"I think we have to tolerate other people's feelings. In the great spectrum of things, I don't think discrimination against gay men, or being barred from bed and breakfasts or pubs, is very prevalent."Put it this way: compared to most of the gay people I know, I am way to the other end of the spectrum in believing that people have a right to be bigoted. It would be unfair if gay people were denied legal rights that other people have but my libertarian self is big enough to say that there are some rights there. I don't know where we draw that line but people do have a right to say what they want happening in their house.
"[He is visibly conflicted on the point, aware of his own privilege. He doesn't want to be an] Uncle Tom who doesn't know you're a victim.
"But there's a statistical problem that arises here. It's the Ali G line: 'Is it cos I is black?' Now supposing you are black, or gay, or short, or some status that is perceived as disadvantageous.
"If you fix upon that status you will then make the statistical mistake of viewing the random knocks that anybody has in their life and assuming they're because you are black or gay."
Evan Davis, interviewed in The Evening Standard.
Philosophy as economics - Get 'er!
• Evan Davis presents Panorama: Breaking Into Britain on BBC1 tonight at 9pm.
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I can't say i agree with him really.
ReplyDeleteMy right to swing my fists ends with your nose. It's as simple as that.
I do like Mr Davis, but much of the above is so mealy-mouthed it's meaningless; "I don't know where we draw that line..."
ReplyDeleteThe whole debate is about where we draw the line, dear!
Oh, and if you hire out rooms in your house to members of the public, you lose the "right" to think of it as solely being your "home"...
ReplyDeleteYes it's sort of a non-answer isn't it. Maybe he should stick to being a bit boring on that dragon's den.
ReplyDelete^^ There's that too.
ReplyDelete"Evan Davis presents Panorama: Breaking Into Britain on BBC1 tonight at 9pm."
ReplyDeleteHa Ha!!!!
I thought about using that photo for this post, but thought it made her look a bit MENTAL!!!!
ReplyDeleteHa.
Evan has not thought through this properly, and he admits this to some extent.
ReplyDelete"... people do have a right to say what they want happening in their house."
This is true, but this does not in any way exhonorate bed and breakfast owners. After all, the Bulls in Cornwall could not afford to call the Chymorvah their home, without doing business with the general public. It is the size of a manor house, and look at iots location. Their actual home is a few rooms of private space, into which the gay couple did not intend to venture.
Furthermore, I would not charge board, lodging plus VAT to people who enter my home. I hope those points help Evan in reaching a logical conclusion about bed and breakfast cases.
How did his conflict manifest itself "visibly" please?
ReplyDeleteOn the plus side, Evan supported marriage equality well before it was commonly even heard about.
ReplyDeleteOn the minus side, he's a strike breaker and tory boy who has a very limited understanding of the economy.
^ Swings! Roundabouts!!!!
ReplyDeletex
Is he a Tory?
ReplyDelete