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Much has been written lately of what it means to be British. Words like ‘tolerance’ ‘open-mindedness’ ‘fair-play’ recur in this debate but I have not yet seen a coherent satisfying response to the question. In a New York Times article in December 1951, prophetically called 'The Best Answer to Fanaticism - Liberalism', Bertrand Russell defined liberal values in the form of a decalogue intended to supplement not supplant the old one. Together they provide a coherent definition of what people of liberal sentiments believe. They do not constitute a political ideology, but represent human values that all people of good will, across the political spectrum, can embrace. Russell’s decalogue is the best expression I have seen of what it is to be British. These are Russell's 10 principles. 1. Do not feel absolutely certain of anything. The key word is 'absolutely'. Liberal belief is anti-absolutist, deeply committed to reason and recognition of opposing points of view. A respect for others underpins the British national trait of tolerance. The rejection of absolutism is philosophically existentialist. It is our responsibility to act to resist injustice and irrationality in the conduct of practical affairs. We may appeal neither to any God nor any absolute political ideology to sanction or excuse action or inaction. It is down to us. Thus liberal values are the most demanding and challenging of moral principles. They differ from those forms of Humanism which take their position from a dogmatic denial of a transcendent being. This is illiberal: at heart they deny God, and this absolutism offends the paradigm liberal value. The absolute denial of God is as unacceptable as the absolute belief in Him. Liberal values are not inconsistent with religious belief or Humanism, only with absolutist forms of either. You cannot deny a person's God or another’s rejection of one. The common ground that connects these different perspectives on the world is sharing language as a human practice: not just a language in the sense of English or French, but the capacity to say things about the world that others will recognise. To say things that may be true or false; sense or nonsense. This generates a duty of respect for human beings in and for themselves, as language-users. Liberal respect for human life and different cultures is predicated upon rejection of absolutism of all kinds. Fundamentalist religious beliefs, of any faith, are absolutist, based upon non-falsifiable, therefore non-verifiable, often conflicting, transcendent authorities. The lack of an agreed rational context within which to approach secular, political issues, common in the most intractable historical disputes, leads inexorably to physical conflict. The paradoxical result is that conflicting belief systems are driven to sanction forms of behaviour contradictory to some of the most profound moral tenets within those systems – notably the prohibition of the right to kill. 2. Do not think it worthwhile to proceed by concealing evidence for the evidence is sure to come to light. This is a practical, prudential injunction. The moral dimension of this principle is expressed elsewhere in the decalogue. The list of politicians, who have ignored it, incurring precisely the consequences indicated, is headed ignominiously by Richard Nixon. But he has plenty of contemporary political company. 3. Never discourage thinking for you are sure to succeed. Only partly ironic on Russell's part. Rationality is a fundamental liberal value, and as this is always a matter of degree, the quality of the rationality displayed will be a function of the rigour of thought. But there is a deeper point: to encourage and not to discourage thinking, is not only an expression of a commitment to rationality, but an implicit acceptance of dissent (see 8 below). Dissent can be problematic. But to deny oneself the discipline of its chastening effect, is to evade the rigour of an independent check on one's own thinking and the need to overcome it by reasoned argument. (see 4). It can make us deaf to the cry of injustice that must be heard. 4. When you meet with opposition, even if it should be from your spouse or children, endeavour to overcome it by argument and not authority, for a victory dependent upon authority is unreal and illusory. Opposition can be the grit of truth and the prick of humility. For Russell it is the manner of victory not merely the fact, that is crucial. People can be induced to behave in specified ways by different means: religious fervour, fear, greed, desire, selfishness all work well as is attested by the first decalogue. Even more effective and pertinent for our current economic and political system, is the appeal to self-interest. The economic success of this appeal has led to its universal acceptance even by ideologies inherently hostile to it, like socialism. The moral discomfort many feel about this has been 'spun' away. Logical legerdemain has turned a selfish perspective into a civic and moral duty. The economic triumph of global capitalism at the end of the 20th Century which swept away competing ideologies rested fundamentally on the appeal to naked self-interest as a prime motivator. The specious moral argument for this was expressed by Margaret Thatcher when without irony or humility, she explained that the Samaritan was only good because he had the wealth to implement his desire to help the stranger. Thus politically and economically, the pursuit of self-interest generates maximum excess value, some of which can be exacted through taxation to support expenditure to help the less successful. What looks like selfishness becomes not only socially desirable but a personal and commercial civic duty. We have created an unselfish selfishness. Orwell's on the spin. 5. Have no respect for the authority of others as there are always contrary authorities to be found. This echoes the injunction about certainty. If it is important to resist the absolutism of personal certainty, then the history of the 20th century shows how equally vital is resistance to the certainty of the group. To Nazism, Stalinism, Racism, indeed most of the political 'isms', we can now add religious fundamentalism – of all kinds and all faiths - Bush’s or Bin Laden’s. This illustrates another key liberal value: respect for the individual. Insofar as rationality is a function of shared language, in turn an expression of a shared 'form of life', one's appreciation of the value of the individual, self and others, derives from a sense of distinctiveness from the group. The only true 'authority' therefore is that of reason, respect for the truth and the importance of other individuals. 6. Do not use power to suppress opinions you think pernicious, for if you do, the opinions will suppress you. Are you listening Messrs Blair, Bush and Clarke? What price current American and British foreign policy with regard to Islamic fundamentalism? This is not to deny the problem of terrorism, it is just an apposite and dire warning about the kind of victory sought. You can't bomb ideas or shoot beliefs. At this key moment in history, no liberal value is more critical as a basis for principled action. In the West, have taken our liberal democratic freedoms for granted for far too long. Iraqis who recently risked life and limb to vote, put to shame the 40% of Britons, who without risk, couldn’t be bothered. The misuse of external threat to underpin authoritarian and illiberal policies is the oldest ploy of tyranny throughout history. Russell is right but it is a tough truth to stand by when the chips are down. But that is how you judge a principle, by the willingness to stand by it when the going is tough. 7. Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted, was once eccentric. A re-statement of the above principles, and encouragement to the individual to have courage and confidence in his own judgement, subject to (1). The history of Science illustrates this principle perfectly. 8. Find more pleasure in intelligent dissent than in passive agreement, for, if you value intelligence, as you should, the former implies a deeper agreement than the latter. Respect for dissent has to do with a sense of humility with regard to thought; recognition of the dangers of certainty. It underlines the value of rationality and the pursuit of truth, as a process shared with others. The 'deeper' agreement, of which Russell speaks, derived from sharing a language, might be called the love of and respect for, the search for truth. Not undeniable truths (see 1), but the courageous, humble effort to seek out as much truth as circumstances will permit. And the acknowledgement that one must look outside oneself, to others, in order to achieve this. 9. Be scrupulously truthful, even when the truth is inconvenient, for it is more inconvenient when you try to conceal it. The list of public figures who have ignored this precept to their cost is long. But this is not just pragmatic advice. Beneath it lies the principle of trust. The viability of language itself is predicated upon the logical principle that people, on the whole, tell the truth when they use language. The systematic misuse of this precept progressively undermines the process of communication and thereby the possibility of trust for the individual who abuses this expectation. Of course people cheat, lie, dissemble, mislead, spin, as well as tell the truth. But trust of politicians derives from the connection between what they say and what they do, and the explanations they give when things turn out differently from the outcomes expected. At this point most of the principles above become critical. 10. Do not feel envious of the happiness of those who live in a fool's paradise, for only a fool will think it is paradise. Deception, even self-deception, is a conscious or subconscious denial of truth. The denial of truth is the denial of reality. The denial of reality amounts to the decision to try to live out of harmony with the world around you. By Russell's definition - a fool. Liberal values are at the heart of what it is to be British. We distrust ideologies and know they do not deliver. We have learned through conflict and war, the profound cost in human suffering of the failed ideologies of Marxism, Communism, Nazism, Nationalism, Racism etc. ‘Isms’ kill. Never has the need for principled leadership and moral authority been more acute. Brute power is not leadership, it is its antithesis. Principled leadership in international affairs is what we call statesmanship: the principle of proceeding by agreement, consensus and the rule of law, not the unilateral application of overwhelming power (see 6. above). Lao Tze: "The bad leader is he who the people hate. The good leader is he who the people love. The great leader is he who the people say: "we did it ourselves." Being British is to value and respect fundamental liberal values. They are the intellectual heartbeat of our education system; the caring spirit of the NHS; and the source of instinctive scepticism of self-serving political hypocrisy. The British reject absolutism of all kinds: religious, political, social, or even economic. The compassion and tolerance of its beliefs define our established church. The greatest weakness in western democracies in recent years has been the failure for these inspirational principles of moderation to be advocated with passion by principled leaders committed to them. Islamic fundamentalism currently has the power of inspirational appeal, especially to impressionable young people, that motivates them to kill by suicide. The values that make us British offer an equally inspirational set of values that recognise everything fundamentalism denies: above all, equality of respect in all things, especially race, religion, and gender. Our values offer all people, especially the young, inspirational values to live for, not blasphemous fictions to die for. If we cannot win the war of ideas and ideals against all forms of absolutism, we cannot win at all. And we cannot display faith and courage in our ideals, by sacrificing them in the face of the first attack of a dedicated enemy. Zettel - August 2005
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