Posted by Duncan on April 24, 2003 at 10:41:55 from 205.188.208.8 user Duncan.
In Reply to: Re: AR's Politics (was: Ransome on TV and Radio) posted by John Nichols on April 23, 2003 at 13:20:18:
Yes, truth be told, Lenin probably knew a lot more about British political economy than AR... but it's only polite to ask...
There are a couple of hints around regarding AR's domestic politics. He liked Edith Nesbit (a radical romantic socialist) but not her husband (a dry scientific Fabian) - through the Manchester Guardian he had connections with 'positive liberalism' (ie. Keynes, etc.)- political friends seem to be generally Labour MPs.
Was it in the last Mixed Moss where there's the story of his conversation re: China with Mr. Berry? I found that one of those most revealing insights into AR's politics in later life that I've ever read: as consistently anti-western imperialism as he ever was! (Whatever individuals may make of the specific politics of the situation under discussion).
Of course, there may have been a great deal of pragmatism involved in keeping politically quiet later in life. I've made particular study of left-wing artists (of various fields, mostly music) in the 20th century, and apart from a brief period of war-time pro-communist sympathy in British culture, sympathies in that direction have marred many an artist's career. One of Britain's greatest composers, technically, was Alan Bush - but I suspect few of you have heard of him. He managed to forge quite a career for himself in Eastern Europe where his pieces were played alongside those of the great masters, but in Britain he was essentially blacklisted by the BBC and others (although he was only briefly formally banned, because the ban enraged his friends and admirers such as Vaughan-Williams who insisted his pieces would not be available for broadcast as long as the ban persisted). An interesting thought, anyway.