12 The EconomistJuly 27th 2019
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On conservatives’ conscience
If, as you say, conservatism is
in crisis, it is a crisis of its own
making (“The self-preservation
society”, July 6th). For the past
50 years at least, conservatives
in America and Britain have
engaged in a deliberate policy
of dog-whistling, pandering,
and often actively reaching out
to nativists, racists,
misogynists, anti-Semites,
xenophobes and homophobes,
echoing their words, adopting
their ideas and furthering their
influence. They didn’t merely
tolerate these people; they
encouraged them and recruit-
ed them.
From Enoch Powell’s Rivers
of Blood speech to Richard
Nixon’s Southern Strategy,
from Ronald Reagan’s courting
of the “moral majority” to
Margaret Thatcher speaking of
Britain being “swamped by
people with a different cul-
ture”, conservative politicians
tacitly supported odious ideas,
bringing those ideas ever more
into the political mainstream.
A philosophy once merely
suspicious of change became
one that resented and resisted
change. Parties once known for
their tolerance became identi-
fied with ethnic nationalism.
This was no accident; it was the
result of decades of deliberate
policy. The ascent of such
figures as Donald Trump and
Nigel Farage is the natural
consequence.
Because of a desire to retain
power, conservatives pandered
to the worst elements in our
societies. Now they pretend to
be shocked that those elements
have taken over their parties. It
is hard to have any sympathy
for them.
david howard
Milwaukee, WisconsinThe abandonment of exchange
controls after Thatcher’s elec-
tion victory in 1979, the
dramatic deindustrialisation
and tidal wave of unemploy-
ment that followed and the
subsequent mass privatisation
of public utilities were compo-
nents of an economic revolu-
tion that was neoliberal in
theory, not conservative. It was
Thatcher, initially a Europhile(but edging towards Euroscep-
ticism in her later years) who
helped to launch this neo-
liberal revolution. Its archi-
tects then set about Europe,
inspiring the Single European
Act, the single currency and
free movement. In Britain
there has since been a seamless
procession of neoliberal lead-
ers in the main parties, all high
priests of the new faith.
This was all opposite to the
tenets of Michael Oakeshott’s
conservatism, which you cited:
“family, church, tradition,
local association to control
change and slow it down” and,
most significantly, the perils of
sweeping away institutions.
kelvin hopkins, mp
House of Commons
LondonGiven Oakeshott’s definition of
conservatism, isn’t it possible
that the current populist
spasm is an understandable
response to extreme circum-
stances rather than, as you
claim, a repudiation of its
history? Globalisation, though
inevitable and beneficial,
brings the unfamiliar and the
distant rather closer than
many feel comfortable with.
On its own this would not be
enough to cause the ructions
we are experiencing, but
combine it with wage
stagnation, austerity and a
blinkered repudiation of the
progressive-liberal tools need-
ed to improve things, then the
necessary conditions for a
great disruption are in place.
phil badger
Barnsley, South YorkshireI have never met a conserva-
tive. The people I meet have
very little idea what they think
or why they think it. They
attach themselves to some
collective identity and wish
destruction on those who
attach themselves somewhere
else. What remains is the urge
to purge something for its
foreignness or impureness.
Walter Benjamin wrote about
“the destructive character” in
1931, which demolishes estab-
lished practice without con-
cern for what will replace it.
marcus bullock
Madison, WisconsinSetting a value
The article on “Rich people’s
problems” in The World If
supplement (July 6th) asserted
that the “trickier parts of
investment portfolios to value
include...art and antiques,
and...privately held
businesses”. No, it’s easy.
For any asset that does not
have a value in an arm’s length
market, the owner should be
free to declare any value and
pay tax based on that valua-
tion. However, such a valua-
tion should be deemed to
imply willingness to sell the
asset at that price to anyone,
including the state Treasury.
Any asset that is concealed
from the tax authorities, if and
when it comes to light, should
be deemed to be valued at zero
and available for purchase at
that value by the Treasury.
avinash dixit
Emeritus professor of
economics
Princeton University
Princeton, New JerseyCotton puff
Many of Uzbekistan’s farmers
would no doubt love to grow
fruit and veg in place of cotton
(“Ready, steady, reform”, July
6th). They are unable to do so
because of the system of man-
datory state orders, inherited
from Soviet times. If you fail to
deliver the mandated cotton
quota to the state you lose your
leasehold. Revenues from the
cotton harvest are reputed to
be funnelled through semi-
private government-linked
trading companies; abolishing
the quotas would hurt these
powerful entities.
Émigré groups such as the
Uzbek-German Forum for
Human Rights document how
forced labour, sometimes
consisting of doctors, teachers
and other state employees,
continues in the harvest,
despite the government’s
claim to have eradicated it. On
a separate point, hundreds of
families across the country
have lost their homes in the
past two years without
compensation or effective
recourse, to make way for
shady developments. Realreform begins with enforce-
able property rights for the
many, not just for the few.
cassandra cavanaugh
New YorkNazi operations in America
The landing of a German
U-boat on the coast of Labrador
in 1943 was not “the only
known Nazi military operation
on North American soil” (“Eye
of the storm”, July 6th). In June
1942 the Nazi’s Operation
Pastorius landed eight
saboteurs on a beach near
Amagansett, Long Island, and
at a beach in north Florida. The
men were arrested some two
weeks later after one of the
saboteurs, George Dasch, had
second thoughts and tele-
phoned the fbi.
Six were executed in Au-
gust. Dasch and another sabo-
teur received life sentences but
were later granted clemency by
Harry Truman and deported.
The Nazis also landed two
intelligence agents on the
coast of Maine in late 1944.
jason gart
Director of litigation research
History Associates
Rockville, MarylandWork is good for the soul
Regarding workaholism
(Bartleby, June 29th), working
hard is not just about money.
People in all walks of life want
to feel a sense of purpose,
which is derived largely from
the work that we do. We work
less when we dislike our jobs.
When we find something truly
meaningful, working hard
comes naturally. John Maynard
Keynes was barking up the
wrong tree with his hopes for a
15-hour work week. Perhaps he
would have felt differently if he
had been a stonemason or an
artist, rather than a practi-
tioner of the dismal science.
ryan notz
London