I keep trying to think of other ways to look at it, but no matter how I do, I keep coming to the same conclusion: as far as I’m concerned, conservatism/right-wing politics is basically greed. I don’t see how it could not be. Those on the left see themselves as part of a bigger whole; they do not mind high rates of tax because they see it as contributing to the whole, of helping others in society. Those o the right resent high tax: they think that everyone should be allowed to fend for themselves, Everyone should be free, government should interfere as little as possible.

The problem with that logic is that not everyone is equal. While I passionately believe everyone has equal potential, equal innate worth, not everyone is ideally placed to seize that potential. This might be for a wide range of reasons, such as class, physical ability and so on. This causes a waste of potential which humanity needs to escape. For example, I have a Master’s, but I could not have earned it had I not had help, ranging from learning support to the extended keyboard upon which I type. Had I been left to my own devices, had I been subjected to the same conditions as anyone else – been expected to use a pen, for example – I’d never have got GCSEs, let alone an MA. The same principal applies in general: to maximise human potential, to work most efficiently, we must collaborate.

The only true way to do this is via the state. The Right say that low tax means that people give more money to charity, or that reducing tax would lead to an overall increase in stare revenue as it allows employers to take on more staff. Yet that seems a mere excuse, a post-fact rationalisation, for individualism, for begrudging tax and getting rich while others are left to suffer. In the long term, it is an inefficient use of human resources. That is why I get so angry at politics; that is why I scream at Newsnight and Question Time so furiously that Lyn looks at me as if I’m mad. I hate tory greed and selfishness; I hate their refusal to see the big picture, to value others as they seem to value theirselves. We must get beyond such greed: it is not anther equally valid point of view, because it leads to so much waste, so much suffering. Frankly, for the tories to reduce tax and therefore state income at a time when those reliant on state benefits are suffering due to cuts is nothing short of criminal.

As a species we need to grow up, to grow out of such base individualism. I don’t mean that as an insult to anyone, but as my genuine objective assessment, passionately felt. In the long term, right-wing, leizzes-fair capitalism (greed) gets us nowhere; we need to replace it with a system of liberal democracy where everyone works together. The problem is, of corse, that’s easier said than done.