• Login
  • Register
The Daily Sceptic
No Result
View All Result
  • Articles
  • About
  • Archive
    • ARCHIVE
    • NEWS ROUND-UPS
  • Podcasts
  • Newsletter
  • Premium
  • Donate
  • Log In
The Daily Sceptic
No Result
View All Result

Sargon vs Hitchens: This Year’s First Epic Twitter Debate 

by Nick Dixon
7 January 2023 3:29 PM

Carl Benjamin has written a piece for Lotus Eaters on his recent Twitter exchange with Peter Hitchens, which we covered on the most recent Weekly Sceptic podcast.

I don’t care how you feel about it, Mr Benjamin. Isn’t this a bit grandiose for one so coarse? ‘Patrimony’, forsooth. https://t.co/T2dOWuO0vf

— Peter Hitchens (@ClarkeMicah) December 30, 2022

 The article seems to have almost impressed even Hitchens himself, who acknowledged it in a Tweet that was more conciliatory in tone than previous exchanges.

The piece makes a Scrutonian argument, contrasting the organic historical development of Britain with the top-down imposition of liberal, or perhaps Leftist, utopianism.

We still inhabit towns and cities founded thousands of years ago, and this ‘magic’ is present in every winding alleyway and organic arrangement of its buildings. 

It is the product of a long history which was inherited and evolved to suit the needs of the people in it for the times in which they lived. This turned England, and then Britain, into a country underpinned by what Mr. Hitchens himself called a “deep magic”. He is again correct; there is a magic that runs this country and causes it to organise and order itself in a particular way in line with historic tradition. It connects the very bottom with the very top, and infuses every station in every part of this land; it informs how we understand the world around us and what we should expect moving into the future. We all live within the deep magic, and its presence is what makes us feel at home in our own country and gives sense to the reliability of daily life. 

Compare the average British city to the average American city, with its grid-line planning and equally-sized blocks, or the straight borders of an American state to the natural borders of an English shire. These are the product of the universalist liberal view that society itself should be rationally planned, including our duties and obligations to one another. No longer is British society an organic one that relies on how we feel about each other; instead, we are increasingly subject to a rationally constructed social contract in which we are told a priori what our rights and duties are and how they must be enforced. 

Benjamin also highlights, via his reading of Hitchens, why our politicians do not even understand the ideology they’re pushing.

The issue Mr. Hitchens raises is that our political class is simply not clever enough to understand what they themselves are and what it is they have been programmed to do. Every policy proposed by a Labour and Conservative politician is entirely foreseeable because it is extrapolated directly from their rationalistic programming — understand the code, and you understand the politician and all the outputs they are capable of producing.

There’s not much cheer in Benjamin’s piece, though there is a defiant optimism from the artist formerly known as Sargon.

Worth reading in full.

Tags: Carl BenjaminConservatismPeter HitchensSARGONTwitter

Donate

We depend on your donations to keep this site going. Please give what you can.

Donate Today

Comment on this Article

You’ll need to set up an account to comment if you don’t already have one. We ask for a minimum donation of £5 if you'd like to make a comment or post in our Forums.

Sign Up
Previous Post

“Censorship Killed Millions. Free Speech Saves Lives”: Celebrating the Return of Dissenting Voices to Twitter

Next Post

More NHS Mask Shenanigans – Will It Ever End?

Subscribe
Login
Notify of
Please log in to comment

To join in with the discussion please make a donation to The Daily Sceptic.

Profanity and abuse will be removed and may lead to a permanent ban.

25 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

NEWSLETTER

View today’s newsletter

To receive our latest news in the form of a daily email, enter your details here:

DONATE

PODCAST

The Sceptic | Episode 40: Rob Bates on Stopping Britain Becoming Majority-Minority, Tilak Doshi on Trump vs Green Blob and Mario Trabucco on Osborne’s Elgin Marbles Betrayal

by Richard Eldred
13 June 2025
0

LISTED ARTICLES

  • Most Read
  • Most Commented
  • Editor’s Picks

News Round-Up

13 June 2025
by Richard Eldred

The Great Climate Science Swindle Goes On

12 June 2025
by Chris Morrison

As a Civil Servant, I Can Tell You Dissent From DEI Dogma is Not Allowed

13 June 2025
by Anonymous Civil Servant

Israel and Iran Are Now at War

13 June 2025
by Will Jones

Watch: Labour Minister Makes False Claim on BBC Question Time That Most Small Boat Migrants are Women and Children – With No Correction From BBC

13 June 2025
by Will Jones

Israel and Iran Are Now at War

41

Watch: Labour Minister Makes False Claim on BBC Question Time That Most Small Boat Migrants are Women and Children – With No Correction From BBC

16

Abortion Up to Birth by the Back Door

49

News Round-Up

12

As a Civil Servant, I Can Tell You Dissent From DEI Dogma is Not Allowed

9

As a Civil Servant, I Can Tell You Dissent From DEI Dogma is Not Allowed

13 June 2025
by Anonymous Civil Servant

Woke Waste Has Become Even Worse Under Labour

13 June 2025
by Charlotte Gill

I’ll Take the High Road

12 June 2025
by Dr James Allan

Abortion Up to Birth by the Back Door

12 June 2025
by Dr Elizabeth Evans

Importing Even More Nurses Won’t Fix the NHS

12 June 2025
by Dr Roger Watson

POSTS BY DATE

January 2023
M T W T F S S
 1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
3031  
« Dec   Feb »

SOCIAL LINKS

Free Speech Union

NEWSLETTER

View today’s newsletter

To receive our latest news in the form of a daily email, enter your details here:

POSTS BY DATE

January 2023
M T W T F S S
 1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
3031  
« Dec   Feb »

DONATE

LISTED ARTICLES

  • Most Read
  • Most Commented
  • Editor’s Picks

News Round-Up

13 June 2025
by Richard Eldred

The Great Climate Science Swindle Goes On

12 June 2025
by Chris Morrison

As a Civil Servant, I Can Tell You Dissent From DEI Dogma is Not Allowed

13 June 2025
by Anonymous Civil Servant

Israel and Iran Are Now at War

13 June 2025
by Will Jones

Watch: Labour Minister Makes False Claim on BBC Question Time That Most Small Boat Migrants are Women and Children – With No Correction From BBC

13 June 2025
by Will Jones

Israel and Iran Are Now at War

41

Watch: Labour Minister Makes False Claim on BBC Question Time That Most Small Boat Migrants are Women and Children – With No Correction From BBC

16

Abortion Up to Birth by the Back Door

49

News Round-Up

12

As a Civil Servant, I Can Tell You Dissent From DEI Dogma is Not Allowed

9

As a Civil Servant, I Can Tell You Dissent From DEI Dogma is Not Allowed

13 June 2025
by Anonymous Civil Servant

Woke Waste Has Become Even Worse Under Labour

13 June 2025
by Charlotte Gill

I’ll Take the High Road

12 June 2025
by Dr James Allan

Abortion Up to Birth by the Back Door

12 June 2025
by Dr Elizabeth Evans

Importing Even More Nurses Won’t Fix the NHS

12 June 2025
by Dr Roger Watson

SOCIAL LINKS

Free Speech Union
  • Home
  • About us
  • Donate
  • Privacy Policy

Facebook

  • X

Instagram

RSS

Subscribe to our newsletter

© Skeptics Ltd.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Articles
  • About
  • Archive
    • ARCHIVE
    • NEWS ROUND-UPS
  • Podcasts
  • Newsletter
  • Premium
  • Donate
  • Log In

© Skeptics Ltd.

wpDiscuz
You are going to send email to

Move Comment