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!)?
UndercoverElephant wrote:What you see is what you get
You've made your bed, you'd better lie in it
You choose your leaders and place your trust
As their lies wash you down and their promises rust
You'll see kidney machines replaced by rockets and guns
And the public wants what the public gets
The Jam - Going Underground
As a musician who is a member of the MU I find it odd that song lyrics are quoted as having any particular philosophical significance or indeed that musicians' comments on politics have any extra traction. Part, I know, comes from celebrity, but that is life.
In writing lyrics often there is a need for scansion that is greater than subtlety of meaning.
To be fair, however, the rules of Rhetoric are not that much about meaning either.
UndercoverElephant wrote:Well, I've paid my £3 so I can vote for Mr Corbyn.
I see no ethical problem in doing so. I believe a Corbyn-led Labour party is worth supporting, so why not. Especially given I live in Amber Rudd's constituency and Labour are the only challenger. I voted Labour in May.
Even as an Irish citizen, I have also paid my £3 to vote for JC. The UK is going down the toilet and I have family being flushed down with it.
Last edited by emordnilap on 05 Aug 2015, 12:07, edited 1 time in total.
I experience pleasure and pains, and pursue goals in service of them, so I cannot reasonably deny the right of other sentient agents to do the same - Steven Pinker
a government survey wrote:68% of the public say the energy companies should be run in the public sector, while only 21% say they should remain in private hands. 66% support nationalising the railway companies while 23% think they should be run privately. The British people also tend strongly to prefer a publicly-run National Health Service (as it is now) and a publicly-run Royal Mail (as it was until this year).
I experience pleasure and pains, and pursue goals in service of them, so I cannot reasonably deny the right of other sentient agents to do the same - Steven Pinker
johnhemming2 wrote:Just because something is popular does not mean it is right.
Agreed. That is the central dilemma of democracy. But equally, just being and (ex) MP does not make one right either.
Humans are apes with a deluded belief in their own intelligence and rationality. Given that limitation the most rational course of behaviour is to be very humble and try to build a world view from observation and experiment, and only trust other people with a similar outlook who are open about their own limitations (if at all).
A firmly held belief in the value of the tertiary economy (money) is not a good sign.
Labour leadership: 100 Green Party candidates have joined party in latest evidence of 'entryism'
More than 100 Green Party candidates have tried to join Labour in the latest evidence of entryism by people who want to vote for Jeremy Corbyn in the party’s leadership contest.
A trawl of Green candidates in this May’s general and local elections by Labour officials found that about 4 per cent of them have applied to join Labour since then. Between 100 and 150 Greens have had their applications rejected.
Win or lose, Jeremy Corbyn has already changed the rules of the game
The media and the political class can hardly contain themselves. What’s happening in the Labour party should simply not be happening. It’s suicidal, puerile, madness, self-mutilation, narcissistic, an emotional spasm and, in the words of one Tory cabinet member, a “potential catastrophe for Britain”.
But Jeremy Corbyn’s runaway leadership campaign shows little sign of flagging. In fact, the more he’s attacked and derided, the more support he attracts. It’s an extraordinary example of how utterly unpredictable politics can be. In the aftermath of the general election, Corbyn’s name was barely mentioned as a possible candidate, as Labour’s leaders lurched to the right.
A couple of months later and the veteran leftwing MP is heading the field in polls and nominations, attracting thousands of young people to the party and packing public meetings across the country. As Corbyn himself readily concedes, it’s a political insurgency that was waiting for something to latch on to - and that something has turned out to be him.
Win or lose, Jeremy Corbyn has already changed the rules of the game
The media and the political class can hardly contain themselves. What’s happening in the Labour party should simply not be happening. It’s suicidal, puerile, madness, self-mutilation, narcissistic, an emotional spasm and, in the words of one Tory cabinet member, a “potential catastrophe for Britain”.
But Jeremy Corbyn’s runaway leadership campaign shows little sign of flagging. In fact, the more he’s attacked and derided, the more support he attracts. It’s an extraordinary example of how utterly unpredictable politics can be. In the aftermath of the general election, Corbyn’s name was barely mentioned as a possible candidate, as Labour’s leaders lurched to the right.
A couple of months later and the veteran leftwing MP is heading the field in polls and nominations, attracting thousands of young people to the party and packing public meetings across the country. As Corbyn himself readily concedes, it’s a political insurgency that was waiting for something to latch on to - and that something has turned out to be him.
Not a bad article - I'm glad it's gradually being recognised how the 'centre' has been hijacked. Corbyn is centrist.
I experience pleasure and pains, and pursue goals in service of them, so I cannot reasonably deny the right of other sentient agents to do the same - Steven Pinker
emordnilap wrote:[Not a bad article - I'm glad it's gradually being recognised how the 'centre' has been hijacked. Corbyn is centrist.
It depends on where your spectrum starts and ends. Within the context of UK or European politics he is close to Syriza.
eg http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2015-16/244
That this House congratulates the Greek government on holding the referendum on 5 July 2015 to allow the people of Greece to have their democratic say on new bailout proposals; recognises the majority vote for No to the imposition of further austerity measures which have damaged the economy and caused widespread poverty; further congratulates the Greek people on taking a stand against attacks on the living standards of ordinary people; urges the Government to work with the EU Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund to respect the result of the referendum and to return immediately to meaningful negotiations with the Greek government on the terms of the bailout; and believes that an end to austerity measures and a European conference to reach a new agreement on the restructuring of Greek debt, including debt cancellation and a grace period without payments, are necessary.
Sounds like Labour same-old same-old. Cameron can rest easy I would think .
I don't condemn then either. Or, rather, I condemn them no more or less than I condemn the British army for such acts. That is to say, I condemn individual acts of gratuitous violence against innocents from whatever source and the IRA was implicated in such acts no more or less than the British Army. Also, it worth remembering the British army was, and still is, occupying Irish land, not the other way around,
.