As many others have blogged before me, it’s utterly fascinating how people can construe something completely unintended from a blog entry.
When I wrote this entry, I had no idea that people might take it as a ringing endorsement of the Communist political system. However, the very cool Nick (and possibly others) did. As an aside, I’m totally not offended/upset that he did so, I’m more bemused than anything!
I’ve copied my response to his post here, in the event that you don’t read Nick’s blog (and if you don’t, why not?), to clarify things a little.
I’m glad I inspired some very interesting & insightful blogging, however I’m not entirely sure how the conclusion that I think Communism is “a way cool thing, man.” was drawn.
No hammer and sickles in the Hardly haus.I think I wrotesome guff about no reds under the bed etc, but I can’t remember
I think you may have misunderstood my comment about Fenton’s grandfather – I didn’t mean he was super-cool *because* he was a card-carrying Communist, I just chose that descriptor because he is a super-cool person in general. He’s lead an amazing life and is incredibly interesting (and after being a member of the Party, all those years ago, now thinks Communism sucks**). The Communist comment needs to be taken in proper context, in that my former employer would have definitely sacked me had they had known of that (very,very tenuous) association, and given that my former employer is a UNION, I find this alternately horrifying, hypocritcal and hilarious.
Sure, I had romanticised notions of Communism/Socialism back in the dim, dark distance of my yoof (didn’t most of us? Or maybe I’ve just been hanging out with the wrong sort of people?). By listing a litany of Communist atrocities, Applebaum does nothing to disabuse me of the notion that there is something appealing in working together for the collective good, but I’m aware that the idealised abstract concept is quite a different thing altogether to the horrors of the political system in reality.
**not unlike how I now think Unionism bites for having seen it in operation at all-too-close quarters.
1Mad props to DAAS