State is Rolling Back: v. 2: The State Is Rolling Back v. 2 (Collected Works of Arthur Seldon) [Paperback]

Before I begin my review I want to acknowledge two debts. Firstly to the British government which introduced the idea of a system which would allow the children of lower income households to attend a Grammar School by virtue of their success at an examination at 11 years of age. Had that not been available I very much doubt that I would have ever had the access to education that I have enjoyed throughout my entire life. Secondly, I owe an intellectual debt to the Author of this book, Arthur Seldon, without who's fine editorial skills and prescient writings which have inspired me to see the world in my own way and to argue and campaign for change.

This book is a collection of shorter articles and essays written over an extensive period of years some of which predate the British Welfare State in the form that is known today and yet are remarkably accurate in their predictions of it's failings. Arthur Seldon writes not only from the intellect but also from the heart. His childhood experiences are a powerful influence on his thought and the power of the experiences come through loud and clear in his writings.

Unlike many of Britain's social reformers, Seldon was not born into a priviledged family. His first hand knowledge of loss and poverty contrasts starkly with those, then and now, who advocate economic and social reforms from a vantage point of economic and social security with little understanding of how the other half live other than the knowledge they might gain from surveys and other research tools. Seldon writes from the point of view of the common man who wants to make his own way in the world whether by working for someone else or from working for oneself. He understands the dignity and self-respect one gets from hyonest work and thrift and even from acting in concert with others mainly through the marketplace but also from a combination with others. It is this major distinction from socialists in all parties who see the solution to social and economic problems resulting from legalised theft, sorry taxation, and redistribution through the state whilst at the same time siphoning off a goodly proportion for themselves which gives Seldon the edge over those others.

In many ways this is a remarkable collection of very unpopular ideas which Arthur Seldon generated throughout his long and distinguished career. Unpopular with the trendy ideas of the middle and upper classes and it was mainly they who occupied the universities and government offices until well into the 1960s but which certainly struck a chord with the working classes throughout that time. These unpopular ideas have, in many cases, come to pass as he predicted, yet there is more still to be done.

Arthur Seldon has stood alone or with a small coterie of close friends and allies for a long number of years. He has challenged the establishment on behalf of the little man and his ingrained belief in the nature of man to be free and the desire that all men have to be their own provider and not be beholden to anyone. He has fought a mini-crusade to set people free when all around him cast their belief in the omnipotent state to solve all of society's problems. What he has said has mostly come to pass and in this volume of shorter articles and essays there is much that we can all learn to help the impreovemt of mankind