians are as dedicated to manipulating internet information as the far Left as evidenced by almost any poll including Ron Paul over the past year) as cumulative revelations regarding Sudan have made such a position impossible for all but the truly insane.

  • Gabriel

    Further research has revealed that most of the links to work produced by “The Sudan Foundation” are dead, which suggests some people are pretty embarassed about their former jobs.

    I managed to find this after some searching

    NORTHERN DIPLOMACY
    Confronted with new geo-political realities and a growing sympathy for the south abroad, Sudan’s government has turned to public relations and diplomacy. Of course, the government rejected all allegations of persecution and had its embassies engage in a major campaign, endorsed by the Arabist and Islamist lobbies, to prove that it opposes terrorism, that no slavery exists, and that the governments of Ethiopia, Eritrea and Uganda are interfering in its internal affairs.34 It hired public relations firms and lobbyists to counter the impact of the south Sudanese in Western Europe and North America. These engage in sophisticated efforts to defend the regime’s reprehensible practices. Sean Gabb, director of the London-based Sudan Foundation, for example, admits that “there is some religious discrimination in Sudan” but places these in the context of the civil war. Gabb even justifies slavery (“It would be surprising if military and tribal prisoners of war were not put to work by their captors”).35

    Here.
    He is also quoted in this fetid article.

    These people suggest they are the same man.

    Does anyone know for sure? If Sean Gabb is a former paid apologist for the Khartoum regime, I would question Samizdata’s decision to link to such an individual.

  • Gabriel

    Interestingly enough, the only live article I can find from the Sudan Foundation with Sean Gabb’s name on it is not by Mr. Gabb at all, but a Lt. Gen. Lagu (Gabb provides an introduction), which whilst correctly placing the blame on the Khartoum government nevertheless implores the South to make peace. These do not seem to be the views Mr. Gabb himself expessed while heading the foundation, but its a little hard to tell seeing as his own publications have been scrubbed from the internet.

    The formatting of the article will of course be familar to anyone who has looked at the LA website.
    (Link)

  • The last toryboy

    I find it hard to believe Sean Gabb the Libertarian would condone slavery, or be pro Islam, given he sure isn’t at the moment.

    I have no idea what the story here is, if there is one – but as I’ve never met the man and live in far flung Devon I’m not the one to ask. Although plenty of the Samizdatistas would presumably know.

  • “I said the day before yesterday that I believe in legalising all drugs, in repealing all race relations laws, and in repealing some of the laws against child pornography.”

    ok – out of context. but that is exactly what the political class do all the time when they media manipulate to discredit libertarianism.

    for he later says

    “I do not believe, however, that mere possession of such pictures should be an offence”

    which is fair enough. BUT Mr Gabb really does need to be more media savvy. He seems to be a very decent and admirable man, full of good intentions.

    Almost like the a bumbling professor of libertarianism.

    But he needs to keep an eye on what the potential Sun headlines will be. Otherwise libertarianism will be confined to a nowhere land, on the far fringes of British politics – when it should, considering British history, be rightly at the centre and mainsteam.

    http://www.seangabb.co.uk/flcomm/flc170.htm

  • I have yet to see anything “pro-Islam” come from Sean Gabb

  • David

    Gabb posts on his blog that he has been banned from speaking at a UKIP rally. Too much freedom for UKIP’s taste.

  • Paul Marks

    Gabriel I have met Sean Gabb many times over the years – and, although he has some odd opinions, he is not a bad man and does not want to kill Jews or anything like that.

    As for getting money from nasty people.

    What was the alternative?

    Sitting in a decaying house that one does not even own, and watching ones savings drain away?

    “No the alternative is honest work” – I doubt that Sean would be any better at going out harvesting crops under the gang masters than I would be.

  • Gabriel

    I take this as confirmation that Sean Gabb head of the LA was, indeed, the head of The Sudan Foundation.

    As for getting money from nasty people.

    What was the alternative?

    Sitting in a decaying house that one does not even own, and watching ones savings drain away?

    “No the alternative is honest work” – I doubt that Sean would be any better at going out harvesting crops under the gang masters than I would be.

    Well, I would say working in Tescos is more common nowadays than harvesting crops and I’ve hardly noticed that competence is a prerequisite for working there. This sounds rather like Guardianistas who get government jobs because honest work can’t give them the lifestyle they think they deserve. In fact, why didn’t Mr. Gabb simply do that? It can hardly be considered less immoral to work for the Sudanese government that Her Majesty’s.

    I further note that:
    1) arrogance and self-righteousness form a not insignificant part of Mr. Gabb’s ouevre and this jars a little with his former choice of profession. Perhaps if he had merely dealt crack to 7 year olds it would be a little less troubling.
    2) nowhere on his website can I find any reference to his former activities as a paid apologist for a regime in the process of committing genocide and he, or someone who admires him, seems to have gone to a considerable amount of trouble to erase information about his former career as an apologist for mass-murder.
    3) It is possible he was once in ignorance of the genocidal nature of the Khartoum regime he propagandised for. If so, he should produce a public statment apologising for his former mistake and repudiating his past.
    4) If we were dealing with Pinochet’s Chile or the Contras here, he would have some excuse. First, they have indeed been unproportionately, if not altogether unfairly, maligned and second they are at least on ‘our side’ so to speak. To do so with an Arab supremacist and Islamic fundamentalist regime is simply bizarre.
    5) 500,000 dead human beings is a lot more fucking important than the billions of pounds appropriated by the Enemy Class. If you can’t see that Mr. Gabb has placed himself way beyond the pale of decent society and decent human beings then I’m afraid your moral compass has stopped.

  • Johnathan Pearce

    Gabriel, Sean Gabb once said to my face that political correctness was a more serious threat to Britain than Islam. Really.

    His former involvement with the Sudanese govt as a sort of spokesman could be an unexploded device sitting under the Libertarian Alliance’s arse. As an LA supporter of more than 20 years, that bothers me. Look at what happened to Ron Paul over his old newsletters (alleged to have been written by Lew Rockwell). This sort of stuff, unless properly explained, is toxic. There may be a perfectly honerable reason for this old PR job of Sean’s (and Chris Tame’s, if memory serves), but stuff like this needs to be explained.