I'm a diehard Leftie but my son is going to private school - Will Self

[Swedes]

Discuss

Dunno about his vulpine den, but I do sort of quite fancy him. He's a bit wordy though. Perhaps if he had the skills/economy of language of a mechanic say...

Actually perhaps not. .

There is something about him, isn't there? at 'don't want out friends to see us' going back to his den though

Sorry to harp on about the questionnaire, rather than the OP, but some of the questions were rather odd...

'Do you think that some (my emphasis) criminals can never be rehabilitated?'
Well- I think we should give everyone a chance... but if someone is a sociopath they can never be rehabilitated, as they can surely never be 'cured'?

The quiz is flawed. I am right-wing but came out as left-wing libertarian.

The 'obviously' right-wing questions could only be answered as 'agree' or 'strongly agree' if you had the politics of a Nazi (or are a very old-fashioned American republican).

Better questions for assessing right-wing-edness would be:

Do you think that most people, in normal circumstances, have the ability to look after themselves and look after their families and should be trusted to do so?

Do you think that the State interferes too much?

Do you find most New Labour politicians patronising?

Do you admire the self-sufficiency of many of the people who live in rural areas?

Do you admire some independent schools for straying away from the national curriculum and providing more challenging and interesting courses?

Do you think that local charities or not-for-profits can sometimes better distribute money to the disadvantaged?

Do you think that good state school heads should be allowed more freedom to run their schools as they wish (eg, stray from the National Curriculum)?

Do you admire some religious people for refusing to apologise for their faith?

And
If Will Self wanted you to go back to his den, would you rather go at noon or in the pitch dark?

Hooray! I'm brave. I'm going to take abraid's quiz.

Do you think that most people, in normal circumstances, have the ability to look after themselves and look after their families and should be trusted to do so?

Depends what normal circumstances are, but in general yes.

Do you think that the State interferes too much?

In general, yes.

Do you find most New Labour politicians patronising?

A lot. Maybe not most. But then I find a lot of politicians of all hues patronising. And a lot not.

Do you admire the self-sufficiency of many of the people who live in rural areas?

Yes, I don't see why not. If they are genuinely self-sufficient.

Do you admire some independent schools for straying away from the national curriculum and providing more challenging and interesting courses?

I admire the existence of an alternative curriculum - but as long as it is predicated upon parents' ability to pay and not the need of the child it will not be serving the correct group.

Do you think that local charities or not-for-profits can sometimes better distribute money to the disadvantaged?

Yes.

Do you think that good state school heads should be allowed more freedom to run their schools as they wish (eg, stray from the National Curriculum)?

Yes.

Do you admire some religious people for refusing to apologise for their faith?

Well, I don't generally ask them to apologise for it. I usually ask them to provide evidence for the existence of their deity. Which they never can.

Score me, score me!

(In my own mind I am a bit woolly centre-left with a few strong right-wing streaks.)

How can any thinking sane person claim to be a socialist?

UQD: you are showing dangerous traits of right-wing-ism.

I suggest you bathe yourself in the works of Sydney and Beatrice Webb for a few hours to wash yourself out.

And the answer to Swedes' question is obviously noon. You can tell she's not a Socialist because she gave us a choice.

I can honestly say that I have never had a secret sexual fantasy about Will Self. Although his command of the english language is wonderful, he's got one of the most unattractive voices known to man. Even were you to gag him, his colouring is a bit monochrome. No. Not at all.

Absolutely quattro. Deeply unattractive on all counts.

Was v.g on the book quiz thing on BBC4 though. Very well read (not surprisingly) but much better than the other contestants who were pretty high brow themselves (well high brow for a tv show....)

I agree abraid about the bias of that questionnair. But I think your questions are also biased as I think I would answer yes to lots of them, with provisos but am very left wing.

Bonsior a very sane socialist here thankyou.

Most people in this country have no choice about sending their children to state schools.I am glad that I don't live in London where this problem seems to crop up more frequently than in other parts of the country.
We state educate all four DCs,but I am a practising Catholic and our local(9 miles away) Catholic state school is excellent,in fact it is billed as 'private education without the fees'.
Unfortunately,as many have already said on here,whilst it is possible to do well in a bad school,with supportive parents/right mindset etc,many children grow up in houses with widescreen TVs/latest electronic gadgets but no books.This phenomenon is not unique to the'lower' classes either.
Mygrandparents and parents'bettered' themselves through reading/libraries/night school.
Not sure if this is still always the case today.

books thing is interesting. A boy came to our house recently (friend of Ds2 aged 9) and while the others were playing on the playstation, in the garden etc etc, he spent his whole time looking through our books ( we have hundreds...) He then borrowed several to take home. I hadn't really thought about it, but I have been to his house, and there are no books downstairs - had not really thought about it before. He has a TV in his room apparently, but he was clearly craving books.

Should have said - we are long on books, but short on TVs. ( Have one, very old, very small and not flat) And the DC will not, EVER, have a TV in their rooms. DH & I decided when we moved in together that the bedroom was for sleeping, reading and s*x. So have told the DC the bedrooms are for sleeping, reading and playing..

You can have a tv in your room and lots of books.

I am more Left libertarian than Mandela and Dalai Lama, and definitley do not fancy Will Self.

My spot on the graph is pretty much in the same place as Gandhi's. When did he take the test I wonder? Anyway...

I suspect I would be a leftie even on abraid's test.

Will Self - hell no!

It is interesting that Brown is a right authoritarian. In fact if you are a libertarian there is no hope of you ever becoming a leader, it would seem.

I am even more lefty and liberal than Gandhi and the Dalai Lama

as for Will Self i probably would ....despite bad breath and my anticipation that he is a rather 'selfish' lover

still would!

Ria at selfish lover. Very good.

Ria... don't you think Will Self is of the same mould as Christopher Eccleston? (which is probably why you would....)

WIll Self: ugh. I can't believe I have to agree with him on this. Swedes - noooo, surely not.

I have made a new day's resolution not to get into private vs state arguments, but ... Twinset: "I do not liek the idea that people can buy advantage." Nor do I, really, but given that buying advantage is a fact of life, why not let someone buy it for your DD?

I'm not a fan of private education on the biased basis that everyone I have met who was privately educated - which has only been in the workplace - seems to have a massive sense of entitlement, and get stroppy / defensive when you ask them to do things. To be fair, this is a sample of about 6 people, so I'm not claiming it is representative. I can't imagine I would ever be in a position to afford private education though, so maybe I'm convincing myself