Okay so, I’ve started a PR business and my first client has come to me complaining about an image problem. He’s the leader of a political party, and he’s sent me this photo:
Suggestions? Recommendations?
Okay so, I’m twisted, I’d definitely vote for a politician who looked like that (Satan, if you recall, distributed the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge to Adam and Eve which God was very angry about. Apologies for playing literal Devil’s Advocate here, but I can’t say I wouldn’t have done exactly the same thing in the Garden of Eden myself. Sorry.) but, you know, I’m a bit weird like that.
No sooner had I written a piece about the demand for uncensored, uncompromised political writing I discovered “The Devil” (not Satan) had hit the reboot switch on the Devil’s Kitchen blog after his interview on the Daily Politics caused reality and blogging to collide…. and that’s never pretty. Faced with a choice between defending and continuing with his very graphic and profane output over the last few years and his job (and, not forgetting, the reputation of the party he leads) … he chose his job and party.
The Kitchen was a much bigger blog than this one, and I’m certain the reincarnation as the Devil’s Knife will be the same… but this turn of events is both good news and bad, positive and disturbing.
Disturbing because it points to a seemingly inevitable trend of the constraints of the ‘real world’ beginning to intrude on the somewhat fantastic world of the Internet and its colourful pseudonyms and online personas. Presumably he feels rather like someone trading in their convertible two-seater sports car for a nice, sensible family saloon. A lot of other people have called this ‘growing up’ … and I suspect those of us who’ve been for joy rides in the car and enjoyed the wild parties will feel like this is the end of an era… but we all have to grow up eventually, even if we’re dragged kicking and screaming.
So this brings me from the bad to the good. Swear blogging is something that, in my opinion, alienates and limits as much as it helps. It reinforces an idea of libertarianism as reckless hedonism, as something violent and destructive – in other words, something for everyone else to be a bit scared of. Fewer people will link to such blogs, others won’t even touch them.
But the truth is the opposite of this. The whole point of libertarianism is acting in your self interest, and the belief that when people do that there’s a better result overall. Turns out Devil’s Kitchen, as it was, wasn’t in the Devil’s self interest and the result is, presumably, something that’s a lot better for him personally , his employer and possibly for the party he represents. It’s certainly better for Polly Toynbee, that’s for sure – but we can’t have everything I’m afraid.
The message is this: Libertarianism isn’t doing whatever you want, consequences be damned. Even when entirely unconstrained by censorship or regulation, people do the right thing anyway. It doesn’t let Wiggy off the hook, of course – he’s still absolutely 100% part of the problem of robotic, over-rehearsed politicians that appear to have had their personalities surgically removed and evidence of past indiscretions whitewashed.
The philosophy of libertarianism isn’t just for angry blokes, and I for one look forward to seeing if this new Devil can prove it.
