Letters | 28 April 2012

Time-honoured paradox

Sir: Tristram Hunt’s argument (‘Gove’s Paradox’, 21 April) seems convincing. At first glance, economic liberalism does appear at odds with social conservatism. However, one cannot exist without the other, as Thomas Hobbes realised over 300 years ago. Without a social contract based upon shared values and common interests, anarchy would ensue, making it impossible to trade freely and conduct economic affairs. Nothing suppresses freedom as much as chaos, fear and poverty. Social conservatism and economic liberalism are therefore, and paradoxically, two sides of the same coin.
Hunt conveniently ignores Labour’s more profound, irreconcilable contradiction borne out of its revolutionary zeal. It advocates social liberalism to such an extent that it threatens the very contract that binds society together. However, it also champions central economic control through higher taxation and state ownership in an effort to redistribute wealth and create a fairer, more equal society bound together by collective endeavour.