Pot, petards and Curwen Ares Rolinson [updated]

A politician should (as I have read)
Be furnish’d in the first place with a head…
- short poem, after a painting by Hogarth

 

Portrait of a young man who was in a hurry

When a young man wants to go into politics he may take two paths. One will choose the path of principle, choosing a party that matches his values and fighting across the length of his career to put them into practice.  Another will identify the rotting carcass of a party with a regular turnover of tailor’s dummies sitting MPs for whom lack of ability is no barrier to parliamentary honours, and seek to ingratiate himself therein.

Curwen Ares Rolinson was the second kind of young man.

Described variously as “a “one-man nationalist revolution”,” “the biggest statist douche I have met,” and a “statist neo-Nazi asshole” – and this is by young people who know him -- Rolinson was a huge believer in big government, in the wit and wisdom of Winston Peters, and for many years was a board member of NZ First and the leading member of their “youth wing.” Truth be told, he was its only member.

Rolinson would regularly assail passersby and other aspiring young politicians about the virtues of big government, about the need for greater law and regulation, about the dangers of human freedom that could only be curtailed if hedged around by rules. Politicians in his view ruled people’s lives, and he wanted to be a politician. Passionately.

He was also, it seems, a cannabis dealer, for which he has just been charged.

This is really neither ironic nor surprising.

Bruce Yandle has written copiously on the kindred relationship of Bootleggers and Baptists, two big and distinctly different groups who yet both support big regulation – especially on things that give people pleasure.

The metaphorical “Baptists” point to the moral high ground and give vital and vocal endorsement of laudable public benefits promised by a desired regulation. Baptists flourish when their moral message forms a visible foundation for political action. “Bootleggers” are much less visible but no less vital. Bootleggers, who expect to profit from the very regulatory restrictions desired by Baptists, grease the political machinery with some of their expected proceeds. They are simply in it for the money.

It turns out Rolinson was both a Baptist and Bootlegger – maybe using the money from the latter to help climb up the greasy pole to do more of the former.

Like I say, for that second kind of chancer, neither ironic nor surprising.

But in the end, Rolinson has been hoisted on a petard not yet of his own making, but the size and violence of which he has spent his short youth applauding.

As a passionate supporter myself of human freedom, it’s clear that if Rolinson is guilty of anything on the crime front however it is assuredly a victimless crime – a crime with “neither criminal nor victim,” whose own young political adversaries are already coming out in his support.

As must I. However odious the recipient of my support. Because to paraphrase Ayn Rand, while

it is not very inspiring to fight for the freedom of would-be statists. … the disgusting nature of the offender makes it a good test of one's loyalty to a principle.

PS: Leader of the NZ First carcass Winston Peters has leapt into print to declare Winston First does not have a youth wing, has never had a youth wing … and is now and has always been at war with Eurasia.

So here’s Winston below, with some random folk he just met on the way to a conference:

RELATED POSTS:

• If you must, you can read Curwen’s collected wit and wisdom at the Daily Blog: Posts by Curwen Ares Rolinson.
• Uncivil Curwen thrown in jail for being civil – ANARKIWI
• Bootleggers and Baptists – LEARN LIBERTY

UPDATE: In the interests of fairness, the young man discussed in the article above would

respectfully contend that to ALL THOSE who truly know me, the very opening paragraph of this article [here at NOT PC] stands out as testament to the malign and malicious cavalcade of carnivorous falsehoods which feather out the full length of this perfidious and perfunctory piece.

So there.