What can we do to change the minds of decision makers and people in general to actually do something about preparing for the forthcoming economic/energy crises (the ones after this one!)?
Lord Beria3 wrote:
Funny enough, I do think there is space for a genuinely left-wing socialist party which could attract a decent chunk of the existing Labour voting bloc.
I do sense that the UKIP factor is a game-changer, but how things will evolve going forward is a big unknown. Surprised the Greens haven't prospered more but that I think is that they have become a slightly more greenish ting of Labour.
Given the Greens managed to finally gain a seat last time round I'd have thought they'd have been on the up. That said they do have a twinge of the centre-left about them and perhaps people do not trust the centre-left seeing as the other alternatives have spoiled their reputation by being little better than as the Red and Yellow Tories.
A real radical and alternative vision based on Transition Town in the long-term might provide a better chance for the Greens.
This of course is something that I have been predicting for a number of years
I knew you'd say that
Anyway it's not entirely a shift to the right. It's a shift, in all directions, away from the centre. Because the centre 3 parties all have the same policies, and the said policies aren't doing the average voter much good.
Which it's why UKIP are the ones making such massive gains in the polls and not the other minor parties. To the point where even the Greens get shoved in the 'other' bracket.
Still as long as that means it isn't the BNP making the significant gains...
I think you'll find that the areas that were voting this time 'round were never the sort the Greens were going to get hold of. Strangely, Green is much more popular in cities than in the countryside at the moment. Cities were sitting this one out.
RenewableCandy wrote:I think you'll find that the areas that were voting this time 'round were never the sort the Greens were going to get hold of. Strangely, Green is much more popular in cities than in the countryside at the moment. Cities were sitting this one out.
I wonder if the urban popularity of the Greens may be a result of alienated, educated, urban, existentialist anxiety being re-expressed as eco-anxiety. That may well be bollocks though; I'm just thinking out loud. Or, maybe, I'm merely describing myself.
Last edited by Little John on 15 May 2013, 00:25, edited 3 times in total.
JavaScriptDonkey wrote:I'm glad you have so much faith in the democratic choice of your fellow citizens Biff.
I don't think Biff really believes in his fellow citizen's democratic rights. Especially, I suspect, if they are urban, ill-educated and a bit...you know.....chavvy. I think Biff believes that all of the really big decisions should be made by nice, sensitive, educated people. People like....you know....Biff.
biffvernon wrote:
Scapegoating is central to right wing politics.
Scapegoating is central to politics.
It is certainly not just a right wing thing. Maggie Thatcher is used as a scapegoat for almost everything wrong in this country, according to the left. There's never an admission that the unions of the 50s to 70s were as much to blame, if not more so, as anyone in government or management for the terrible state that the country was in at that time. The failings of all the left wing governments throughout the world are blamed on the capitalists.
It's probably that those doing the scapegoating don't want to admit that they are doing it.
RenewableCandy wrote:I think you'll find that the areas that were voting this time 'round were never the sort the Greens were going to get hold of. Strangely, Green is much more popular in cities than in the countryside at the moment. Cities were sitting this one out.
I wonder if the urban popularity of the Greens may be a result of alienated, educated, urban, existentialist anxiety being re-expressed as eco-anxiety. That may well be bollocks
or otoh you may be on to something. Most employment these days, especially for those starting out (and therefore more likely to live in cities, where the "action" is), is pretty soul-less and alienating...you only have to look at "The Daily Mash" (many a true word spoken in jest and all that) to see what I mean or, heaven help you, actually to work in one of said jobs. The one about why young people drink (and why the price is irrelevant) is particularly poignant.
