Orthodox, Heterodox, Paradox

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Orthodox refers to the prevailing, dominant political, philosophical or religious value-system accepted as the norm within a given context.

Heterodox is the inverse of orthodox, referring to views, opinions and values that run counter to the prevailing, dominant value-system accepted as the norm within any given context.

A paradox is a statement, viewpoint or logical construct which appears, sometimes superficially, to be internally logically inconsistent; a thing of confusion, a puzzle or an enigma.

Our current government, or at least the party running it, is indeed a paradox. Traditionally standing for the views and traditions of 'British' orthodoxy: ethically, fiscally and culturally conservative by nature; not upsetting the equilibrium of middle England's shires, hundreds and parishes; its 'natural' hierarchies and squirearchies; God, King and Country. But the problem with this government, and a large swathe of the Tory Party, is that they are anything but orthodox in their own terms.

They have been infiltrated by heterodox thinkers, some of whose values hark back to the eighteenth century - cf. one Jacob Rees-Mogg, pitifully trying to conserve something thankfully long since past in British history - or some who view the rule of law and the accepted orthodoxy as in some way obstructive to their own vaulting will and ambition in politics and personal wealth-creation. Lee Anderson, Tory Vice-Chairman [!][pictured], described in comical understatement by HuffPost UK as ...'outspoken...' thinks the government should simply ignore the rule of law and statute and do whatever the hell they want, regarding asylum seekers and the Rwanda nonsense. 

These self-styled New Conservatives hold some very troubling views for anyone with any knowledge of, or appreciation of history: we've been down this road before, to calamitous and world-changing effect. The world they want is for them, and themselves alone. None of the rest of us figure in their selfish weltanschauung: give a shit they don't, and they would stab you in the back as soon as look at you. A lot of people view the Left as the revolutionary and in their eyes the dangerous heart of British politics, but nothing could be farther from the truth: the Tories are showing themselves to be just that danger, whilst Labour is at the same time demonstrating a reactionary side to itself that is more Harold Macmillan than Clement Attlee. Confusing? That's paradox for you.

Comments

  1. Anonymous19 November 2023 at 08:49

    Anyone hoping that either of these conferences of fools will steer us towards a future where flood defences (100s of defence projects removed from Environment Agency's plans) are equal to the simple variations of weather and not an immutable and totally unpredictable system fuck-up of our own making, is sadly deluded!

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