Barbarian civilisation

I watched Andrew Neil’s polemic the other evening and enjoyed it. But that and all the other expressions of outrage, defiance or whatever with which we’ve been deluged in the last week don’t mean very much.

“We must not show we’re afraid, we must carry on as normal” is fine as far as it goes, perhaps it’s all most ordinary citizens can contribute to the situation. It’s nice to believe that “civilisation will defeat barbarism”, but we can’t take that as a given. After all, the civilisation that Rome gave to the known world was swept away by barbarians and it was centuries before something recognisable as civilisation began to re-emerge.

Western society should become more rigorous in enforcing the basic structures on which our democracies and freedoms are founded. And let’s whinge a little less if the security services have access to what is streaming across the internet. Just accept that the internet isn’t a private place. It also means that if you really, really want to go after the bad guys in places like Iraq and Syria, you have to put “boots on the ground”. Until we accept some hard and unpleasant realities, ok, carry on lighting the candles, laying the wreaths and fulminating your defiance in the media. It won’t stop a single bomb or bullet.

John O'Neill, Rayong, Thailand

The Invisible (Unionist's) Hand

Do we know if Russia has ever financed integrationist movements? The change in tone from anti to pro-EU by the left in Britain was sudden and not fully explained by a single speech to the Labour Conference by a French left wing politician. Unions continue to support the EU despite the damage to their members by unlimited EU immigration; is there a guiding hand behind the scenes?

Andrew Smith, Epping, UK

Shifting social attitudes to sexual rights

I think a young woman should understand that sexual aggravation is created more by the social aggravation of sexual mania than the woman’s personal body. If she understands that she can live her natural life in her own way without creating more children to add to her personal burden and also to nature’s environmental burden.

Pushpa Selvam, Chennai, India

Nineteen Eighty-Four

Strange life has been discovered on planet Corbyn, coincidentally on the centenary of Einstein’s discovery of black holes (Theory of Relativity). Einstein identified parts of the universe where space and time have become so distorted that all light has been swallowed up; the force of gravity is so overpowering that even light cannot escape and simply disappears into a black hole.

Watching Comrade Mc Donnell, the Financial Commissar of New Old Labour, waving his little red book made me realise how light in the far distant corners of the universe can so easily disappear. Like a falling star, however, his light burned brightly as his animated face lit up the Chamber whilst reciting from his bible. In Chairman Mao’s little red book Comrade Mc Donnell can always find inspiration and solace; for John and Jeremy the Truth was revealed at an early age and has been a constant source of comfort throughout the barren years of the Thatcher Tyranny and the Bliar metamorphosis. Although, like most people, they’ve heard of Orwell, it’s a pity they didn’t understand his message:
Orthodoxy means not thinking—not needing to think. Orthodoxy is unconsciousness.

Michael Roarty, Eastbourne, UK

New Libertarianism?

On What happened to left wing libertarianism? – 13 November.

I would like to say, that while I believe free market libertarianism is economically very efficient, I am critical of it because it inevitably leads to greater polarization of society into haves and have-nots – through its (over)successfully seductive salesmanship to consume even on credit, perpetuating poverty especially among lower income earners who find it too difficult to save adequately and persistently towards their own wealth ownership creation.That’s why I see salvation of Western Democracy in the direction of the absolute Center of the political spectrum. This would be defined by moving towards a minimally meaningful level of personal (retirement) capital ownership by all citizens, which can be initiated through a personal (retirement) capital ownership rate built into the taxation system.

This achieves 100% citizen participation, including even those without taxable income through the average of goods and services taxes.

Jens Meder, Auckland, New Zealand

On the bottle

Great piece, Mr. Lyons. (Why wine writers should have a taste for the unknown – 6 November).

I’d like to draw a distinction here, the essential difference between the wine writer and the wine critic. A wine writer isn’t bound to ensure the quality, taste profile or anything else for the reader. A wine writer gets the blessed job of passing on the experience of drinking wine and be willing to pass on the feeling of the moment to readers. Thanks for sharing your afternoon in Saint-Aubin. I’ll look forward to reading more from you.

Jill Barth, Illinois, USA     |    @jillbarth

My first true experience of Brunello was in a small restaurant tucked behind the Palazzo Communale in Siena. It was October and I’d just been married in the room of Good and Bad Government by the communist vice-mayor of that medieval town famed for its Paleo.

25 years later and I’m still married to the same young woman I wed in 1990, even if we’re two and half decades wiser.

Apart from the joys of an enduring marriage there are other upsides too. Brunellos bought in the decade after our wedding are coming into a perfect drinking window. Proper Brunello needs time, but it’s time worth waiting for, as when they are à point they are unbeatably lush and rewarding. As a velvety textured Lisini 1997 coats the mouth, so the memory returns of a once-in-a-lifetime Brunello lunch in Siena in October 1990

Nick Martin, London, UK     |    @wineowners1