tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36841665.post5140030776744281085..comments2023-12-31T13:47:05.758+00:00Comments on Fat Man on a Keyboard: On the eve of the pollsThe Plumphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09244528534476387323noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36841665.post-65797695698560497422009-06-05T08:43:48.114+01:002009-06-05T08:43:48.114+01:00"Socialists believe in using the state."..."Socialists believe in using the state." – Anonymous 7.53 p.m.<br /><br />Well, I could follow that part of what was written. I suppose Socialists recognise the power of the state about which it would be foolish as well as counter productive to delude oneself. It is the vehicle through which beneficial outcomes may be distributed. I suspect this will still be true when the current issues of the banker's strike and personal conduct in public life are resolved.Anton Dequehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07076828639042541217noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36841665.post-14977731227545225262009-06-04T19:53:43.960+01:002009-06-04T19:53:43.960+01:00At the heart of the Labour philosophy is the notio...At the heart of the Labour philosophy is the notion that without protection most people will be exploited by the rich and powerful. Socialists believe in the state as a means of liberating the working class from the circumstances of their birth, and through action enabling workers to receive their due reward and exercise their freedoms.<br /><br />Labour under Blair and Brown has lost any notion of a political philosophy of liberation. Instead they just offer the concept that they are really clever people who can administer everything themselves, and organise the economy and society to give everyone their alloted chunk of fairness. Hence their obsession with education as a means of enabling workers to get jobs with multinational companies, not to develop their consciousness so they can better understand society and control their destiny.<br /><br />Socialists believe in using the state. But not everyone that uses the state is a socialist. Some are just interfering statist idiots with nothing to offer the ordinary person.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36841665.post-2065505186285695282009-06-04T16:41:01.667+01:002009-06-04T16:41:01.667+01:00Suicide has never been high on my list of reliable...<i>Suicide has never been high on my list of reliable methods of retaining power.</i><br /><br />Uh huh. Anyway, at no point did I say I didn't favour an early election - I just don't favour one now over this issue. I thought it might have been an idea to have one when Brown took over because I thought it was a bit off for a PM to take office without a single vote being cast. Norm and most other pro-Labour bloggers didn't agree at the time. He was wrong. Me (and Ed Balls *shudder*) were right. Now it's just too late. I don't see the difference between Autumn 2009 and Spring 2010 making much difference.Shuggyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00298179140317536572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36841665.post-75650896963404600252009-06-04T08:58:47.771+01:002009-06-04T08:58:47.771+01:00Looking beyond the moment, even the next General E...Looking beyond the moment, even the next General Election, I am thinking more and more that we have arrived at a one party state by default. Compared even with 1997 (and dramatically, 1957) the choice before us is between the two brands of the same essentially social democratic politics. It feels very strange.<br /><br />My fear is however, not so much a government led by Cameron (will anyone notice?) but a "reform" of Parliament by the well meaning meddlers urged on by the Guardian and Observer; a reform which will not only bring into Parliament fringe parties established on a single idea – anti-EU, Sharia Law, or race – but (to coin a phrase) give them a whip hand. Look at Avigdor Lieberman in Israel. A man with 15 seats in the Knesset who is now Foreign Secretary. Is that in any true sense 'representative' government?Anton Dequehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07076828639042541217noreply@blogger.com