Liberalism has a long history of radical pamphleteering.
Radical pamphlets were short opinion pieces, often only a few pages long, written on issues of immediate topical importance. They were quick to produce, cheap to buy, slickly presented and easily consumed by a voracious reading public. They often skewered their opponents, with many being written in wry humour and with a touch of mischief. (The Editorial Committee were told by the office boy that pamphlets could be described as the ‘social media’ of their day. We had no idea what this ‘social media’ gibberish was, so we docked him a week’s pay, reminded him of his lowly position, and told him to get back to work). The hey-day of pamphleteering was from 1750 -1850.
Some notably liberal fellows wrote pamphlets. Hume wrote on catholic emancipation, Defoe on religious dissent and Paine on the rights of man.
So the Editorial Committee is delighted to be able to bring the very latest radical pamphlet to the immediate attention of our readers. It is penned by our our very own heavy-weight thinker – Doctor Saldanha – and is bound to cause a stir in society drawing rooms.
For whilst Hume, Defoe and Paine may have written on such inconsequential and quickly-forgotten issues such as the Independence of the United States, Doctor Saldanha has produced his own red-hot two-page pamphlet on a far, far weightier matter: social chess in Madrid. Behold:
The radical pamphleteering tradition lives on in the NLC Chess Circle. Let the names ring out: Hume, Paine, Defoe, and Saldanha.
I fear Hume, Paine and Defoe are turning in their graves. But thank you the nlcchess.net Editorial Committee.