The controversial commentator talks to The Economist about Western values, disappointment with Trump and moral clickbait
s the Judeo bit or the Christian bit —many people simply interpret those ideas differently. They have done throughout history; they do so the more in pluralist societies. So youWell, not really. The argument that I make is that there are certain fundamental principles that have always been held and have not always been fulfilled in Judeo-Christian values. And those are in tension with—and rubbing up against but mutually buttressing, counterintuitively—the ideas of reason.
But the more durable those ways are of reaching out to each other, the more we can, at the same time, maintain our individuality, and also see the common humanity in the other. It is the sort of point that Robert Putnam makes in “Bowling Alone”. The Harvard sociologist, he makes the point that diversity itself is not necessarily a strengthening factor in a society, but when there is a society that has a common purpose, then the diversity definitely helps the society.
If you believe that the West has had a generalised beneficial and salutary impact on the world, particularly over the last few centuries, we’re going to have to look at the values that inspired that, because that is something that’s different.
I think one of the things that has happened is that we have decided that, thanks to narratives of victimisation and privilege—some of which are rooted in real history, but I think draw bad conclusions—what we’ve decided instead is that we have to argue from identity, as opposed to arguing from the notion that we are all individual human beings that have the capacity for reason.
The sort of tribal politics that we are seeing, and that I think does in some ways escalate toward violence, is a politics where we say, “You cannot have a discussion with me because you have not had my experiences”. The intersectional politics of the United States is really dangerous and it’s not just on the left side of the aisle. It’s on the right side of the aisle, as well.You use quite out-there language.
The sort of tribal politics that we are seeing, and that I think does in some ways escalate toward violence, is a politics where we say, “You cannot have a discussion with me because you have not had my experiences”Let’s come to a saying that you were very famous for: “Facts don’t care about your feelings”.
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