wakeup this is the end of the indivual .we are all now observs ,and we do nothing. but i will. do i have help from other .people who think the same

anthony r wyatt, bexhill on sea, sussex

there is no hope

anthony r wyatt, still bexhill, yes sussex

Matthew, unless your reference to 'muscular government' is a pun on 'muscular Christianity', thus revealing your tongue is in your cheek, I fear you may have lost some of your humanity on the way home from your holidays.
Not that Blair's Christian socialism ever displayed compassion for anyone.

Stuart Hartill, Ramsey, Isle of Man,

Actually Matthew is out of touch with the teachings of christianity. Wasn't it Paul who said 'if a man doesn't work he shouldn't eat'?

Bill, yeovil, UK

I have loathed Parris for over a decade as a New Labour Voter and admirer of Blair - but he is right. The brutal truth, but no less the truth.

Muggedbyreality, Horsham, England

Interesting argument but Matthew Parris' understanding of what Christians believe is desparately flawed. The Cross is about victory, not victimhood; God's interest in the poor about his love for every single individual and his hatred of exploitation. Having a pop at other's beliefs exposes ignorance

Chris Mould, Salisbury, UK

Is it going to far to draw a link between the epidemic of youth knife murders and the Left's veer towards compassion at the expense of tough judgements? A kind of gross and macabre redressing of the balance actuated at a deeply unconscious level. This theory is not as outlandish as it might seem

Michael, Sydney, Australia

New Labour hasn't discouraged success (look at how they wooed business), however their time in office has been a curious mix of courting society's winners and throwing cash at the dishonest as well as the genuinely needy. The left need to toughen up and weed out those who fake illness, who are many.

Stephen, Glasgow,

Labour and society generally have already forgotton about the 'weak'.

Stuart, Manchester, England

but more importantly who would vote labour?

dr terry sullivan, morden, england

Mark from Madrid and London - your comment is absolutely the crux of this debate. People don't understand that capitalist wealth creation helps everyone. Socialist pandering to the weak (effectively to buy their votes) throws good money after bad and drags us all down!!

M Graham, Auckland, New Zealand

Parris is spot on. He is not saying that a Labour government shouldn't take care of the sick, disabled, etc; all governments should do that. But it isn't what should define a Labour govt. They should represent and promote the interests of working people, not act like some giant middle-class charity.

J Slee, Sawbridgeworth, UK

New Labour have never been concerned with the poor... only the votes of the poor.

Kevin, Leeds,

I've been saying this for years. Instead of lavishing billions on the NEETS how about spending the cash on a super railway? Instead of gender awareness officers and outreach coordinators lets train a few more scientists and engineers. Lets support the best and brightest. or is that elitism Mr Balls?

gareth, monmouth, uk

This Thatcherite diatribe is shocking & doubly so that Parris is the author.

With only 650,000 vacancies & 2 or 3 million unemployed, depending on your definition, who are the workshy?

For someone with 2 homes and lots of well-paid, desk work to rub poor peoples' noses in it is appalling.

David Short, London, UK

"Parris, unlike most of today's atheists - Toynbee, Dawkins, Hitchens, Grayling et al, at least deserves respect for being an atheist of his conviction" Jake

Which is to say, a social Darwinist. Wonderful.

If that's the case, personally I'd rather Dawkins, and that's truly saying something.

Rob, Cardiff, UK

You have some detracting respondents. They don't seem to twig that a growing economy can have increasing resources available to support the troubled, but devoting vital energies to those unproductive through situation or lack of interest does _not_ build an economy that can support all.

Mark, London & Madrid,

Marx...at least I believe it was him, came up with the one of the greatest statements I have ever heard.....'from each according to their ability, to each according to their need'. Whoever said it, it is the absolute blueprint for society. I live by it and so should the rest of the world.

Nigel, Lincoln,

I certainly do not want a muscular government trampling on my rights and freedoms, which this one certainly has. Yours is an horrific vision of totalitarianism!

Adrian Ryan, Donegal, Ireland

Alex, the weak die out unless they can support themelves or be supported by family, they are no one else's responsibility. In a world of finite resources with growing shortages priorities have to be set, each of us will have to ask to whom do we owe the greater duty? Stark choices can't be avoided

Carl, Leeds,

I've been a socialist for all my adult life and I would sooner drink gin and milk then vote for the party Mr Parris supports, but this piece makes more telling points about the future of socialism than a year's worth of the Guardian or the New Stateman.

Andrew C, Norwich , UK

For the past 10 years New Labour has been not so much embracing 'progress and winners' (i.e. the rich) as getting on its knees and worshipping them, and as a result it's now unelectable. Now you say it should go even further. Great timing, Matthew - but then you are a Conservative, aren't you?

Paul, Bath, UK

Our benefits system needs a complete overhaul.
We've encouraged dependency! You can get Incapacity Benefit for being depressed or even not being very bright (there are good actors out there.)

It's given to alcoholics & drug addicts so they can continue to drown their sorrows, MPs sort it out!

Graham, St. Albans, uk

Labour's Stalingrad

The enemy is at the economy's throat, the people suffer and moan of loss of rights. But where is the leadership and sacrifice of the people. Even more money into the open bank of freespending NHS for the suffering hordes.

Build, train, Trade, grow stronger with endeavour.

Goldfinger, Gloucester,

Unless you believe in big, costly, muscular and intrusive government>>

Presumably by this you mean letting the rich get away with paying no tax whilst persecuting the disabled for their £50 benefit per week? Why can you people never just come out and say it?

Frank, London ,

In order to have a stable society all parts of that society have to be looked after otherwise there is disharmony and strife. Its a fact of life that some are seen as idle and some are less capable that others. The trick is to support the weak whilst motivating the capable.

bob taylor, castelnau, France

The self proclaimed Socialists A and C Blair certainly believe in the redistribution of wealth. Principally by moving it in their own direction.

John, Bangkok, Thailand

Matthew, socialism has just rescued capitalism in the biggest financial bailout in history. The question that we should be asking is where does capitalism lead apart from to mass bankruptcy, bailed out by the state?

Paul, Coventry,

Parris, unlike most of today's atheists - Toynbee, Dawkins, Hitchens, Grayling et al, at least deserves respect for being an atheist with the courage of his convictions ie If there is no God life is a cosmic accident and is all about the survival of the fittest with the weak going to the wall.

Jake, London, UK

True Socialism died a very long time ago.along with Society. None of the political parties have social/socialist principles only a self serving motivation to control and benefit from their serfs and vassals.

peter, worthing,

Socialism committed suicide in the 70's and was buried in the 80's - that's why Tony Blair all but abandoned it in the 90's. What we've suffered for the last 11 years is a bunch of old fashioned egalitarian Labour incompetents who could not pick a winner in a one horse race - hence the waste.

Alan Gooch, Honiton, UK

Mr. Parris' piece is well done and many of his criticisms of Liberal government are bullseyes. I disagree on 2 points, though. The taint afflicting Liberalism is not Christianity, but the Cult of the Victim. The “muscular” government extolled by Mr. Parris is not Socialism, but National Socialism.

Kelly, York, USA

Hmmm. From http://www.viking.no/e/people/e-knud.htm, reference Canute's son Harthacnut:

"died, leaving behind little to remember him by other than the huge taxes he imposed" and

"He did nothing worthy of a king as long as he ruled".

Remind you of anybody ?

D Murphy, Skipton,

Perhaps Western socialism became feminised, or shall we say a sort of 'yin' energy began to take over, after the burnt-out of yang energy in 1945. Multiculturalism came from this trend, a yin, passive culture prioritising the active immigant.

mark hood, london, uk

Ambiguous and ambivalent British policies have been and still are and utterly inefficient and ineffective. Get the Country on its feet and get the policies right and not wishy washying away . In all aspects really questionable !

ian, singapore, singapore

"Marx would have been contemptuous of the workshy"

Guffaw. Like the Milibands, he never had a proper job in his life.

Gary Walker, Lincoln,

Mr Parris idea could be a virus to kill Labour. If modern socialism is informed by Christian ethics, then that is because the ethics of the people who vote labour are too. Such muscular socialism would pull in hard line communists and drive away lose all the ordinary Labour voters - to the Tories?

Neil Murphy, cromer,

The government is awash with inefficiencies and squandering content only to raise yet more capital and taxes. Brown is helplessly blind and out of touch with reality and the main people driving the economy have had enough. He will be ejected, but is the alternative any better?
Max, London

Colin , London, UK

This article seems to be, really, about attacking Christianity.

Conservatives are just as much Christian as anyone else. Different sort of compassion, sometimes, but, equally, compassionate.

Christian compassion / love is both muscular and masculine, as well as sensistive and feminine.

patrick fowke, andover,

"Marx would have been contemptuous of the workshy ??!!!"

Marx was the ultimate workshy guy! A freeloader just about all his life! He lived on handouts from Engels, who lived on profits expropriated from the workers in his family factories.

julie, London,

Marx was simply putting the Spartan creed into a new form and the Spartans were not famous for charity. That is what Charities are for, to look after those who are left behind. This government is about social dependency and keeping people down. That is what the folk of Glasgow East rejected.

Peter Thomson, Kirkcudbright, Scotland

So, does Mr Parris' disregard for minorities extend to the gay communities?

Tom, Shenzhen, China

Would that Pol Pot, 'Brother Number One', were here to appreciate Matthew Parris' musings on compassion. Stamping on the fingers of those on lower rungs and snapping at the ankles of those on higher rungs is the way forward, comrades! Orwell understood this well enough, hence his dystopian novels.

Bill Corr, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia

Thanks Matthew, you've articulated my 40 year beef with the Labour Party in a way I never could. Now can somebody on the left pick up the baton dropped by Blair. The tragedy of Gordon Brown's self obsession is that in promoting himself, he stopped us having what we wanted Blair to achieve..

Clive S, Crowborough,

At last a commentator who has articulated this political truth. The term "muscular government" is new to me but the concept certainly isnt>welcome to China,the system works.Would people vote for this or does democracy get in the way? People will only vote for muscular gov when they have seen it work

Blackburn, Beijing, China

Mr. Parris- who, then, will attend the lonely invalid, ease the hardship of the disabled and stand by those too weak to stand for themselves? You would offer the world a choice between cruel collectivism and heartless individualism. It's so much easier to forget about 'the weak.'

Alex M, London, UK