A headteacher in the London borough of Camden has come under fire by bloggers for reporting one of his students to police after reading the student’s blog, which criticised the school and revealed the student’s ‘enchantment’ with the philosophies of anarchism and individualism. The student, named Kinnan Zaloom, 19, operated the ‘Hampstead Trash’ blog as an outlet for his and his classmates’ dissatisfaction with the practices of the Hampstead School and the conduct of its employees, lambasting the school’s overspending on promotional material, lack of investment in musical instruments and gym equipment, insincere attempts to listen to pupils’ views about the school, and a failure to raise GCSE results to a higher level.
London student reported to police: “Enchanted by anarchism and individualism”
Partisan Dealignment and Political ‘Apathy’
The issue of political disillusionment and partisan dealignment is in the news again. While the Conservative Party will not reveal their exact number of members, some prominent conservatives put the figure at 130,000 or less. To put this in context, membership in 1951 was around 2.9 million, while the figure was 258,000 in 2005, when David Cameron took over the party’s leadership.
This is partially a result of current issues such as right-wing migration to the UK Independence Party, who estimate they now have 30,000 members, compared to only 19,000 last year. However, membership in both the Conservative and Labour parties has been falling steadily since the 1950s. Labour membership is currently at a record low of around 200,000 compared to a peak of 876,000 in 1951.
Libertarianism, Individuality & the Future
What part exactly does Libertarianism or individuality play in humanities past, present and future? Well to start, let’s take a look at the word individuality. The dictionary describes individuality as: ” … the qualities that distinguish one person or thing from all others.”. Therefore, individuality is what makes everyone of us unique and is fundemental in humanity’s advance. What makes it so necessary? Individuals throughout history have been the very core of human progress. From science to society, personal independence is the key factor that provides for unique thought, actions, experiments and ultimately discovery. Continue reading
Principles, not Power, Must Remain Our Focus
I will admit it publicly. For the first time since washing my hands of the Republican Party in 2007, I was actually proud of something a Republican had done. I watched Senator Rand Paul for many hours this past week as he railed against an administration unwilling to speak in support of the Constitution they took an oath to uphold. As a libertarian, it was nice to have one day where we had a win. Continue reading