P.J. O’Rourke, the Republican Party Reptile supreme, has some caustic things to say about David Cameron, who may become the next leader of the Conservative Party. He is not terribly impressed:
The guy obviously doesn’t understand the fundamental truth about politics, which is that the best minds only produce disasters. Scientists, for example, are famously idiots when it comes to politics. I agree with Friedrich Hayek, who said in The Road to Serfdom that the “worst imaginable world would be one in which the leading expert in each field had total control over it”.
Just once, I’d love to hear a politician say: “We’re going to bring the second-best minds together to work on this.” The second-best minds are all much more practical people than the first-class guys. More importantly, they are not going to try to do anything very much. They’ll fix lunch or take the dog for a walk before they get on to pressing political problems of the day – and by the time lunch is over, it’s time to take the dog for another walk and prepare dinner. That’s the right order of political priorities. The greatest danger in politics is people who try to do things.
By coincidence, Cameron has an article bashing Blair in the same edition of today’s Sunday Telegraph. It is not a bad article and correctly identifies much of the arrogance and reliance on a Big Government worldview. Like O’Rourke, I really would like this fellow to live up to his own declared scepticism about government activism and place the government of this country on a more modest, intelligent course.
For what it is worth, though, I could not care less about whether Cameron has gone to a smart private school or not. Even O’Rourke clobbers Cameron for this, much to my susprise. Social chippiness ill becomes advocates of classical liberalism.
The only thing I hate about PJ O’Rourke is that there isn’t one site on the ineternet where I can get a daily dose of his wisdom. With all the millions pontificating bloggers listening to themselves talk on the their own site, there should be a place for PJ.
The most profound quote all time comes from “parliament of whores”: “The whores are us”.
DS, I could not agree more. I would love it if the great man – and he is surely great – had a blog. He’d bash the opposition right out of the ballpark.
I think that P.J. has gone a bit off the boil in recent years. I strongly recommend all his books, especially Holidays in Hell, Parliament of Whores, and Eat the Rich. The last book is actually a pretty good primer on economics for the intelligent layman.
I also think he has gone sightly off the boil and I put it down to contentment. His last book, CEO of The Sofa was OK, but not up to the elevated standard we expect from him. But he had a (fairly) new wife and a baby, who he incorporated into the book, and I think his heart just wasn’t awash with vitriol.
“Scientists, for example, are famously idiots when it comes to politics.”
And, in the opinion of Mr O’Rouke, the contribution of politicians to science is what?
Perhaps that should be extended to “the application of science to the benefit of society”, on which politicians are the responsible party, and their track record is the one to question.
And surely scientists are responsible for expanding our understanding of the physical universe, not deciding how to use that knowledge for the benefit of society.
And what proportion of members of Parliament (UK) and Congress (USA) are scientists, or even have a basic grasp of sientific principles (or statistics)?
Note that I accept that, in the end, it is mostly done right. But how many attempts does a politician need for that? And should we not judge our politicians (as we do plumbers and car mechanics) on overall effectiveness, and not wasting our time and money?
Best regards
“P.J. O’Rourke, the Republican Party Reptile supreme”, what in god’s name are you smoking? O’Rourke abuses politicians irregardless of political stripe. If you have read any of his books this should be apparent. I think of him as an Irish Catholic David Horowitz. He saw the left as a young man and was apalled at its hypocrisy. Regretably, he is also a self-confessed alchoholic and this has doubtless done nothing to improve the quality of his recent work.
I rushed to comment after I read the “Republican Reptile Supreme” sobriquet. I was going to bravely defend O’Rourke as more libertarian than Republican and more humorous than reptile.
Reading the other comments, I must have misread that. One of my faves is “Eat The Rich.”
Now who lit the blue touchy paper on scientist Nigel and stood well back?
Cameron is still all image and like Blair, very likely no implementation.
Davies for me, for now.
What? No blistering comment from Euan Gray putting us all in our places for not genuflecting for government?
Politics consists of politicians correcting the errors of previous politicians whilst committing more errors for the next generation of politicians to correct.
“I think of him as an Irish Catholic David Horowitz. He saw the left as a young man and was apalled at its hypocrisy.” Oh, yes, that great wit and raconteur David Horowitz. A laugh a minute!
“Regretably, he is also a self-confessed alchoholic and this has doubtless done nothing to improve the quality of his recent work.” Alcoholic geniuses contribute more to the gaiety of nations than do self-appointed preachers, IMHO.
Also, PJ is certainly a self-confessed drinker, but I’ve never seen where he claimed to be an alcoholic.
In the same vein, but not P.J. specific, The Volokh Conspiracy(Link) has blogged a recent study by three Swiss economists:
John_R quotes: “”government involvement is detrimental to individuals’ quality of life.”
I’ll drink to that!
Verity:
but will your government ALLOW you to drink to that? After all, they do know best.
Mine won’t. It’s Sunday, after all – so they have to protect us from the evils of beer-buying in grocery stores on the Lord’s Day. Thank God they’re around, otherwise I might have gone out and spent my money in just this fashion – maybe even been diaobolical enough to consume some of my purchase in the privacy of my own home, and then Lord knows what would have happened!
aren’t you glad they’re there to protect you from yourself?
And, in the opinion of Mr O’Rouke, the contribution of politicians to science is what?
-Nigel Sedgwick
Funding, of course.
[ba-dum bum!]
PJ said: “When buying and selling are controlled by legislation, the first things to be bought and sold are legislators.”
“Under every stone lurks a politician.” — Aristophanes
“To err is human, but it takes a politician to really
screw things up.” — Old American Adage
“Politics is the art of looking for trouble,finding it
whether it exists or not, diagnosing it incorrectly, and
applying the wrong remedy.” — Ernest Benn
“When politics are used to allocate resources, the
resources all end up being allocated to politics.” —
P.J. O’Rourke
“Giving money and power to the government is like
giving car keys and whisky to teenage boys.” — P.J.
O’Rourke
“No man’s life, liberty or property are safe while the
Legislature is in session.” — Judge Gideon J. Tucker,
1866
“This country has come to feel the same when
congress is in session as when a baby gets hold of a
hammer.” — Will Rogers
— there’s more where those came from.
Mark, I dubbed the fella “Republican Party Reptile Supreme from the title of one of his earliest and funniest books. .
The problem with so called “first class minds” is that the people to whom they are attributed nearly always rose effortlessly from a privileged position, usually through a privileged route, aided by the “who you know” factor. But because they rise so far, so quickly, it means they haven’t seen the practical difficulties that others see every day. Hence their thinking is less obstructed by doubt than others and they try to run things from the centre because they think they’re clever enough to do so. Blair is a classic example.
It’s my contention that there are plenty of people of equal intelligence that don’t have the privileged route to the top, and struggle more through life but understand practical difficulties more. These people are far more likely to understand that no-one can be clever enough to fix things from the centre. However, they’re not considered as clever – which is incorrect.
“Mark, I dubbed the fella “Republican Party Reptile Supreme from the title of one of his earliest and funniest books. .”
I’ll confess I missed the allusion. Parliament of Whores? It’s the best thing he ever wrote. PJ is hardly partisan politically, but scorches the entire spectrum of idiotarians.
‘”I think of him as an Irish Catholic David Horowitz. He saw the left as a young man and was apalled at its hypocrisy.” Oh, yes, that great wit and raconteur David Horowitz. A laugh a minute!
“Regretably, he is also a self-confessed alchoholic and this has doubtless done nothing to improve the quality of his recent work.” Alcoholic geniuses contribute more to the gaiety of nations than do self-appointed preachers, IMHO.
Also, PJ is certainly a self-confessed drinker, but I’ve never seen where he claimed to be an alcoholic.”
Horowitz is a rather humorless character and highly political. O’Rourke mentions his alchoholism in one of his books wherein he bemoans losing a college sweetheart and shares graphically his sex life with his readers – ad nauseam. I can’t remember the name and can only find “Peace Kills” in my library – not his best effort by miles. Alchoholic geniuses tend to shine briefly and extinguish painfully.
Horowitz is humourless and political, but he is yet one more former lefty who saw the light and is now a strong voice for conservatism and libertarianism. But funny, he is not.
O’Rourke has a new book out. CEO of The Couch was not bad, but not up to his normal gasoline fireball of scorching humour and truths. He’s got a new one out which I am going to order. If this one is also not up to standard, then I will assume he is burning out. I hope not, though!
For heavens sake, you guys are usually so buttoned up. PJ’s last book “Peace Kills” was launched in London the week before the presidential election last November.
I went to Waterstones on Piccadilly and heard him read from the book, then answer really rather sharpish questions, and he was at the top of his game.
He’s actually kind of cute too, in a debauched, party animal way.
I had him sign my book “keep reading the weekly reader” and he laughed and gave me a sharp look. I made PJ laugh, one of my greatest moments folks.
Carol, good for you! I have met him, and he was great company, unpretentious. Another funny writer who I miss was Auberon Waugh. Absolute gent.
Carol – How is the book? Give War A Chance is one of my favourite PJs. But I was disappointed in CEO of The Sofa.
Just test any British politicians rhetoric about the size of government against their commitment to withdraw from the EU.
Johnathan, I was not even aware that PJ wrote Republican Party Animal….good grief. O’Rourke is hilarious at best and has IMHO lost his edge more recently. I literally laughed myself silly at “The Enemies List” I think “Give War a Chance” was his last decent book.
On the subject of Horowitz, I greatly admire him and we were both in the political milieu of UC Berkeley during the Viet Nam War. He was agraduate student , and I a humble undergrad. We never met, and I was never a communist, but were in the same place when the events described in “Radical Son” transpired. In short, Red Dave’s dalliance with the Black Panthers got a bookkeeper Horowitz introduced to them murdered. Horowitz was moving from safe house to safe house armed with a 9mm auto and rightfully scared to death. While his radical left experience was much more trauamatic than mine, it was the experience of these times and the left that turned many away from it. O’Rourke even recounts contemplating with his radical comrades “offing” a member of dubious political reliability. “Radical Son” is not going to eat PJ’s lunch, but it is a very interesting book.
Good morning! You’re going to make me late for the airport but just had to say – Peace Kills is absolutely fabulous, a really sharp and funny take on everything to do with Sodhim Hussein and the Iraq war. Cheers!
Mark, no offence taken mate. Go and read Republican Party Reptile, it is bloody hilarious.