James Forsyth James Forsyth

David Aaronovitch and the social conservative consensus

David Aaronovitch is one of the preeminent voices of the liberal-left in this country. He is no social conservative and has been dismissive of those who want a lower time-limit for abortion. But today he wrote something that reminded me of that famous Peggy Noonan column about the Columbine massacre and ‘the ocean in which our children swim.’

Aaronovitch writing about the Times’ investigation into sex gangs says:

‘Sometimes I look at what the surrounding culture says to our kids and wonder whether we are mad. On the one hand we can be persuaded only with difficulty to give them decent sex education, so terrified are we by their latent sexuality; on the other, we chuck adult sex and big-money values at them from the moment they turn on the TV or PC. Google “teen girl” and see what the algorithm of desire offers you.

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