“Some of you may recall that, back in April, I spent a few moments expressing my distaste for the ‘Euston Manifesto’. Today, thanks to a little playing on Technorati, I discovered that some other blog has, instead of discussing the post in my comments section or sending me an e-mail, taken chunks of the post out of context and then set about whining. Now, I don’t give a fuck what these cowards think or what opinions they express in their own circle of mutual appreciation and mental masturbation, but I find this an unsatisfactory course of action. Rude even. The irony is that these people have only leant credence to the central theme of the original post – that there are certain sections of the left-wing who believe, in the same manner as muslim fundamentalists do, that they alone know the correct state of human existence and that their views, without question, should be dressed up in emotive examples then foisted upon the rest of the world, regardless of what suffering this intervention may cause. Ooh, they irritate me.

“To elaborate on my original point… I am still not convinced that any sort of intervention by the “Western Powers” will cause any long-term reduction in suffering. As I’ve said before, us “civilised” Europeans were killing each other in vast numbers well within living memory. The difference was the degree of balance between the sides; Germany and England were both industrial powers of comparable advancement. Because of the way we have chosen to interfere in the affairs of “developing” countries, there are massive imbalances in power amongst the opposed sides – you have unarmed people being decimated by opponents using high-tech armaments funded by our purchase of the mineral wealth they control. What I’m suggesting is that we should change our behavior to put an end to this situation – Iran wouldn’t have the cash to build nuclear weapons if we weren’t sucking up the oil they control. We have the technology to abandon oil if we want to. Stop buying oil, or iPods, from countries that don’t adhere to the human rights standards you prescribe.”

“Furthermore, I’d like to remind those that were driven to call me a variety of terribly hurtful names that I advocated offering asylum to anyone in need. This is what I find most tiresome about the “worthy” – they don’t listen, they only speak. They don’t question their beliefs and they react to criticism by shouting about the most emotive, headline-grabbing examples while ignoring the important details. Now, this is hardly surprising – such behavior has characterised our New Labour “leaders” for the past decade, however, these are not the actions of the intelligent, enlightened being – you have to discuss and be prepared to move your position slightly. Oh – and in blogging terms, that means no anonymous comments – if you wish to call me a cunt, at least leave some identification.”