An introduction

As per request, I shall be devoting this post to an explanation of who I am and what my contribution to this blog will consist of. I am a highly-opinionated fourteen year old finally fulfilling his life-long ambition to be a blogger. As you will discover soon enough when I begin to use this space as a means of espousing them, I possess a veritable plethora of views, and on any issue political, economic, social or cultural, rest assured I will have an opinion on it of some sort. Some of you, I am sure, will be wanting to know where I place myself on the political spectrum. There is no easy answer to this question. I have never labelled myself, nor do I consider it helpful to do so; 'leftist', 'conservative', 'libertarian' and the like are all fairly lazy terms, and anyway, I dislike the idea of my self-styled contrarianism being reduced to pure liberalism or pure conservatism. Although I believe one should always be wary of making statements or defending opinions purely for the sake of being controversial, I like to think of myself as someone who enjoys holding positions which run contrary to those of the so-called 'consensus' or the so-called 'majority', no matter how many enemies it makes him. I think the sentiment expressed by the motto of the Royal Society: 'nullius in verba' (take no man's word for it), is appropriate here. I also like to quote the journalist Christopher Hitchens, of whom I have always been a great admirer, who said:
My own opinion is enough for me, and I claim my right to have it defended against any majority, any consensus, anywhere, anyplace, anytime. Anyone who disagrees with this can pick a number, wait in line and kiss my ass.

Above all, I want to use The Opinionated Internet to fuel debate and discussion, and get people talking about the issues that matter. What follows are just some of the topics that might crop up now and again within my blog posts: Republicanism, drug legalization, LGBT equality, feminism, grassroots democracy, interventionism, free trade, economic liberalism, the conflict between religion and freedom of thought, multiculturalism, the history of science and the philosophy of race. I may also be posting the odd review, and sometimes will provide links to articles and videos which I have enjoyed or found interesting enough to want to share with others.

Here is some of what I love: arguments, debating, public speaking, long walks in the English countryside, tea, the films of Michael Haneke, Abbas Kiarostami and Joel and Ethan Coen, the writings of William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Evelyn Waugh, P.G Wodehouse, Aldous Huxley and George Orwell, the life and work of Christopher Hitchens, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Douglas Murray, Nick Cohen, Maryam Namazie, Richard Dawkins, Salman Rushdie and Peter Tatchell, modern art, brutalism, minimalism and the art and culture of London.

Here is some of what I try to fight against: deception of the public, denial, censorship, theocratic encroachment on a free society, religious fundamentalism, misuse of belief, bigotry of all stripes, narrow mindedness, human rights abuses, totalitarianism, excuse-making and extremism.

I am hugely excited to now be a part of the Opinionated Internet blog. If you have any suggestions, criticisms, queries or complaints, do not hesitate to get in touch. I would love to hear from you.

MS