Joshua, 29, Edinburgh
Occupation Half-time PhD scholar and full-time charity employee
Voting document Both Inexperienced or Labour
Amuse bouche Performs chess most days, normally on-line, though has gone to some meet-ups in actual life
John, 71, Moffat
Occupation Retired, now renovating a derelict dump of a Seventeenth-century constructing
Voting document In native elections will vote for the perfect candidate; nationally, tends to vote Conservative, although wished to “kick them up the butt” this yr
Amuse bouche Has written a novel in regards to the local weather disaster and impending world conflict
For starters
John He was an empathic, earnest, philosophically minded younger man.
Joshua He gave the impression to be trying ahead to discussing hot-button subjects.
John We each began off with tempura and didn’t end it.
Joshua Then I had the roast with all of the trimmings.
The massive beef
John I’m anti-slavery and suppose we ought to hand out help to individuals, however reparations are a bridge too far. The issues I’ve with it are: who are we giving reparations to? Is it locations like Bermuda and Jamaica, that are the product of slavery? Or is it the African homelands from the place the people have been forcibly eliminated? A lot of these governments are corrupt, so the reparations would find yourself in Swiss financial institution accounts anyway.
Joshua I attempted to push John on reparations, however I didn’t get very far. I mentioned that there are a whole lot of questions on what reparations would appear like: we will conceptualise them as establishing networks of help; as infrastructure tasks, training, all kinds of issues. To a big extent, these are issues that the UK is already doing.
John At what level in historical past will we cease? Do we are saying 800 years in the past is just too lengthy, 250 years in the past – do these want reparations? Josh is extra empathic than I’m, and felt that as a society we should always take extra accountability.
Joshua He gave the impression to be insistent that we don’t owe something to individuals who the UK has wronged prior to now. John felt that the UK was “flat broke” and couldn’t afford to do something, which I discovered doubtful.
Sharing plate
Joshua We agreed instantly that the local weather disaster was existentially worrying. He appeared to have an actual appreciation for nature and wildlife, and conservation. We each felt pessimistic, given latest negotiations at Cop 29.
John Friends and household have laughed at me for years, as a result of I’ve been worrying in regards to the collapse of the Gulf Stream. I’ve seen articles mentioning it not too long ago. That has at all times been my important fear. And second: the mass migrations of hundreds of thousands of individuals. Josh and I agreed that the planet would adapt, however it could consequence in water wars.
For afters
John On transgender points, I discovered his responses to be emotional moderately than philosophical. I’m staff JK Rowling. I don’t consider in self-identification for individuals who don’t need to bodily transition.
Joshua He had a whole lot of doubts in regards to the validity of trans identities. It felt a bit ignorant and disrespectful, although I don’t suppose he supposed to be hurtful. John emphasised that he felt it was a good high quality to be open-minded, and I feel in some methods he was. However I didn’t really feel as if he was aware of a lot of different philosophical and scientific understandings of trans identities.
John Females transitioning to males, to my thoughts, don’t appear to pose any downside for society in any respect. However the opposite manner spherical, ladies concern male violence. Males don’t concern feminine violence. So the entire subject of altering rooms, ladies’s sports activities, ladies’s areas, ladies’s security, ladies’s rights hasn’t been thought of in any respect.
Takeaways
John I might fortunately welcome Josh into my household. His politics have been totally different from mine, however that’s neither right here nor there.
Joshua We did half on good phrases. John shocked me in just a few methods. He had some Each day Mail-esque takes on issues, however his opinions have been a blended bag.
Extra reporting: Kitty Drake
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