Blair in Galt's Gulch
by David Bertelsen
He's a socialist. Some call him a warmongering lunatic who would bomb children in Manchester and take away their teddies if his friend from the ranch asked him to. He is presiding over a massive increase in government spending. He wanders at will from left to right to centre, seemingly rudderless in the sea of ideas. Really, you'd think, he should burn for a long, long time in that non-existent objectivist hell which 20th century leaders are inevitably consigned to.
But, despite it all, and despite myself, I just can't help liking the guy.
Somehow, I just can't shake off the notion that he is perhaps one of the most sincere and honest people I have seen in politics. Honest not just to the world, but to himself. He seems to have convictions that he will hold onto damn the consequences. He is intelligent.
So what if? What if Mr. Tony Blair had been born into a different culture, a different time, or a different place? Or what if he, like me, had had a friend who had lent him a copy of The Fountainhead at an impressionable age?
No doubt in my mind- he would not be Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Libertarian ideas don't bring influence of global proportions in one life-time. But if he really is an intelligent man of convictions, honest enough with himself to listen and think through bold new ideas, then surely, he would have seen the logic of liberty. And whether that would be as a politician, an academic or a businessman, having Blair on our side would have made a difference.
And how many other Blair's are there out there, never exposed, never awakened? How many years will it take until the culture change washes through, randomly spilling corruptive objectivist ideas over future leaders?
It's something I keep in mind when the road narrows, and the constant quest to introduce ideas of liberty becomes a battle. By holding ourselves true to our ideals, we trade short term opportunities for peace of mind and integrity. It will take generations before an objectivist could become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. But it will happen, and we will have made it happen.
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