Classical Mechanic
Full Member
Probably the worst thing politically to happen to this country since I was born.
For all your faults, I doubt that you were that bad.
Probably the worst thing politically to happen to this country since I was born.
Except it is working, right now, in country after country. In Britain Labour and the Liberals before them have introduced pensions for all, free basic health care, free education to 18, housing benefits for those that wouldn't afford anything otherwise, benefits for the sick, the disabled and the unemployed, the list goes on and on, and all paid for out of taxes, nothing else, just taxes. Yes the left would like to go further and the right would like to reverse it a bit, but the fact is a great many left-wing principles have been won, are here to stay, and rightly so.‘Populism’ is the current media buzzword but it’s nothing new in politics really. Hitler was at it big stylee 80 years ago. He also blamed ‘the elites’ like you are doing btw. The elites are still here thank you very much after being assaulted from both sides.
Thing with the left is, yes, they want ‘Social Justice’ with altruistic policies - and indeed what person with even a modicum of human compassion could possibly criticise a lot of those leftist aims?
The problem however lies in paying for it all & the oft chanted & tried ‘tax the rich’ mantra.
It’ll never work, unless all nations on earth have uniform tax rates/same strategy. One nation -or merely some nations- doing it ain’t enough. Because those rich elites simply upsticks to where the fiscal sun shines. Indeed that’s where the typical right winger argument comes in: reduce tax so you encourage those elites to stay on your patch and pay *something* - as a little of a lot is better than a lot of nothing.
For all your faults, I doubt that you were that bad.
Boris's Britain
Except it is working, right now, in country after country. In Britain Labour and the Liberals before them have introduced pensions for all, free basic health care, free education to 18, housing benefits for those that wouldn't afford anything otherwise, benefits for the sick, the disabled and the unemployed, the list goes on and on, and all paid for out of taxes, nothing else, just taxes. Yes the left would like to go further and the right would like to reverse it a bit, but the fact is a great many left-wing principles have been won, are here to stay, and rightly so.
I get what you're saying but yeah... The elites in Germany during Hitler's rise were the landed vassals and nobility but also it was a phrase used to try and turn the public against the Jewish community. Not to mention Germany's elite class throughout the years after WW2, when the class opened up, has been filled by those who have worked to gain the status. Not inherited wealth and class isolation such as the generation after generation of old wealth families that exist in what predominantly is referred to as this country's "elite".Populism’ is the current media buzzword but it’s nothing new in politics really. Hitler was at it big stylee 80 years ago. He also blamed ‘the elites’ like you are doing btw.
A lot of people, it seems sadly. Andrew Langley and then Jeremy Hunt have had no problems carving up the NHS for their own personal gain. Labour, for all their bluster have been no better since the rise (and fall) of New Labour, when they opened up the public service to foundation trusts and letting private companies access commissioning. My dad always loved the say "99% of people are good, 99% of the time". There's no denying that across the political landscape people are making money off of every policy - even the ones that we think are completely altruistic. After all, you don't get anything for free.Thing with the left is, yes, they want ‘Social Justice’ with altruistic policies - and indeed what person with even a modicum of human compassion could possibly criticise a lot of those leftist aims?
It did work, it was the 90s. It wasn't perfect but...The problem however lies in paying for it all & the oft chanted & tried ‘tax the rich’ mantra.
It’ll never
...we had a balance that was fairer. Maybe not perfect but it was more evenly spread out. All that's happened in the years following the crunch is rhetoric about how "nothing can be fixed" as if we're meant to forget about what happened before. It's also a clever way of trying to divert our attention from what incompetent behaviours and practices caused the whole thing to collapse in the first place. Rather than rebuild and learn from our mistakes we've just shifted back to class warfare and soundbites.unless all nations on earth have uniform tax rates/same strategy. One nation -or merely some nations- doing it ain’t enough. Because those rich elites simply upsticks to where the fiscal sun shines. Indeed that’s where the typical right winger argument comes in: reduce tax so you encourage those elites to stay on your patch and pay *something* - as a little of a lot is better than a lot of nothing.
For all your faults, I doubt that you were that bad.
But centrists (whatever that means) are critical thinkers able to divine the true meaning of course? This smacks of arrogance and condescension.
Also, do you really equate the Guardian with the Daily Mail? One is internationally highly respected for the standards of its investigative journalism. The other is the Daily Mail.
The reason he calls Boris racists may be somewhat supported by his many racist comments (watermelon smiles, picaninnies and letterboxes may jog your memory).
‘Populism’ is the current media buzzword but it’s nothing new in politics really. Hitler was at it big stylee 80 years ago. He also blamed ‘the elites’ like you are doing btw. The elites are still here thank you very much after being assaulted from both sides.
Thing with the left is, yes, they want ‘Social Justice’ with altruistic policies - and indeed what person with even a modicum of human compassion could possibly criticise a lot of those leftist aims?
The problem however lies in paying for it all & the oft chanted & tried ‘tax the rich’ mantra.
It’ll never work, unless all nations on earth have uniform tax rates/same strategy. One nation -or merely some nations- doing it ain’t enough. Because those rich elites simply upsticks to where the fiscal sun shines. Indeed that’s where the typical right winger argument comes in: reduce tax so you encourage those elites to stay on your patch and pay *something* - as a little of a lot is better than a lot of nothing.
With the exception that I have never seen or heard Corbyn say anything that is the equivalent of Johnson saying "watermelon smiles" or "piccaninnies" or how Obama had an "ancestral dislike" for Britain as he was "part-Kenyan" or calling burkhas "letterboxes" or those who wear them looking like "bank robbers" or how 'Papa New Guinea style' is "orgies of cannibalism and chief killing" or how the rise in Malaysian women attending universities was so that they could find husbands.We don't know if he is actually racist any more than we know Jeremy Corbyn is anti-semitic. It's just conjecture for those that want to believe it.
With the exception that I have never seen or heard Corbyn say anything that is the equivalent of Johnson saying "watermelon smiles" or "piccaninnies" or how Obama had an "ancestral dislike" for Britain as he was "part-Kenyan" or calling burkhas "letterboxes" or those who wear them looking like "bank robbers" or how 'Papa New Guinea style' is "orgies of cannibalism and chief killing" or how the rise in Malaysian women attending universities was so that they could find husbands.
Let's spread it out into general bigotry while we're at it. Since Johnson has called gay people "tank topped bumboys" and equated gay marriage to being the same as "three men and a dog".
At what point do we stop calling all of these "bluster" and fobbing them off as being simple slips of the tongue, and start facing the reality that these are things he genuinely believes? You don't keep saying this stuff accidentally unless you think there's truth behind it.
It was you moaning as I recall, not meIf it is working, what are you all still moaning about then? You’ve never had it so good to coin MacMillans phrase.
On a more serious, less flippant note.
Yes, the left have introduced some pillars of modern society as you say (though the quality and maintenance of some of these are questionable through lack of income/investment/affordability) & we aren't sending kids down the Coal mines any longer. But it’s still nowhere near approaching an egalitarian British society or wider world is it?
...and those elites are still there just as they have been for hundreds of years.
In reverse order: had Corbyn at any point referred to yids or some such you may have a point. He has not. It seems to me to be a distinction beyond meaning to suggest that those who speak like a racist are not. But then I lack the clarity of mind of a centrist. I think a high profile politician such as Johnson is beyond the point where clumsy language is an acceptable excuse.No. They just aren't driven blindly by one ideology unlike those that stick strictly to the right and left. Hey, the day I figure out how to divine the course I'll let you know.
That's exactly why I used the examples I did. All newspaper readers read what they read because they like their views reflected back at them and they all soak them up.
I actually believe clumsy and inappropriate rhetoric doesn't always make someone inherently racist. I may get lambasted for that view but hey. We don't know if he is actually racist any more than we know Jeremy Corbyn is anti-semitic. It's just conjecture for those that want to believe it.
In reverse order: had Corbyn at any point referred to yids or some such you may have a point. He has not. It seems to me to be a distinction beyond meaning to suggest that those who speak like a racist are not. But then I lack the clarity of mind of a centrist. I think a high profile politician such as Johnson is beyond the point where clumsy language is an acceptable excuse.
I understand that people will read media that reflect their views. However, to compare the Guardian to the Mail is ludicrous. There is not an equivalence due to their politics.
In reverse order: had Corbyn at any point referred to yids or some such you may have a point. He has not. It seems to me to be a distinction beyond meaning to suggest that those who speak like a racist are not. But then I lack the clarity of mind of a centrist. I think a high profile politician such as Johnson is beyond the point where clumsy language is an acceptable excuse.
I understand that people will read media that reflect their views. However, to compare the Guardian to the Mail is ludicrous. There is not an equivalence due to their politics.
I don’t know who this guy is, but I said basically exactly this just a week or so ago. He’s clearly a plagiarizing cnut.
Although actually his conclusion is wrong. Boris doesn’t want an election before the leave date, he wants it after the Remain parliament has forced a new referendum. Then he gets to both avoid the damage of leaving AND channel the anger of the leave crowd.
Since when did British Exceptionalism become a thing? I thought that went after the 50s.
And there are massive gaps in this supposed strategy:
1. to eat the brexit party vote you'd have to go to the country on a manifesto that promises no-deal within that parliament - that is a strategy that probably tops you out at 30% of the vote
2. the strategy relies on parliament stopping no-deal. something it actually failed to do in April, Theresa May just bailed.
Basically I think its far more likely that he should be read at face value: he is going to ask the EU for things they cannot give, when they refuse he is going to pursue no-deal Brexit.
How did parliament vote against no deal? I thought they only voted against being shut down right before the extension expires?
Maybe I’m not familiar with all the technicalities, but I was under the impression that parliament voted against a no deal Brexit under any circumstances on the 13th of March?
Afaik that one was just UK politicians chasing unicorns again:
In a night of high drama in the Commons, MPs surprised the government and voted by 312 to 308 to reject a no-deal Brexit under any circumstances.
The vote is not binding - under current law the UK could still leave without a deal on 29 March.
[...]
A European Commission spokesperson said: "There are only two ways to leave the EU: with or without a deal. The EU is prepared for both.
"To take no deal off the table, it is not enough to vote against no deal - you have to agree to a deal.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-47562995
What are the consequences of the government going ahead with a no deal Brexit on the 31st despite parliament voting against a no deal Brexit?
What are the consequences of the government going ahead with a no deal Brexit on the 31st despite parliament voting against a no deal Brexit?
Look into the 'context' of their spending if you like. Look into the increasing rate of national debt over the last 9 years too. Then add the context of reduced corporation tax. China being handed the keys to a nuclear power plant in Somerset. The shambles that is Brexit (whether you want in it out you can't argue it has not been an absolute shambles).Nothing to do with the opinion that the Conservatives are the more sensible option when it comes to the economy. You can argue about the impact of that on the less privileged.
There's no conclusive evidence that austerity has caused 100,000 deaths. The Conservatives have been very poor on mental health in my opinion which is underfunded, hopefully this changes!
Spending without context means absolutely nothing.
Same. What is this meant for? A typewriter?Double space![]()
That seems like great advice.
Especially the double spaces and no commas after and.