www.brooke-lee.com

templetonpeck · Joined: 23 Mar 2007 Posts: 8

I've been reading the Enlightenment philosopher Thomas Paine's "The Rights of Man" this week, which elegantly captures and conveys the emerging 18th century intellectual view of human beings as "free" i.e. unbound from feudal obligations, serfdome and monarchy.

It was a seminal thesis, written initially as a reponse to criticism of the French revolution, but which ultimately came to belong to a body of works that gave rise to a movement known as "Liberterianism". This position included the notion of freedom of opinion and expression.

Jeremy Clarkson often claims to espouse liberterian values when he asserts his personal freedom to drive around in the kind of 4 litre gas-guzzling behemoth that has become an emblematic target of the global movement to raise awareness of and reverse climate change.

I think Clarkson fundamentally misunderstands the defintition of libertarianism and has hijacked the term in order to promote a view of human existance that would perhaps best be described as selfish and solipsistic.

Does anyone agree or violently disagree with this position? If so, I think it would be marvellous if we could use this forum to conduct a debate about what is surely the most salient issue of the early 21st century i.e. climate change and the human behaviour that is driving it, according to a steadily increasing volume of scientific evidence.

After all, that's what the internet was supposed to be about wasn't it? Democracy and freedom of opinion and speech in it's purest form.

jaffa · Joined: 10 Oct 2006 Posts: 18 Location: birmingham

personally id sooner talk about brooke after all its her forum!!!! Smile

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ginger_fool · Joined: 18 Jun 2006 Posts: 101

templetonpeck · Joined: 23 Mar 2007 Posts: 8

jaffa · Joined: 10 Oct 2006 Posts: 18 Location: birmingham

why thank you very much. if on the other hand your being sarcastic then i congratulate you sir i can not even come close to your level of sarcasum
Smile

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templetonpeck · Joined: 23 Mar 2007 Posts: 8

jaffa · Joined: 10 Oct 2006 Posts: 18 Location: birmingham

why thankyou i see your command of the english language is first class
and no doubt you have been studying for years to acheive the level you are at now

congratulations Very Happy

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