Dalrymple reviews Claire Berlinski’s newest book There is No Alternative: Why Margaret Thatcher Matters in the Globe and Mail and in the process offers a review of Thatcher’s policies, as well.
Read the review
The Skeptical Doctor
Dedicated to the work of Theodore Dalrymple
This blog is an excellent idea. I discovered it through the Bernard Chapin interview at Pajamas Media, where I was happy to see that Dr. Dalrymple agrees with my own impression that Britain is further down the road to decline than probably any other Western country. Yet, I do not recall him ever speculating as to why this should be so (although I have read only a small fraction of his output); I mean, not why Britain is in decline, but why more than other countries.
My tentative answer would be that Britain is falling back into what we might call a feudal mentality, where real estate is more important than earned income in determining one’s wealth and social status; and that this is due to specific policies which restrict the housing supply and/or encourage investing in real estate. (NB: I do not intend to deny the importance of the welfare state and of postmodern culture, of course.)
This brings me to this particular post. I was disappointed that, in his review of Berlinski’s book, Dalrymple does not mention the Thatcher housing bubble. This suggests that he does not consider housing to be a basic factor in the decline of the British character.
I can’t recall having heard Dalrymple discuss the housing issue in Britain. Can you elaborate on the connection between real estate and the British character? I don’t understand that point.