Bapton Books Position Papers:

About the series:

hese Position Papers, commonly authored by the partners and publishers of Bapton Books, jointly or severally, are made available free of charge (in many cases), or at a nominal charge, to the reading public and all those interested in the affairs of the day. hey are issued to inform, to !uestion, to educate, to assert propositions for argument, to challenge, to analyse, and, al"ays, to spark useful and intelligent debate. #ach represents the vie"s of the author or authors of each specific paper. hose vie"s and positions are not attributable to any other authors published by Bapton Books, or, save where noted, to the imprint as such.

Bapton Books Position Papers:

Come, Thomas! This isnt Spain...: Mozilla, Call-MeDave, and the Ghost of Orwell
April $%&'

(eries: )*, )(, +ommon"ealth, Anglosphere, ,nternational -./ /emyss .arkham (ha" Pyle
This Paper represents the views of Bapton Books as a firm.

+opyright $%&' by Bapton Books 0iterary rust 1o. &

About the authors:

GMW Wem ss lives and "rites, "isely pseudonymously, in /ilts. 2aving, by invoking the protective colouration of t"eeds, cricket, and country matters, someho" evaded immersion in .ercury "hilst up at )niversity, he survived to become the author of The Confidence of the House: May 1940 and of Sensible Places: essays on lace, ti!e, " countryside, as "ell as of the #illa$e Tales series of novels, beginning "ith $%&34s Cross and Po y%

Mar!ham "haw # le, author of &enevolent 'esi$ns: The Countess and the (eneral: (eor$e )ashin$ton, Selina Countess of Huntin$don, their corres ondence, " the evan$eli*in$ of +!erica, and 5,ools, 'run-s, and the .nited States/: +u$ust 10, 1941, holds his undergraduate and la" degrees from /ashington 6 0ee. 2e is a past or current member of, inter alia, the 7rgani8ation of American 2istorians9 the (ociety for .ilitary 2istory9 the (outhern 2istorical Association9 the (outh"estern (ocial (cience Association9 the (outh"estern 2istorical

Association9 the (outh"estern Political (cience Association9 the :irginia 2istorical (ociety9 and the e;as (tate 2istorical Association.

ogether, they are the partners in Bapton Books, and co<authors of 123: The year of ortent4 of )hen That (reat Shi )ent 'own: the le$al and olitical re ercussions of the loss of 5MS itanic9 of The &a ton &oo-s Sa! ler: a literary chresto!athy4 and of The Transatlantic 'is utations: 6ssays " 7bservations4 and co<editors and co< annotators of The Co! lete Mow$li Stories, 'uly +nnotated, and The +nnotated /ind in the /illo"s, for +dults and Sensible Children 8or, ossibly, Children and Sensible +dults9% heir history of the =uly +risis of &>&' is forthcoming this year.

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Come, Thomas! This isnt Spain...: Mozilla, Call-Me-Dave, and the Ghost of Orwell$

,
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t has not been the best of months. 1ot personally: the -rand 1ational "as marred9$ .r Pyle is scrying "orrisome omens even in the winnin$ games of his

hapless hometo"n 2ouston Astros, no" reduced to play upon the =unior +ircuit, and in his beloved Birds of Baltimore: even in their "ins, and even thus early in the season9 .r /emyss should prefer not to contemplate the state of #ngland cricket9 and .r Pyle slipped, and fell, heavily and
?or the love of -od, lease tell us you recognise that reference. 0ie, if you must. he preceding races "eren4t all that one might have "ished, either. .r /emyss takes the position that if one "ishes to "atch !uadrupeds being raced in a desert sandstorm, one goes to camel races in the )A#, not to sodding Aintree.

painfully,3 in the mud and "et on his "ay to a party. ' 7nly the Boat @ace "as an unalloyed pleasure in its result (and the same again for the reserves and the "omen: an unfortunate year for the abs all 4round, really). .uch more pertinently, it has been a damned poor month for liberty. An American journalist A for certain values of Bjournalist4 A has called for persons in public life "ho do not accept his vie"s on anthropogenic global "arming, to be gaoled. (2e e;cuses those Bdeniers4 A that useful term that places those "ith "hom he disagrees, on the moral level of people "ho pretend the Shoah never happened A "ho are not public persons, on the ground that they are fat morons from the lu! en roletariat incapable of reason or argument: "hich is "hat passes, no"adays, for a commitment to democracy and a love for the common man, on the 0eft.) An ostensible coalition government in the )*, ostensibly led by ostensible +onservatives as its majority party, is contemplating legislation to allo" actions to be taken against
3 ' hese things will happen A and hurt, rather A "hen one is built like +hurchill, 1ot the P.: the tan-% ,t "as, he hastens to add, a fa!ily gathering, to "hich he "as perforce invited. 7f course no one not impelled by a duty that cannot be evaded should invite him to a party other"ise.

parents "hose children complain that they are not being given enough cosseting or s"eeties, thereby ensuring that the inner "orkings of the family shall be henceforth invigilated by the sort of jobs"orths and jacks<in<office "ho stood by and allo"ed Baby P to be done to death. .o8illa has sacked its co<founder, the creator of =ava, .r Brendan #ich, for having given, some years ago, a paltry donation to the B"rong4 side in a +alifornian political campaign:C the side in favour of amending that state4s constitution so as to prevent judges from discovering in it a pretended right (B0ookD ,t "as there all along, hiding in the undergro"thD4) re!uiring that marriage be redefined beyond the bounds of one man and one "oman. his, of course, "as the side "hich, at the time, advocated precisely the vie" on "hether there ought to be same<se; marriage,E as "as advocated, at the time, by Barack 7bama and .rs +linton. ( he side supporting the e;pansion of the marriage right to persons of the same se;, "as, by, contrast, the side upon
C E hus causing cognitive dissonance in the 0eft, "ho insist that corporate bodies have no legal personality and mustn4t have politics. (o called. 1o"adays, of course, it is insistently called Bmarriage e!uality4 or Be!ual marriage4 or some similar damned thing, a candy<floss phrase deployed, like Bdenier4, propagandistically, using emotive phrases that presume a certain conclusion in advance so as to choke off debate and darken counsel and avoid logical argument. @adek and .Fn8enberg should have been so proud of their lasting influence.

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"hich, then as no", Gick +heney lined up.)

And of course, in the UK under what is ostensibly a coalition government ostensibly led by ostensible Conservatives as its majority party not only did the Act permitting marriages to be contracted between persons of the same sex7 come into force, the mandarins and the !"C published guidance which in the teeth of governmental and ministerial representations to the contrary not only threatens actions against tradesmen who chose not to enter into contracts to provide services to such weddings, but also provides that political and religious organisations which dissent from the new law may be barred from providing public services and from ministering to their own flocks in NHS hospitals, HM Prisons, or any other publicly-funded setting or body.
This differs from what is %oin% forwards in #&tins '&ssia and in (arts of )fri*a onl in the side ta!en + the silen*ers on one or another ti*! -+o, on the list of Ga To(i*s. -t is e.&all totalitarian and fas*ist. 7h. /e almost forgot. he .et sent ro88ers 4round the

ne"spaper in +roydon to threaten a journalist "ith being done for harassment for doing journalism on an admitted and
H .arriage ((ame (e; +ouples) Act $%&3 (c. 3%).

convicted fraudster. ,t almostI makes one "onder "hy :ladimir :aldimirovich bothered "ith his +rimean +nschluss, "hen the /est seems intent upon A if he4d only be patient A delivering itself into the hands of tyranny. ,n fact, these alarming incidents are all much of the statutory and proverbial muchness, as "e shall see. /e may begin by defining our terms A and even before that, laying our cards upon the table. As a partnership and individually, "e long preferred ?irefo;9 "e have no" s"itched to 7pera. (,# is a perpetual Barmecide feast9 (afari and /indo"s go together like kippers and jam9 and +hrome is "hat happens "hen .icrosoft cackles and rubs its hands and says, "ith .icrosoftian hubris, B1o one can ever create a kludgier and more bloated bro"ser than ,#D4 J and -oogle sets its ja", glares, and gro"ls, B+hallenge accepted4.) /e neither kne" nor cared "hat the makers4 politics "ere and are9 "e should have preferred to have been able to remain in
I 7nly Balmost4, mind. /e kno" "hy .r Put(a)in is in a hurry. 2is country is in an economic and demographic death<spiral "hich could be averted only by its being transformed into a land of free men, free minds, and free markets, and rejecting forever everything he and his long line of +hekhist predecessors under tsar and commissar alike, represent. /e e;ult in either outcome: "e4d prefer a free and +lassically 0iberal @ussia, but if the buggers shan1t and won1t reform, "e4ll happily toast their decline and fall.

happy ignorance of such other"ise immaterial matters. /ere one to ask .r Pyle "hat his se;uality is A apparently this sort of intrusive !uery is no" considered the height of delicate manners A his response J "ell, all right, his first response4d be unprintable, alluding to the utter lack of its being your business9 but his second should be, B.oot and unsuccessful4, on the ground that A even before he became old and fat and boring and failed A no "oman, and indeed so far as he kno"s no man, and so far as he presumes no self< respecting $oat, for that matter, should ever have given him the time of day.> .r /emyss, by contrast, is A although anything but camp A as gay as +hristmas, and has never really made any pretence of being anything save a bit of old iron. 2e is after all not only a historian, but a novelist, "hose lead characters include a gay couple and t"o bise;ual men "ho have chosen to remain chaste (one being a devout .uslim and the other
> 2e is "ont to say that he used, "hen younger, to s"ear that if he could find a "oman "ho4d go out "ith him t"ice, and could bake cornbread, he4d marry her. #ven after dropping the cornbread re!uirement A as neither Betty +rocker nor .artha /hite "ere really suitable : he failed to find a "oman "ho4d go out "ith him t"ice. 7r, commonly, once. he pool of "omen now, of course, "ho are at all interested in a short, stout, balding, boring, middle< aged military historian, is even smaller than it "as "hen he still had remote hopes. 2e doubts it should be any better "ere he, improbably and pointlessly, to decide, in final desperation, to pursue men. -oats are right out.

the @ector). And as a firm, Bapton Books "ill publish anything by anyone (so long as it4s "ell<"ritten), including a gay romance that4s in the manuscript stage from one of our ne" "riters. Both .r /emyss and .r Pyle support civil unions, &% and have done for some time (.r Pyle even in his la"yering days, not so much despite as because these undercut the 0a"yers4 ?ull #mployment Act pursuant to "hich same<se; couples "ere mulcted of billable hours for matching "ills plus po"ers of attorney plus this, that, and the other damned instrument). Both .r Pyle and .r /emyss are A like, .r /emyss points out, his fello" open gayer Brian (e"ell A opposed to e;tending the ius !atri!oniu! to same<se; couples: not, ho"ever, on religious, but rather on grounds of historical "isdom, legal principles, and political philosophy.&& 7ur interests having been declared, "e turn to definitions. (,t "orked for the -reeks, after all: (ocrates and that lot.) /reedom of s(ee*h, e,(ression, and (&+li*ation is, as a legal and constitutional concept, a protection against a
&% (o long as these are decided to be enacted by the people or their democratic representatives and not imposed by judicial di-tat or regulatory u-ase% && ,f the "hy and "herefore is that bloody important to you, turn to the anne;e, then.

$overn!ent1s intrusion upon these rights (beyond la"s against, for e;ample, slander and libel). ,t is not applicable as such to commerce and personal interaction. (/e as near as damn it said, Bpersonal intercourse4, "hich should not, no"adays, !uite have got our meaning across.) hus, .o8illa, in sacking .r #ich, did not mount an assault upon the le$al and constitutional ri$hts to freedom of speech, e;pression, and publication. he #2+@ and 2. +ivil (ervice, by contrast,

have done precisely that in their ini!uitous and contemptible Bguidance4. (o have the .etropolitan Police, by attempting to use la"s against stalking and harassment to prevent an act of journalism4s taking place. ,f any legislature in the civilised "orld "ere to enact legislation of the sort proposed by .r Adam /einstein, gaoling persons for holding and e;pressing contrary vie"s upon global "arming, that also should be an assault upon these freedoms. /reedom of asso*iation, "hich necessarily implies the freedom not to associate "ith those "hom one shouldn4t care to meet in a lane, means simply that persons and organisations are free to choose their friends or members A and indeed employees. /e accept the superiority of legal restrictions upon this freedom "here it is abused by, say,

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racialists9 "e do not accept that it applies to legitimate differences of political opinion on issues of the day. 0m(lo ment at will, "hich is our preference, is the contrary both of the closed shop and of fi;ed<term contractual terms of employment, allo"ing employer and employee alike to sever the relationship as and "hen they so choose, for any reason or none. Again, "e accept the superiority of legal restrictions upon this freedom "here it is abused by, say, racialists9 but not really other"ise. /as*ism, "hich -eorge 7r"ell seventy years ago lamented "as becoming simply a term meaning Ba different opinion to mine4, has in fact a meaning (and not a rightist one). ,t is a policy programme of corporatism and cronyism based upon subscription to a governing ideology "hich must dominate all opinion, and "hich at best marginalises contrary opinion and ideology, both legally (as the #2+@ are doing in the )*) and in private contract and public life (as .o8illa are doing)9 and "hich demands that there be no dissent, or that at best any dissent be punished by deprivation of livelihood and similar measures9 and "hich e;tends its ideology, backed ultimately, if not al"ays in its early stages, by the force of the (tate and of statute, into all areas of life, capturing, co<opting,

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and corrupting all organisations, including all parties, all unions and professional bodies, all corporations, all organs of the press, and all religious bodies, in the process of (leichschaltun$% Kou may observe it in its incipient form in the )* and the )(, driven by the 0eft. As bloody usual. (.usso, after all, "as a veteran (ocialist.) hus, as 7r"ell al"ays insisted, a fas*ist is not Bsomeone "ith "hom , disagree and "ish to abuse4, but, rather, someone "ho supports ideological (leichschaltun$% (o: .o8illa, .r /einstein, and the #2@+. (And !uite likely elements of the unionised police at the .et: "e4ve not forgotten Plebgate, you kno".)&$ 1i+eralism is a term stolen by 0eftists to hide their true vie"s and purposes. /hat it in fact means is a policy in support of free men, free minds, and free markets, "ithout fear or favour, privileges, corporatism, or cronyism. .r -ladstone "as a 0iberal. 2ayek (the economist, not the actress, although "e kno" nothing of her personal politics) "as a 0iberal. )e are 0iberals. he 0iberal Gemocrats in the
&$ .any of these no doubt do not believe themselves to be fascists, and believe themselves to hate and oppose fascism. hey are fascists, objectively, all the same. hey don4t realise it simply because they are as thick as t"o short planks carved from fLcoliths deposited by ancestral Suid; : that is, t"o short planks of fossilised pig<shit.

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main are neither (bar a fe" 7range<Bookers)9 the chair"oman of .o8illa and .r /einstein are profoundly illiberal9 .r 7bama, like .r .iliband, is a 0eftist. Diversit is a term deployed, as a shibboleth, by the 0eft, "ho mean by it Ba group of people visibly different to one another, "ho look good on a brochure, "ho meet !uotas of representation for se; and ethnicity in a proportion at least e!ual to if not higher than the population, "ho come from superficially different backgrounds A religion included A prior to their all having gone to the same sort of school and having become similarly unchurched, and "ho may be relied upon to think the same damned thing about every damned topic: providing that they may vary in their opinions by each being further to the 0eft than the prior one4. ,n fact, real diversit means a group of people "ho, regardless of such accidental !ualities, hold interestingly varied opinions, "hich they are capable of e;pressing cogently and logically, arguing for, defending, and changing if they are convinced to the contrary by logic and right reason. @ight, then. As smocked, dung<spattered, stra"<che"ing peasants in the pe"s, "e have been privileged to have heard the sermons

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the Bishop of Buckingham has graciously condescended to preach to us, from his suffragan demi<episcopal throne in the (rauniad, pronouncing e< cathedra that there are no hought Police on the 0eft, there is no Bgay agenda4, there is no B-aystapo4. 2is artificial lordship "ants to pull the other one, there4s a ring of si; on it. (/e say nothing against the man personally. #ven though he has most recently called upon the parish clergy of the + of # to find "ays around or openly to defy the +hurch4s ban on solemnising same<se; marriages, and urged the outing of bishops he claims are engaged in long<term homose;ual affaires, "hilst continuing to enjoy his place, privileges, precedence, position, and pay<packet as a bishop of the +hurch of #ngland. /e merely note that Alan /ilson A "ho of course is pure as the driven sno" himself A is engaging in actions "hich, unlike (of course) the suffragan bishop himself (Brutus is an honourable man), can be characterised as intellectually dishonest, mendacious, stupid, and dishonourable. /hen one4s sole title to public attention comes from one4s position in an organisation one is defying A and using that position to oppose A, most simple pagans, let alone +hristians, tend to consider it the honourable course first to resign that position and to cease to be paid by the

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organisation one is seeking to undermine. Kou might very "ell think that the case here. /e couldn4t possibly comment.) 1o", if it "as right for .o8illa to sack .r #ich, it is also right A indeed, meet, right, and their bounden duty A that the + of # sack and for that matter unfrock Alan /ilson. /e don4t think it necessary that you consult Paddy Po"er for the odds on that9 and still less is it necessary to look out the odds against its being permitted by, for e;ample, an employment tribunal or the #2@+. 0ook here, damn it all. 2ad a for<profit corporation manufacturing durable goods of some sort said, B7ur ne" +#7 has taken political positions, and some years ago gave to a campaign, representing vie"s "ith "hich a little less than half the people in the country disagree. 2e continues to hold those vie"s. /e are gambling that the people baying for his blood can be appeased by our sacking him, and market research suggests that the backlash from the other side, if "e do sack him, "ill do less damage to the bottom line than does keeping him. B herefore, as a business decision, "ithout reference to the merits of his competence or to either position in the political dispute, "e are, in pursuance of our profits and as fiduciaries

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for our shareholders, sacking him ...4 J "ell, they might have guessed "rong. he shareholders might have a fit. But one could hardly judge such a board too harshly. But of course that "as not "hat happened "ith .r #ich4s Bresignation4 (ahem). .o8illa instead took the position that it A an organisation that is !uite tiresomely pious about its Bmission4 to create an Bopen "eb4 A must let .r #ich go on moral grounds. 7f course the silly buggers deserve mockery and boycotting.&3 ,t4s not merely that their hypocrisy A "hich they truly seem too thick to recognise A is at play. ((acking .r #ich is one thing. 0ecturing and hectoring the rest of us, even "hilst doing so, upon tolerance, the encouragement of open debate, and diversity of opinionM 2ein% le*t&red &(on diversit and free e,(ression + Mozilla is li!e +ein% he*tored a+o&t %&n *ontrol + 1eland 3ee.)&'
&3 ,f one really "ishes a combination of mockery, scathingness, and a boycott, "e suggest -eoffrey Boycott. &' A +alifornia state senator and A until just recently A candidate for (ecretary of (tate, noted for his anti<gun vie"s and no" under ?ederal indictment for attempted gun<running and bribery and all the fun of the fair. 7f course, these are all merely allegations9 the presumption of innocence attaches9 and All hat: you may take that as read.

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/hen .o8illa not only surrendered to, but began enthusiastically collaborating "ith, a fascist tendency on the 0eft, they became A in 7r"ell4s formulation < Bobjectively pro< fascist4. 0ook at "hat they have done, and ho" they have attempted to justify it. 7n 3 April, the chair"oman of .o8illa posted to .o8illa4s official blog.&C /hat she said A and "hat "e have to say about it, in s!uare brackets, italicised A is as follo"s: 2rendan 0i*h "te(s Down as Mozilla C0O .o8illa prides itself on being held to a different standard and, this past "eek, "e didn4t live up to it. /e kno" "hy people are hurt and angry, =>ot yet you don1t% &ut you shall: read on% 7r are we not ? eo le1@A and they are right: it4s because "e haven4t stayed true to ourselves. /e didn4t act like you4d e;pect .o8illa to act. /e didn4t move fast enough to engage "ith people once the controversy started. =Translation: )e didn1t surrender Buic-ly enou$h%A /e4re sorry. =Cndeed you are: sorry, athetic, and conte! tible%A /e must do better. =+nd yet you are doin$ recisely the contrary%A Brendan #ich has chosen to step do"n from his role as +#7. =7ne does rather Buery this ?chosen1 clai!%A
&C he subse!uent attempts at spin, on C April, are simply not credible, particularly in light of the 3 April post.

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2e4s made this decision for .o8illa and our community. .o8illa believes both in e!uality and freedom of speech. =&alls% 7r, in +!erican, horseshit% &y its very actions, Mo*illa has roven that not all o inions are eBual and dissentin$ s eech is enalised%A #!uality is necessary for meaningful speech. And you need free speech to fight for e!uality. =That is neither the sole ur ose nor the rinci le reBuirin$ freedo! of e< ression: which is recisely not li!ited to s eech that one or another $rou considers ?!eanin$ful1%A ?iguring out ho" to stand for both at the same time can be hard. =6vidently4 and you lot coc-ed it u %A 7ur organi8ational culture reflects diversity and inclusiveness. =This is a si! le and bald lie% Mo*illa clearly does : and values : nothin$ of the sort: it enalises diversity of o inion and the inclusion of view oints at odds with the orthodo<y of s!u$$ery%A /e "elcome contributions from everyone regardless of age, culture, ethnicity, gender, gender<identity, language, race, se;ual orientation, geographical location and religious vie"s. =This is also a blatant lie% )e rather doubt : althou$h it is so i!!aterial that we cannot be arsed to loo- the !atter out : that Mr 6ich was !otivated by reli$ious views4 but if he were : as !any an observant Dew, obedient 5C, co!!itted Mor!on, or faithful Musli! should be !otivated by reli$ious views to su ort the sa!e side in the controversy as Mr 6ich su orted : such a erson, by actin$ in accordance with his reli$ious views, should be selfE evidently unwelco!e, and his contributions forbidden, by Mo*illa%A .o8illa supports e!uality for all.

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=This is an obvious lie of 7rwellian !a$nitude, unless ?all1 is to be redefined as ?all who are bienE ensant1%A /e have employees "ith a "ide diversity of vie"s. =+nd a shiny new chillin$ effect to revent their darin$ to e< ress the! should those views not !atch those of the -rauniad% Cf they decide to do so, well, then you1ve e<Ee! loyees who resu!ed to e< ress a ?diverse1 view, don1t you%A 7ur culture of openness e;tends to encouraging staff and community to share their beliefs and opinions in public. =This is a lie breathta-in$ in its sco e and o enness% Mr 6ich did that, and loo- where he is now%A his is meant to distinguish .o8illa from most organi8ations and hold us to a higher standard. But this time "e failed to listen, to engage, and to be guided by our community. /hile painful, the events of the last "eek sho" e;actly "hy "e need the "eb. (o all of us can engage freely in the tough conversations "e need to make the "orld better. =Can this bloody wo!an be at all serious, or is this an e<tended issEta-e@ Try en$a$in$ freely in this conversation on any side save that of the + roved, and see how freely you can do so% Ct $ets you fired fro! a co! any you coEfounded%A /e need to put our focus back on protecting that /eb. And doing so in a "ay that "ill make you proud to support .o8illa. =Too soddin$ late for that% Fou1re dead to us%A /hat4s ne;t for .o8illa4s leadership is still being discussed. /e "ant to be open about "here "e are in deciding the future of the organi8ation and "ill have more information ne;t "eek. 2o"ever, our mission "ill al"ays be to make the /eb more open so that

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humanity is stronger, more inclusive and more just: that4s "hat it means to protect the open /eb. =&alls% .nless of course ?inclusivity1 is to be defined as ?in a$ree!ent with the current conventional wisdo! of a selfEselected inE$rou 1%A /e "ill emerge from this "ith a rene"ed understanding and humility =Sorry, did you say ?renewed1@ Can1t renew what you1ve clearly never ossessed, and you da!ned well cannot do so by en$a$in$ in wilful !isunderstandin$ and raw arro$ance, the conviction that you are The 6lectA N our large, global, and diverse community is "hat makes .o8illa special, and "hat "ill help us fulfill our mission. =?'iversity does not include diversity of o inion4 offer not valid in !ost laces4 innu!erable restrictions a ly1G%A /e are stronger "ith you involved. =Then wea-en : and iss off% )e1re done with you%A hank you for sticking "ith us. =)e1re not%A .itchell Baker, #;ecutive +hair"oman =>ote: )e1d not have her as e<ecutive charwo!an%A =+nd now, the final bitterlyEhu!orous irony% Had you been daft enou$h to have believed a word of Ha &a-er1s tissue of lies above: ?Mo*illa believes both in eBuality and freedo! of s eech14 ?our culture of o enness e<tends to encoura$in$ staff and co!!unity to share their beliefs and o inions in ublic14 and all the rest of that sententious and lyin$ twaddle: well, this !ust finally disabuse you of the idea that ?all of us can en$a$e freely in the tou$h conversations we need1:A 4o res(onses et

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+omments are closed, but trackbacks are open. he .o8illa logo is a dinosaur of some sort, so far as one can make out. /e very much hope that this is an instance of un"itting prophecy9 and that its fall A its deserved fall A is both imminent J and, shall "e say, meteoric. 2ere4s the thing. As a matter of general principle, "e feel that a +#7 A or a bloke on the shop floor A ought to be subject to being sacked "henever the employer feels like sacking him ("ith the caveats "e mentioned before). #ven if it4s for holding political vie"s it4s his right to hold, and even though those vie"s are not illegal, immoral, or fattening. When, however, the sa*!in% is tr&m(eted as a tri&m(h of (rin*i(le, and a**om(anied + a lot of (i-5aw assertin% that it vindi*ates the (rin*i(les of e.&alit and freedom of

s(ee*h and o(enness 6whi*h7 e,tends to en*o&ra%in% staff and *omm&nit to share their +eliefs and o(inions in

(&+li*, then the assertive tr&m(eter wants to have his tr&m(et shoved, assertivel , &( his arse. ,t is not enough roundly to mock such people, particularly "hen they are making common cause "ith the objectively fascist9 one must boycott them and do them the sort of economic damage they have chosen to mete out to those "ho resist the

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(leichschaltun$% After all, if .o8illa has the right to decline association "ith persons "ho hold .r #ich4s vie" on any subject at all, the rest of us, holding a sane vie" of .o8illa4s behaviour (that sane vie", by the "ay, being contempt and disgust), have the right to tell them to sod off, and to boycott their products. But. Ah, but.... /e are dealing "ith the objectively fascist here. B+omments are closed4, you see. ,n the )(, they cannot A not yet A keep us from denouncing their actions, e;posing them, and boycotting them. 1ot yet. And yet J "e mentioned this had been a bad month for liberty. 7nly a fe" days ago, .r =ustice Breyer marshalled three votes "ith his, against a five<vote majority,&E in the (upreme +ourt of the )nited (tates, for a dissent that held that freedom of speech "as a collective right, and must be for acceptable purposes. &H 7r as 0a Baker put it, Bmeaningful speech4, "hich is Bfree speech4 so long as it BfightOsP for 5e!ualityQ4. And there are moves "ell afoot even in the )( to penalise, by la", bakers and "edding photographers "ho decline the custom of a same<se; couple looking to marry.
&E All right, a four<justice plurality opinion and a concurrence. &H McCutcheon v ,ederal 6lection Co!!ission, CH$ )( RR, RRR (.+t. RRR, RR 0.#d.$d RR ($%&') (Breyer, =, dissenting: Ba democratic order in "hich collective speech matters4).

$&

he situation is of course "orse in the )*. (Gue largely to 7stensible +onservatives: +all<.e<Gave and his /et,

,slington, 1otting 2ill lot.)

he 2ouse of +ommons are

evidently impotent to stop civil servants and a right<on, go< head !uango from imposing the same penalties on the baker and the chap "ho takes the snaps9 and from den in% the *omforts of reli%ion to the im(risoned or the d in% if the minister of their faith re(resents a faith %ro&( that disa%rees with the new Marria%e )*t. he internal "orkings and interactions even of families shall no", if ministers get their "ay for the sake of having their tummies rubbed by !uangos, be "ithin the purvie" of the 1anny (tate, and this at the (cack<)hands of universally 0eftist social services jobs"orths (ho" long, do you think, before the first case is brought under the ne" B+inderella 0a"4, if enacted, against parents "ho are deemed Binsufficiently supportive4 of a not< strictly<heterose;ual teen<aged childM)9&I and of course if even the Press dare ask an inconvenient !uestion or press an inconvenient point, the 7ld Bill are no" enthusiastically
&I 7f course this "ould not be "hat Parliament meant by the proposed B+inderella la"4 (another classic sample of candy<floss language being used for propaganda, that). But it "as mission creep that resulted in a la" against stalking being used this "eek to threaten a journalist for committing journalism.

$$

available to lean on them, "ith 0eveson looming in the background. ,n one sense, of course, this is actually rather encouraging. Pace .r 7bama, to slap the table and declare that a debate is over and no further argument shall be entertained, is not a sign of strength and confidence: it is an indication that one feels oneself to be losing the argument, "herefore one must guillotine debate. ( hat it is a small step from guillotining debate to guillotining the debaters is, alas, too "ell<kno"n to "ant emphasis. )here they burn boo-s, they will burn !en%)&> /hat 0a Baker, no doubt "ithout having grasped it, and "hat .r /einstein !uite unblushingly, seeks, is to have that same (leichschaltun$ in America, to protect the 0eft against losing the debate. (ack the dissenters9 $aol the dissenters9 silence the dissenters at all costs% demands total submission. ,t shan4t "ork. ,t never has done. Another reason "hy :: Putin, like all Putines!ue architects of the soul, $% is in such a
&> 2eine, +l!ansor : B'as war ein #ors iel nur, dort wo !an &Icher verbrennt, verbrennt !an auch a! 6nde Menschen%1 (B hat "as but a foretaste9 "here they burn books, they "ill in the end burn people also.4) he "riting is best remembered no"adays for its having been publicly burnt "ith the rest of 2eine4s "orks by the 1a8is, and for the site of that outrage4s having after"ard been marked in memory thereof "ith these very lines. $% /e apologise profusely, for that "retched pun, to .r Pugin, the architect, in 2eaven.

otalitarianism naturally

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tearing hurry, is, he Anglosphere has a peculiar capacity for cla"ing itself back from the brink at the last possible moment, after a long stare over the precipice and into the abyss. And there is this. 0ook again at the #2@+4s idea that ministers of religious bodies "hich dissent from the recognition, by those faiths, of same<se; marriage, and "hich oppose the ne" Act, may and shall be banned from chaplaincies and hospital visits and prison ministries if a penny of public funds are used by those prisons and hospitals and care homes and orphanages and "hat not. 1o", the + of #, as the +hurch by la" established, may eventually bo" to @immon A sorry, Parliament. And certainly one could find any number of vicars "ho4d enthusiastically take an oath of supremacy s"earing themselves to the ne" order in any case. But "hatever their personal vie"s, no @oman +atholic clergy can dissociate themselves from that communion4s position A a Ma$isteriu! that is simply not going, foreseeably or indeed imaginably, to change A not and remain @+ priests, they can4t. here are schools of thought in =udaism "hose rabbis cannot and shall not ever accept this. here are 1onconformist

bodies that cannot and shall not ever accept this. And there is

$'

not a chance that ,slam shall ever accept the ne" Act, or cease to oppose it.$& +ontemplate, for a moment, !uietly, $$ "hat is going to happen "hen the #2@+ tells the .uslim and @oman +atholic populations of the )nited *ingdom that their imams and their priests are debarred from providing services and serving chaplaincies in 2. Prisons and 12( hospitals. he )nited (tates, of course, has no #stablished +hurch, as a constitutional matter. But the same +onstitution e!ually forbids the passage of any la" that precludes the free e;ercise of such religion as a citi8en may profess9 and that same +onstitution provides against governmental interference "ith free speech. ,magine trying A as the 0eft seems bent upon trying A to silence speech there (and specially political and religious speech, "hich have e;tra protections in American constitutional jurisprudence) or to dictate to religious bodies "hat vie"s they must hold to be allotted an e!ual space in
$& 2onestly, what passes for thought in the 0eftist mind, if you can call it thatM hey4re forever banging on about the merits of ,slam ("hich e;ist) and denying that there are any such things as ,slamist radicals ("hich also e;ist), but "hen it comes to any conflict bet"een their lily<"hite, metropolitan secular Bvalues4 and pieties, and "hat ,slam and a hell of a lot of other religions believe, they clamour to ake )p the /hite .an4s Burden and lay do"n the la" to the Peoples /ithout. /hen it comes to cultural imperialism and the /estern 0eft, poor old @udyard simply "asn4t in it. $$ Kes, that is precisely meant to be a *iplinges!ue echo. Kour )ncle (talky is a -reat .an.

$C

the public s!uare.$3 be visible from space.

he political and legal firestorm should

1or can all the police and all the social "orkers ever spa"ned successfully long suppress speech or plant little (tasi spies in Anglosphere homes, +inderella or no. And if 0a Baker hears of the conse!uences A as "e very much hope she never must, for "e very much hope they are averted: but if they are not : to .o8illists in, say, .alaysia, from her metropolitan 0efty, ?irst /orld, privileged position and the reaction of your common or garden ,slamist A (alafist to it J "ell, -ruoch, that blood on your hands is not going to "ash out. Because let there be no mistake. (leichschaltun$ is, al"ays, the statement by one ideology that, Thou shalt have no other $ods% ,t is al"ays and every"here an attack upon the individual conscience and upon all other bodies and allegiances, social, familial, religious, professional, fraternal, union, or other, that presume to claim a man4s assent and loyalty. As "as so for (ir homas .ore, one is not allo"ed to
$3 .r Pyle can think of at least t"o ac!uaintances A formerly, friends : "ho precisely because of their obsessive, At All +osts, By Any .eans 1ecessary support of same<se; marriage, "ant religious bodies silenced, and stripped of their ta; status. Astonishingly, both are =e"ish: "hich, "hen one considers just "hat religion it is that invariably becomes the first to hear the midnight knock upon the door, is incredible.

$E

be silent, even "hen silence, legally, implies assent. As "e noted in 123: The year of ortent, Bit is not enough not to

disagree. ,t is not enough to agree "ith reservations. ,t is not enough to agree "ithout reservation. ,n the total state, in the totalitarian state, there must be un!uestioned and

un!uestioning loyalty, and A thou shalt have no other -ods before the (tate4: totalitarianism demands total, abject submission. he fact remains: there is a shocking amount of objective fascism about, and .r /einstein, 0a Baker, the #2@+, the +oalition, and the 0eft "ho bayed for .r #ichs4 blood, are, objectively, fascists. )e re eat: these eo le are totalitarians% They are fascists% And there is only one thing one can and must do "hen confronted "ith that lot. 0a"fully, by argument and by economic pressure, and by litigation if necessary,$' one must defy them, reason them out of their follies, and strip them of any influence upon events. 7ne must resist.

FINIS
$' As long as "e are, in the )*, stuck in the #), "e may as "ell get so!e use out of the damned thing and its over"eening judges.

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Annexe: Why we do not support extending the definition of marriage, as a legal on ept, to two or more men, two or more women, or more than one ea h of a man and a woman:

G
antedate.

espite "hat ,mpressive +lergymen may tell you, ma""iage is not about t"ue "uv. 1ot as a legal institution, it damned "ell isn4t. 1or is it

religious. #very high civilisation A that is, every civilisation "hich has attained to a system of la" A has had marriage. 7nly a fool should suggest that Periclean Athens, @epublican and ,mperial @ome, and ,mperial +hina, say, crafted their marriage la"s based upon the moral teachings of the Abrahamic religions A at least t"o of "hich these la"s

And no civilisation has ever recognised marriage bet"een t"o persons of the same se;. here4s a reason for that. he legal institution of marriage is a contract bet"een t"o persons (and, often, their families), to "hom the (tate then grants e;traordinary privileges and upon "hom the (tate imposes e;traordinarily onerous burdens and duties. 7nly a compelling (tate interest could possibly justify this intrusion

$I

into the lives of t"o or more people "ho happen to be romantically or se;ually involved one "ith another. As it happens, there is such a (tate interest, and it is rooted in the very purpose and meaning of marriage as a civil, legal institution. (pouses become one another4s intestate inheritors,

principals, agents, fiduciaries, attorneys in fact, trustees, and beneficiaries. ,n some parts of the Anglosphere and the common la" countries, they even no" cannot be compelled to testify against one another. special ta; status. /hyM .arriage A as a civil, legal institution A is a device for the orderly disposition of heritable property. ?ull bloody stop. ,t e;ists and has al"ays e;isted because there are t"o sets of mutually suspicious in<la"s, each persuaded that their -olden Boy or Precious Angel -irl "as entrapped and seduced by hat Gamned -old<Gigger or hat +ad and hey are commonly a"arded

Bounder, and each of "hom are reconciled to the marriage only by the prospect that it shall produce grandchildren of their blood, "ho shall inherit from the prospective grandparents. hat is "hy the spouses have special legal

$>

privileges and special legal duties A and "hy the la" presumes that a marriage shall produce issue: so that the -old<Gigger and the +ad are constrained to preserve and augment the marital estate, including the portion inherited from the prospective grandparents, for the benefit, in trust, of the e;pected grandchildren. hese duties and privileges have no other justification9 and they are so important that the (tate has al"ays encouraged the contract that is marriage to be sanctified before the gods of the (tate, so as to impress upon the +ad and the -old<Gigger and all the community "hat an a"ful responsibility marriage is. But the marriage is not a rite or sacrament9 only its solemnising is, in the same "ay that other special contracts are solemnised: a coronation, say, or the Blessing of the @egimental +olours. 1ote that in -reece and @ome, marriage "as al"ays bet"een one man and one "oman. 1ote that on the steppe and in the desert, polygamy prevailed. his is telling. he

purpose of marriage as a civil, legal institution is clearly reflected in this. /here landed property is the default inheritance, monogamy prevails. /here the property most likely to be inherited is personal and readily divisible: herds

3%

and flocks, gold, je"els, plunder (because no one is eager to inherit a hundred acres of sand or steppe): polygamy prevails. (imilarly, #uropean custom tends to"ards

primogeniture, and indeed entail, historically: for keeping the land together is more important than being fair to younger sons. he .ongols in the days of emujin, by contrast,

practised ultimogeniture, "hereby the family ca ut "ent to the youngest son: on the presumption that, by the time the 7ld .an got himself killed in a raid, the elder sons should have had time to carve out their o"n appanages by the s"ord. he seeming e;ception to this, "here a sedentary and landed people "ere encouraged to be polygamists, is +hina, and the polities that imitated +hina even "hen at "ar "ith +hina9 and the reason there is like"ise readily obvious. +hina has from a very early time had a centralised bureaucracy and, under "hatever name, an #mperor. ,t is in "ant of manpo"er: large conscription classes for its traditional armies of mass. /hat the bureaucracy and the #mperor do not "ant is the creation of great landed fiefs: because this leads their possessors to decide that they are the choice of 2eaven to be the (on of 2eaven and to rule the .iddle

3&

*ingdom, and that the .andate of 2eaven has been "ithdra"n from the current occupier of the Gragon hrone. /arring (tates periods are fatal to former #mperors, and the bureaucracy finds them untidy. Therefore, the #mperors and bureaucrats have for ages said, $o forth, you blac-Ehaired !illions of the Sons of Han, and ta-e !any wives and have !any sons G and divide your ro erty a!on$st the!% ,t may therefore be seen by all "ho are not hermetically sealed of mind that, in not being satisfied "ith civil unions, the agitators for Be!ual marriage4 are simply demanding a set of legal privileges above other citi8ens, for "hich they cannot possibly have a justification, and "ithout the corresponding duties9 and all for the sake of their o"n feelings of self<"orth, based upon "hat may be a passing and transient amour. $C And to secure this, they have sho"n themselves "illing to lie, to libel, to persecute, and to silence if possible any dissent. Go you "onder that "e despise these tactics A and are coming to despise the tacticians and their objectives as "ellM

$C

his of course also often brings the +ad and the -old<Gigger together for starters9 but they can be shackled to their obligations by having children of their o"n blood, "ithout al"ays meaning to, and "ithout going through the "eeding<out processes of adoption.

3$

his Position Paper specifically does represent the vie"s of Bapton Books, as a firm and as an imprint, although it mustn4t be held against our authors (save "here these are also the partners). Because the issue is so serious a one, it is being made available at a nominal charge in some formats, and free even of a nominal charge "here possible. hose

"ishing to sho" a lively sense of obligation to the firm in gratitude for this Paper and this stance may do so by purchasing Bapton Books titles, available at Ama8on, B61, (mash"ords, Apple, *obo, Giesel, and else"here.