Your Political Beliefs

[Jose Jones]

Quite tricky to vocalise political beliefs isn't it? Even the Stronts who is one of the most politically inclined people here has to use a "not what people like Labour think" in his piece.

 

I believe:

That democracy is the fairest method of government.

In competent government that acts in the best interests of its people.

Government can lead and inspire society.

In sensible solutions to problems rather than political grandstanding.

In peace, however understand that occasionally force is required to defend.

That everyone should have equal opportunities in education and healthcare regardless of background, race or privilege.

That people who work hard should be able to see reward for their efforts.

That corporations and rich individuals should be taxed fairly and that sometimes those with more will contribute more.

And that government should take a lead in creating a society that recognises this rather than one which encourages tax avoidance and off-shore accounts.

In separation of church and state and that religion has no place in politics.

That we’re all different, yet we’re all in this together.

[Mustangt125]

Conservative, small government, pro-business.

[piscinin]

Whichever definition you care to use.

 

Nationalistic - using Communism as the banner for what was essentially a Russian empire, dominated by one nation.

 

Socially conservative

 

Counter-revolutionary: He destroyed all personal opposition and attempts to continue the spread and evolution of Communism.

 

A non-believer in the idea that all men are equal (or should be equal - a fundamental tenet of the left) judging by his many racially motivated genocides against the likes of the Ukrainians, Jews and Cossacks (plus many, many more).

 

You make a decent case that he didn't live up to a good many left-wing ideals. But lets face it, right-wingers could make an equally good case that he was no free-wheeling, laissez-faire-ing, champion of individual rights over those of the state.

 

The fact is megalomania and despotism over-power puny and vulnerable political systems be they of the left or the right with indifference. Stalin was a psycho-path who subverted a left-wing regime, like many, many others have done.

 

He's not a right-wing phenomenon and to pretend otherwise is to ignore a very real problem; Why are all these nutters congregating under that banner? And how do they so easily waylay those ideals?

 

Answers on a postcard to "Current Political Elite", C/O Parliament, because they're going to need all the help they can get as they grapple with their own Stalin.

[ReDeus]

After months of being accused of being a Yellow Tory, Tory Lite, Closet Tory, Wannabe Tory.... ad infinitum, I start this thread (a) as a convenient reference point for What I Actually Believe (so that people have no excuse for misrepresenting me) and also (b) because I want to know (i) what political beliefs other people have and (ii) why they hold them.

 

Also in the hope that we can have one political thread on here that doesn't descend into coalition bashing (but I know I'm pissing in the wind there).

 

I have adapted this from something someone else wrote, but it so aptly reflected my beliefs that I repeat it here.

 

___

What I believe:

 

Traditional liberal values:

• A commitment to social justice, but without the nanny state approach of Labour
  
• A strong commitment to the right of every individual to participate fully in society and enjoy the benefits of production - irrespective of gender, sexual orientation, physical ability, creed, race - or any other irrelevant factor (note the stress on 'individual' as opposed to the socialist stress on impersonal categories)
  
• A strong commitment to community values and decentralisation
  
• Commitment to an open and democratic system of government at all levels that genuinely reflects the community it represents
  
• A genuine commitment to internationalism - which is reflected in a strong commitment to the EU, UN and international development.

___

 

Now I want to read what other people believe in, and why.

I'm kinda similar but rule out the last line. The EU has become a total disaster and personally I think the UK should withdraw. And the UN is an even bigger joke, nothing more than a tool that is used by the USA to legitimise some of its foreign policy yet they conveniently ignore the UN when their interests aren't supported.

[Section_31]

The concept of democracy is an interesting one, because although it affords us freedom (or perhaps the illusion of freedom) it is also ripe for exploitation by society's more unscrupulous elements.

 

The concept of a benign dictatorship is an intriguing one, foretold by Plato (the 'philosopher king' who is not motivated by personal gain, but simply knows what needs to be done to make society function correctly, eschewing all other considerations)

 

Dictatorships can achieve huge strides in rapid time, from Augustus Caesar who took a crumbling Rome divided by infighting between the ruling class and the people and turned it into a city of marble with its own police force, firefighters and the longest period of peace in its history.

 

Chairman Mao rescued China from a situation where a third of its adult male population was addicted to opium (thanks to Britain) and effectively destroyed the triads, forcing them all to flee to Hong Kong and Macao, (where in the case of the latter they overran society). To Mussolini who curtailed the influence of the Mafia, holding mass trials where they were held in cages by the hundreds.

 

Hitler put millions of people back to work (although that economic timebomb was going to have to be diffused one way or the other, probably by war) and Stalin turned Russia from an agrarian society into an industrial powerhouse.

 

Even now, buildings fly up in Dubai in a matter of weeks while over here they take up to a decade.

 

Dictatorships definitely have their advantages, the trick is finding one who's not a cunt.

[rb14]

 

 

Christ. I'm nearly Thatcher.

 

The questions are generally shit.

[Joe Le Taxi]

 

I was way more Authoritarian last time.

[WaltonRed]

Just typical leftie really

[piscinin]

The concept of democracy is an interesting one, because although it affords us freedom (or perhaps the illusion of freedom) it is also ripe for exploitation by society's more unscrupulous elements.

 

The concept of a benign dictatorship is an intriguing one, foretold by Plato (the 'philosopher king' who is not motivated by personal gain, but simply knows what needs to be done to make society function correctly, eschewing all other considerations)

 

Dictatorships can achieve huge strides in rapid time, from Augustus Caesar who took a crumbling Rome divided by infighting between the ruling class and the people and turned it into a city of marble with its own police force, firefighters and the longest period of peace in its history.

 

Chairman Mao rescued China from a situation where a third of its adult male population was addicted to opium (thanks to Britain) and effectively destroyed the triads, forcing them all to flee to Hong Kong and Macao, (where in the case of the latter they overran society). To Mussolini who curtailed the influence of the Mafia, holding mass trials where they were held in cages by the hundreds.

 

Hitler put millions of people back to work (although that economic timebomb was going to have to be diffused one way or the other, probably by war) and Stalin turned Russia from an agrarian society into an industrial powerhouse.

 

Even now, buildings fly up in Dubai in a matter of weeks while over here they take up to a decade.

 

Dictatorships definitely have their advantages, the trick is finding one who's not a cunt.

 

I'm not sure concentrating all power in a single agent is going to make it more robust in the face of exploitation. Would seem rather the opposite to me.

 

Likewise, I'd check the other side of those balance sheets. Pay particular attention to the entries under Gulag, Dictator mandated abortions, loaves of bread per capita (to 4 decimal places), etc.

 

I'll wait a couple of months for my buildings thank you very much.

 

BTW I always find it supremely ironic that the "guy" who advocated the philosopher king chose as his noble lie a myth to justify the separating, at birth, children into classes; Alphas, Betas, Deltas classes from which they could never emerge. I mean come on, if he can't do better than that what chance have your mere mortals like the Mugabes, Amins of this world got?

[piscinin]

I believe:

 

• Capitalism needs to be embraced.
  
• --------Figuratively, as the truly remarkable and superlative engine for growth, change and progress that it is.
  
• --------Literally, branked and bear-hugged, as unconstrained it will spread like a virus. It will subvert your political system, your judicial system, your educational system, everything.
   
  
• True pluralism is essential. A choice between Thatcher, Thatcher in a well fitting suit, Thatcher in an ill-fitting suit, and Thatcher in overalls is no choice at all.
  
• Pluralism is measured in the gap between real-world actions not the gap between rhetorical flourishes.
  
• There needs to be a clear and vicious separation between the political, the media and the Corporatocracy.
  
• We need an end to this gelded accountability rendered impotent through lack of transparency and false dichotomies.
  
• The decline in religion has I believe lead to a burgeoning moral vacuum; a vacuum capitalism will fill; and inevitably all moral capital will be devoured.
  
• The "single" most powerful agent in the capitalist system is the consumer. He just doesn't know it and mistakes the political system as the most efficient vehicle for effecting change.
  

[Chairman Meow]

I don't have any belief in politics anymore.

 

Totally disillusioned by it all now to the point I won't even read a paper or watch the news because I am sick of the lot of them no matter which party they are in.

[Section_31]

I believe:

 

• Capitalism needs to be embraced.
  
• --------Figuratively, as the truly remarkable and superlative engine for growth, change and progress that it is.
  
• --------Literally, branked and bear-hugged, as unconstrained it will spread like a virus. It will subvert your political system, your judicial system, your educational system, everything.
   
  
• True pluralism is essential. A choice between Thatcher, Thatcher in a well fitting suit, Thatcher in an ill-fitting suit, and Thatcher in overalls is no choice at all.
  
• Pluralism is measured in the gap between real-world actions not the gap between rhetorical flourishes.
  
• There needs to be a clear and vicious separation between the political, the media and the Corporatocracy.
  
• We need an end to this gelded accountability rendered impotent through lack of transparency and false dichotomies.
  
• The decline in religion has I believe lead to a burgeoning moral vacuum; a vacuum capitalism will fill; and inevitably all moral capital will be devoured.
  
• The "single" most powerful agent in the capitalist system is the consumer. He just doesn't know it and mistakes the political system as the most efficient vehicle for effecting change.
  

 

 

Good stuff.

 

I have no issue with capitalism as it's described in the fairytales, none at all, I do have an issue with what Marx called the centralisation of capital.

 

No one man will ever found a Tesco again, or a Ford, or a Microsoft with just a few quid in his pocket. The ladder has been pulled up and big business rules the roost, and it will be forever thus.

[BatChainPuller]

' I believe the only way to live and to be truly successful is by collective effort, with everyone working for each other, everyone helping each other, and everyone having a share of the rewards at the end of the day. That might be asking a lot, but it's the way I see f**tb*ll and the way I see life'.