Disappointing article on Left Foot Forward by David Osler describing UKIP as "dumbed-down Powellism": http://www.leftfootforward.org/2013/05/ukip-dumbed-down-powellism/
Unfortunately this article told us nothing about either "Powellism" or UKIP.
The reference to a "dumbed down" version of "Powellism" is mystifying. "Powellism" (to use this anachronistic description) was an integrated view of the world, entire and complete of itself. It was/is nothing if not intellectually coherent, and no part of it was/is superfluous, therefore to detract any part is to invalidate the whole.
Thus to talk of dumbing down in this context is contradictory.
Nor is it acceptable to call Enoch Powell a racist without any supporting evidence (unless we are just into meaningless name-calling in which case we can call David Osler a racist without any obligation to say why).
David Osler also needs to keep his reading up to date - to refer to Tom Nairn's partisan comments in the 1970s is hardly illuminating (perhaps Mr Osler should read Simon Heffer masterly biography of Enoch Powell as a general starting point before he advances any more of his speculations on "Powellism").
I think what David Osler is trying to say is that Powellism was just populism and as UKIP is (undeniably) populist Powellism is the same as UKIPism. This is of course not a logical argument. Blairism was populist so are we to assume that Blairism is the same as Powellism?
UKIP represents a nihilistic version of the anarchistic strand in the British character. This anarchistic tendency is normally given a voice by the far Left, so to have a right-wing version of anarchism seems to be confusing people. But the Right is just as capable of smashing up society as the Left.
At the moment a significant number of UKIP activists are Tories who have been chucked off the Candidates' List (this was done in a very heavy-handed way I understand) and thus want to smash up the Conservative party. But the Labour party also has disgruntled supporters who are being siphoned into the UKIP anti-intellectual vacuum. To just dismiss UKIP as "Powellism Lite" is not only false, but is a distraction to the real task that both Labour and the Conservatives have in neutralising UKIP.
Unfortunately this article told us nothing about either "Powellism" or UKIP.
The reference to a "dumbed down" version of "Powellism" is mystifying. "Powellism" (to use this anachronistic description) was an integrated view of the world, entire and complete of itself. It was/is nothing if not intellectually coherent, and no part of it was/is superfluous, therefore to detract any part is to invalidate the whole.
Thus to talk of dumbing down in this context is contradictory.
Nor is it acceptable to call Enoch Powell a racist without any supporting evidence (unless we are just into meaningless name-calling in which case we can call David Osler a racist without any obligation to say why).
David Osler also needs to keep his reading up to date - to refer to Tom Nairn's partisan comments in the 1970s is hardly illuminating (perhaps Mr Osler should read Simon Heffer masterly biography of Enoch Powell as a general starting point before he advances any more of his speculations on "Powellism").
I think what David Osler is trying to say is that Powellism was just populism and as UKIP is (undeniably) populist Powellism is the same as UKIPism. This is of course not a logical argument. Blairism was populist so are we to assume that Blairism is the same as Powellism?
UKIP represents a nihilistic version of the anarchistic strand in the British character. This anarchistic tendency is normally given a voice by the far Left, so to have a right-wing version of anarchism seems to be confusing people. But the Right is just as capable of smashing up society as the Left.
At the moment a significant number of UKIP activists are Tories who have been chucked off the Candidates' List (this was done in a very heavy-handed way I understand) and thus want to smash up the Conservative party. But the Labour party also has disgruntled supporters who are being siphoned into the UKIP anti-intellectual vacuum. To just dismiss UKIP as "Powellism Lite" is not only false, but is a distraction to the real task that both Labour and the Conservatives have in neutralising UKIP.
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