bunn (bunn) wrote,
bunn
bunn

Conspiratorial minds

I heard a trailer for some event where John le Carré was speaking, in which he said that one of the odd things about Britain is that the majority of people, if they are asked by British Intelligence 'can we come in and use your upstairs, we can't tell you anything about it' will, if reassured the request is genuinely from British Intelligence, say 'yes'.

He felt this demonstrated a national temperamental bias towards the conspiratorial, and towards the patriotic.

Poll #1934265 A Conspiratorial Poll
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All. Participants: 17

If British Intelligence asked to use your upstairs, would you let them?

View Answers
yes
7(41.2%)
no
0(0.0%)
that would be an ecumenical matter
4(23.5%)
Only in order to find out what they were up to
6(35.3%)

Do you consider yourself

View Answers
Conspiratorial AND Patriotic
5(31.2%)
Patriotic but can't keep a secret for toffee
3(18.8%)
Unpatriotic and Conspiratorial
4(25.0%)
UnPatriotic and Unconspiratorial
4(25.0%)


Oh drat, I meant to ask if you thought it was odd to say 'yes'. 
Tags: le carre, life is not like star wars, morality, politics, spies
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  • 18 comments

  • The Day the Jazz Came

    I wrote this for a short story competition. It didn't get placed (there were 400 entries, apparently, so I don't feel too bad!) so I'm…

  • Short woman, short archways. Also, mysterious Woman with Fishslice

    Was in a medieval mood today, so we went to Cotehele house for an outing. Here is my mum, demonstrating doorways designed for seriously short people…

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