Bring on the economic collapse!

When the hard Left and the hard Right find themselves in agreement it is usually not a pretty sight. But today I came across a piece by one of my favourite ultra-reactionary writers, the late Simon Raven, which I thoroughly agreed with. It came in a review of Anthony Sampson’s “Anatomy of Britain”, written in 1962, a long time before the dreary Blatcherism it prefigured:

“What it amounts to, then, is that the cure Mr Sampson proposes (more and more technical efficiency, professionalism at all levels, smart sales talk for our products) is far worse than the disease he diagnoses (complacency, nepotism, charm, the amateur spirit). But, says Mr Sampson resolutely, if we don’t take the cure we shall die, i.e. we shall go broke. Myself, I am beginning to think this might be a very good thing, if only because it would mean an end of those hatchet-faced middlemen guzzling up smoked salmon in Quaglino’s. What is wanted is less industry and more Horace, who points out that the surest way of being happy is to make the best of what you’ve got. All this talk of production and competition has gone on so long and so loudly that people have forgotten what they’re competing for. The answer is six feet of earth, and that pretty quickly; once you get that into your head, it is clear that Latin verses are every bit as relevant – or irrelevant – as money-grubbing or Sputniks, and make far less noise and smell.”

Yes, bring on the banking collapses, bring on the high taxes which might drive the rich out of London – make my fucking day – bring on the plunging house prices, which promise at least to make the Daily Mail an entertaining read for once, out with the horrible non-jobs in pointless sectors like consultancy and PR, which only exist because there’s too much money sloshing around, and let’s all get back to making a living out of things which have a bit of point to them. I wouldn’t even mind slogging away at Latin verses to achieve that.