I am an environmental socialist. As such my allegiance is towards the Green Party and the Labour Party.
As the contest for power in Britain is between Labour and Conservative I would tend to focus on that rather than to support the Green party in elections.
I am a Labour supporter because:
- I do not support any of the Tory aims or philosophies:
- I do not believe in god. I am an antitheist.
- I am not a monarchist. I do not recognise the right for any persons to rule us and I do not support the huge amount of public money spent on the Royal Family. They are among the wealthiest in the world because of the assets they seized from the people of this country. They have more than enough to support themselves. They have been reduced to a quaint pageant.
- I am not a patriot. I believe in all humanity and have a global perspective. There are good and bad things about our history and culture and I’m not a nationalist – I’m an internationalist.
- I do not believe in a free market economy where the rich exploit people for profit and become obscenely rich while the poor suffer. Particularly the way this operates on a world-wide market and creates poverty, starvation and death. I believe it is morally wrong.
- I do not believe in ‘trickle down’. I think history shows that the rich are quite happy to live in extreme luxury while working people live in slums and starve. Paternal obligation fails.
- I do not believe in deregulation. We saw the effects of that when Thatcher deregulated the cattle food industry. They promptly lowered the temperature in the processing plants to save money and increase profits. The result was BSE and a devastated beef market. It cost billions. History shows that deregulation results in cutting corners, putting health and safety at lower levels, putting profits first and lives at risk.
- I do not believe in privatisation. I cannot see how putting someone in charge to cream of profits for themselves can possibly make anything cheaper. I simply do not believe in competition.
- I do not believe in a flexible labour market. It results in poor pay, zero hours contracts and poor conditions.
2. I do support most Labour beliefs.
- I do believe that a man or woman deserves fair pay for a fair day’s work.
- I do not believe that bosses deserve huge multimillion pound salaries and multimillion pound bonuses. I find that obscene. They do not work harder that a man or woman down a pit or a teacher in a classroom.
- I do believe in a much fairer distribution of wealth.
- I do believe in environmentalism, feminism and liberalism.
- I do believe in reform and change.
- I do believe in higher taxes to pay for good social services – schools, hospitals, council services, roads and infrastructure.
- I do believe the government should intervene and insist on fairness, standards, health and safety, good management, good practice and no unlawful practice.
- I do think that the state should run our national services. I would have the NHS, all Schools, Rail, Roads, Water, Electricity, Gas, Postal services all run by the State. The sale and fragmentation of the rail network, water, gas, electricity and postal service is a stupidity and has not benefited anyone. It does not make any sense to me at all.
- I believe privatisation puts more money into the hands of the rich.
- I believe that private schools give privilege to those that can afford it and maintain the establishment, old boy network and the gulf between rich and poor. The state system needs more funding.
- I do believe that the huge difference between rich and poor is responsible for a lot of social unrest and misery. It needs addressing. I would do that through taxation. We desperately need to redistribute wealth.
- I do believe the rights and working conditions of ordinary people need protecting.
- I do believe we need a welfare state for those in need. Though I do believe that it has gone far too far. It should be a safety net for those in real need and not a hand-out for the work-shy and scroungers. It is one area that I have some sympathy for Tory policy. Though I do believe that we should provide basic short-term housing, care and support.
- I believe we have to discourage people from having more than two children. There should be no child benefit and punitive taxation. The population explosion needs curbing.
- I believe that no social change or beneficial conditions for workers has been freely given. Fairness, pay and justice has come about through struggle and blood.
As far as I’m concerned it is a no-brainer. I vote Labour.
If I had my way the world would run on socialist values and everything would be hunky-dory, fair, just and harmonious. There would not be poverty, poor education, poor health or grotesque wealth differentials.
Now, as a pragmatist I can see the downside. Nationalised industries do become flaccid and complacent. Having investment and industrial competition creates some vitality.
The values and philosophy of the parties is diluted by pragmatism.
In order to get elected neither of the two main parties can fully put its policies into operation.
The Tories have to give a standard of living to the workers or they won’t vote for them. I believe they give as little as they possibly can and put a spin on it through the media they control.
The Socialists have to reduce taxes and support business in order to create the wealth needed to have the level of social care.
I’m sure you all have your own views on this! I’d like to hear what they are.
Reblogged this on Opher's World and commented:
This is a summary of my political thinking.
You don’t believe people should have more than two Children, you did – so why did you break your own belief?
Back in the 70s the world population was half what it is today. I did not have the same awareness of the immensity of the problem back then so did not see it as such an imperative. Times change. The world population has risen to over 7 Billion now and added another 3.5 billion since then. The destruction of nature has accelerated enormously. My awareness has changed. If I could go back fifty years with the knowledge I now have I would have thought differently.
I did not break my belief – I simply did not have that belief or understanding back then.
Looks similar to my values. True it is often hard to live up to these. Interesting that ideals can so easily be criticised. I am hoping for a Progressive Alliance of Green, Lib Dems and Labour to really put a different voting system into place. So every voter can see that their vote for the politicians that support and will attempt to implement their values can happen.
I would hope for the same. A good coalition of Greens and Labour would be ideal for me.
The Tories are a scandalous disaster and their prevarications and priorities are disgusting.
Depends on if Labour can even be considered in contest, considering they rank 4th in some constituencies that they used to hold. Today, they really are a lost cause.
They’ll be in the contest Andrew. They’ve been down before. People will wake up to the creeping privatisation, destruction of public services, unnecessary austerity and increasing inequality and vote the Tories out.
I think it’s safe to say that they’ve lost a lot of support for exactly the reasons you stated as they were very much responsible for these problems. People tend not to forget that quickly and it will take a long time to rebuild. I’ll give them at least 10 years to have any chance.
Labour certainly weren’t responsible for those things. The Public Services were properly funded. Since this bunch came in privatisation is rampant and austerity is targeted at select groups. They run a snide set of policies.
Hopefully they will be resurgent soon. People are sick to death of the Tory unfair agenda and self-serving nature coupled with lies and misinformation.
Well that statement just doesn’t figure does it, considering just how recent the last general election was. You know, the one where Labour took an absolute drubbing?
Yes indeed, the people were so sick to death that they left Labour and voted Tory, in great numbers, too.
What had been Labour voters turned their backs on them in disgust and voted Tory.
That’s actually what did happen Opher.
Resurgent (it’ll need more than that) soon? What with that clapped out old goat Corbyn at the helm?
Even most of his own party can’t be doing with him.
Who would vote for that old duffer? Young people?
You’re dreaming.
Ha – I think you exaggerate there. Labour lost but hardly a landslide. We had Ed to contend with – he was too weak. They were expected to either win or have a coalition but they did not buy in to Ed. The Tories have a slim majority.
Now we have the mighty Corbyn!! Watch this space!
Seriously, if there’s nobody to blame you wouldn’t know what to do with yourself.
Who expected them to win? Just yourself?
Ed had that look of bewilderment that said “what am I doing here”. He was a nonentity.
Corbyn’s another joke and you know it. He’s 20 years too late. But back then he was too busy being a Marxist/Communist. Such pedigree…
Nothing wrong with Marx or Communism is there? Equality and fairness. Sounds OK to me. Yes Ed was too wet to be a PM. The most shocked person was Cameron though. He was hoisted on his own petard. He thought he might stand a chance of sharing again. The Libs shot themselves in the foot by going in with the nasties. That unexpected win was how Brexit was foisted on us. He only [promised the referendum in order to keep the rabid right on side through the election. He thought he was going to be able to blame the Lib-dems for not going through with that referendum. How different things might have been.
There’s everything imaginable wrong with Marxism and Communism. I think I’d rather commit suicide rather than suffer life – or what little there would be – under such oppression. I witnessed communism first hand on a number of occasions and it ain’t too funny a laughing matter. It was horrendous.
I’m sure it looks all fine and dandy on paper to a leftie, but in reality equality and fairness absolutely does not exist. I can’t stress this enough.
I’m not quite sure I follow your take on what the Lib Dems had to do with the last election or that it was an unexpected win or whether Brexit had anything to do with their support or not. Cameron knew what he was doing.
I’ve also yet to meet any of this rabid right you keep going on about. Perhaps it’s just where I live, but all the Tories are in general pretty decent, educated and professional people, quite an international and diverse bunch, too, with nobody looking particularly rabid and I certainly haven’t ever seen a swastika or any other signs of extremity at any of their tables around electioneering time. Some must even be Jewish, if their names are anything to go by.
Try talking to Rees-Mogg, David Davies, Liam Fox and co. Nutters.
But come off it Andrew – you know what happened in the last election. None of the polls were predicting a Tory win. It was all set for a hung government. You know that. Cameron gambled and blew it. He has messed up the whole country for party political reasons. You know it. Why pretend?
Polls are an extremely inaccurate method of prediction. Everybody knows this and Hillary Clinton is a prime example of the futility of of their governance.
I think on this occasion you have reflected on a particular area where perhaps the result predictions may very well have been 50/50.
Another anomaly of polls was the Brexit result in Sunderland. Nobody predicted that, which kind of negates your statement. Or the virtual destruction of the Labour party in Scotland at the last general election.
I think i’d be able to ream off at least 50 nutters in the Labour party. People I wouldn’t piss on if they were on fire, such obnoxious tin-pot anti-social deviants. I’d sooner shoot these scum and do the time than let them control anything to do with my life. I loathe them.
I really don’t indulge in rhetorical blame game stuff.
Cameron was under pressure to challenge the shambles of the EU. We could see where it potentially could lead us. Judging by what is now going on in many parts of EU, it really was the best decision to get the hell out of there.
You harp on about ‘rabid right wing’. However, have you had a look at Austria, perhaps the centrifugal force of EU. They are chomping at the bit for the opportunity to exacerbate turmoil in Germany and a return to the Germany of times past. That’s real rabid right wing.
Realistically, guys like David Davies are necessary. We must be able to ask awkward, unpopular questions in order to ascertain the correct path. It’s an adult world, not the girly pre-teen party. It is right to question same sex marriage, right to question who exactly are these refugees flooding in.
Just because he got scoffed at by that complete tosser Piers Morgan on some dumb-ass TV show does not negate the mechanics of debate. For instance, Trojan Horses come in many shapes and forms, so it’s better to be absolutely sure than take anything for granted or let it go because it’s not considered this week as politically correct and all the bullshit that goes with that.
And I’ll give you a very good example to make what I’ve said above crystal clear.
Do you know that we had a whole bunch of liberal whining arseholes who strongly objected to Abu Hamza (metal mickey / edward scissorhands) being referred to as an ex-bomb maker, in reference to his multi missing fingers. They took that as an insulting slight on his disfigurement and/or because he was a Muslim of some obvious standing in his community.
When in fact that was exactly the reason for his missing digits. However, in retrospect they claimed ignorance to this fact.
This is the major problem here. Big mouthed arseholes who will not allow the full discourse and fruition of all angles of a debate in fear that someone, somewhere may or may not be offended.
And I fear that you, for all your self-regard towards attributes of a man of a learned capacity, is just as morally closeted as those described above.
We have to think the unthinkable, talk about the unspeakable. Some of us really need to bloody grow up a bit.
I really don’t care what did or did not go to plan for Cameron. But one thing’s for sure in that I cannot thank him enough for giving us the opportunity to get out of that rat run for losers.
We just aren’t genetically engineered to be tied down to Europe. All through our history, for centuries we watched them build armies and wage constant war with each other. Meanwhile, we had a somewhat larger and more adventurous programme that secured autonomy of the oceans and trade on an international scale numbers fold larger than our insidious Euro cousins content in scraping the same border dirt war after war.
There’s no reason why we should remain stifled any longer now.
There’s 29 members in the EU. 15 are corrupt, brutal, former soviet regimes with sfa to offer except cheap holidays in other people’s misery. 5 are virtually bankrupt. 3 others will very likely follow our lead. That leaves 5. Germany, Austria, Switzerland and whatever else nonentity is left.
Leave the Germans to sing Deutschland Uber Alles to themselves.
I think we have slightly different view on Europe and I do not think Britain was any less warmongering and empire building than any of the others. Probably only the water stopped us being even more so.
I await the effect on the economy, trade, environment and terrorism. I can’t see it being good.
In Scotland you are probably a bit less genetically diverse, but in England we are most definitely European. We are mainly a mixture of German, French, Italian, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian with a smattering of Celt thrown in. This idea of English is a myth. We were colonised and invaded from all over.
Yes polls are inaccurate but until we have better predictors they are all we have. Everyone was caught out at the last election (as with Brexit and Trump) because all the predictions were for a hung parliament. Nobody predicted a Tory win. It even shocked Cameron and was his downfall.
The pressure to exit Europe has consistently come from an obnoxious right-wing of the Tory party. It represents a minority of Europhobes and Nationalists who have been threatening to split the Tory Party for generations. It just happened to ride the wave of fear of terrorism and mass migration to secure a narrow win.
Abu Hamza should not have been deported – he should have been locked up forever with air pumped in to him. The man was an evil nutter.
I’d say by nature we aren’t as narrow minded regards the rest of the world as many other European countries. We were so far ahead than any other nation in Europe in terms of world trade. Having the largest and most powerful naval capability for 350 years was a lot to do with it and we very much were into empire building making the achievements of any other nation look pitiful.
I’d disagree somewhat of your idea that Scotland would be a bit less genetically diverse. You may have forgotten that Glasgow was the 2nd most important port in the British Empire for 350 years. I needn’t describe all that comes with that.
However, ain’t it strange that a lot of people from the western isles / Herbrides, have jet black hair? That’s not natural to our shores. Neither am I for that matter and my family name comes from Normandy – the Black Knight (his armour was black), he who sacked York and all the north east.
There’s no point in having polls and wasting time with them.
They’re better suited to consumer trials stuff.
I see you’re off on another extremity rant again.
Bollocks. People saw it on the TV for what it is – a crock of shit. You keep reciting the same tired old lines, having never ever lived or done business in the EU. You’re wasting your time on me as I know a whole lot better.
Mass immigration was stupidity at large and France and Germany realise this now.
Hamza is having a far worse time in USA than he’d ever have had here. We’d be reading the human rights book all day checking and ticking boxes on his behalf. Over there he’s in solitary for life in the sort of regime where he has to ask permission to pee. What’s more he will have to suffer US TV every day and I think that’s a fairly severe form of torture in itself.
I think we’re both pretty good at rants.
Ha – I like that about Abu. The Us will deal with him more harshly. They specialise in that. Trump is even after bringing back torture. Abu deserves all he gets.
I wasn’t suggesting that there wasn’t diversity in the Scottish genome. Certainly the Vikings were prevalent and the Orkneys are more Viking than Celt. The major ports like Glasgow were certainly a melting pot (just as with Hull and Liverpool). There would have been an influx of African, Chinese and other races into the gene pool. I would have thought that there would have been less of an Italian, French and German influence though. Being further north I think they tended to settle more southerly.
So are you related to the Black Knight?
Liz traced me back to Normandy too. But thinks she might have got a link wrong. At one time she had my family running a castle!
Actually lots of French influx, due to the ‘special relationship’ between Scotland and France. Quite a bit of Italian (for whom there was quite a large special confinement camp built in Ayrshire in WW2 for the Glasgow population) and very little if any German anything.
I’m afraid I just don’t have the room anymore to house my personal armour polishers, troops and hundreds of horses.
I’m also finding trouble securing suppliers of canon balls.
Boules might work? Depends on the bore. No solutions for the other accoutrements though. Tough times for a dark prince.
Well no one can mistake what you believe!
Sorry – I do try to be transparent. It’s probably a fault of mine.