Truth (an admission)

I am Socrates. Well, I used the name of the great philosopher for three comments I posted on Cllr Gray’s blog. I did so because I couldn’t resist prodding Gray regarding his apparent postmodernist, relativist outlook (foolishly trying to continue Martin Warne's valiant attempt), and I wanted to avoid his usual snide comments. I informed one of his council colleagues that I had done this and said that I would “own up” on this blog.

I started with what is reported to be Socrates’ response to Protagoras’ relativism and I intended to leave it at that. As you will see if you look at the thread, I couldn’t - but I did try to wake him up to his sloppy thinking… to no avail.

But we now know that Gray is a champion of free speech, but only if he can have the names of those who wish to take advantage of that freedom. We know that he mistakes ideas and values for truths, that he thinks his evaluative statements are statements of fact, that he’s adamant that facts are not truths… I could go on but enough of this twaddle.

Why is it worth mentioning? For the very fact that Gray is a councillor and as such should be examining the decisions made by the mayor with some objectivity.

Addendum: It appears that my blogpost has upset Cllr Gray. He maintains that I’m pompous and self-righteous, which may well be true but that still doesn’t address his wonky reasoning.

“It’s Mike’s way or no way” he asserts. I find this absurd, as I don’t advocate a way.

And, for the record, I am well aware that there are other views than those that I hold but that doesn’t mean that I should accept those views as “truths” just because someone else does. I’m more than happy to argue the case for my views.

And that is the crux of Gray’s problem. If he cannot argue his case he resorts to name calling - he cannot help himself.

I’ll be specific. I, along with others, have tried to get some understanding of the reasoning (the “truth”) behind the Mayor’s decision to invest £40,000,000 in the Olympic Stadium. I’ve submitted FOI requests to the Council and asked questions of councillors on this blog in the hope I'll get some cogent response.

The general response is that such an “investment” will be good for the people of Newham; but how? And why? We never get answers.

If Gray and his Labour colleagues are champions of democracy, shouldn’t they explain to the people they represent why, and how, a mayoral decision they endorse benefits the borough?

Whatever the Mayor’s reasoning for spending £40,000,000 on the stadium, that will be the “truth” and that is the truth that should be made public.