Buzzer
Languidly Clinical
- Oct 1, 2006
- 26,121
Is it any more ridiculous than Mustafa's "analysis"? At least Pastafarian's was tongue in cheek.
i didnt. why do you assume that public will be better? the delivery of service should be what we are concerned with, not the method of ownership of the provider.
as for education, the left wing policies of 50s-60s did more to harm eduction to the poor than any right wing policy could ever do.
The worst thing to happen to capitalism was the end of communism - because capitalism no longer had to win over the people.
Right-wing politics was great last century, capitalism was the great bringer of wealth, it was perfect... for that time - again, my criticism of right-wing philosophies is that they fear change and social progression. The great problem burdening this world is inequality, which is increasing exponentially, we all know that - yet that is what right-wing politics stands for.
Is it any more ridiculous than Mustafa's "analysis"? At least Pastafarian's was tongue in cheek.
Probably not. Whilst I would say I lean to the left, i wouldn;t necessarily align myself with Mustafa's somewhat extreme suggestions. Not sure about his comments relating to the end of communism! I presume he is referring to Russia (or in fact the USSR) however that was not a communist state other than in name.
why not? you're talking about how provision is made available in the US, only to those that have paid up their insurance. i dont believe we should see this as all one way, or all the other. we can have private companies providing services to specification, with part of that spec they offer services to all free at the point of consumption. a third way if you will.
Of course. I believe that there is some middle ground between communism and anarchy...So you don't believe in any form of taxation then?
Whilst there were many steps still to be taken towards full communism in those countries, I don't think it's particularly fair for the Left to wash their hands of the Soviet era. It was far from 'communism in name only'. They implemented many of the preliminary measures necessary for communism - command economy, class warfare, workers controlling the means of production, dictatorship of the proletariat and banning of opposition parties, compulsory political 'education', the necessary removal and prosecution of reactionary elements and counter-revolutionaries. It may not have been communism but it was certainly a dictatorship of the Left.
It does also make me think that it's unfair when Left-leaning observers make comparisons between Capitalism and Socialism and caveating that by saying that the Socialist system they advocate has never been tested. Let's compare like with like for once. Either Pure Capitalism (never been tried, never been tested) v Pure Socialism or the existing and historic Capitalist model in free market economies such as the UK and USA with a huge degree of social intervention v the existing and historic Socialist models.
The former just becomes a matter of theoretical debate whereas with the latter it seems to me at least that the system that has consistently brought about a more prosperous and fairer society is predominantly free-market but with a large degree of social responsibility - but maybe that's just me being a thick racist scaredy-cat.
I think you'll find the Industrial Revolution and the movement of the population from the countryside to the urban areas between 1760 and 1840 was about as pure a form of Capitalism as it's possible to have. The result was a comparative few wealthy industrialists controlling a large proportion of the population in unfettered servitude. Child labour was rife, as was disease and poverty amongst those employed by factory owners. Those who couldn't work were left facing the Workhouse ( ie assistance from the Parish ) as their only means of existance. Oliver Twist should tell you what life was like in those institutions.
The democratic mandate for decision making at EU level comes from the European Parliament, for which you have the opportunity to vote for every 5 years - most recently last May.
So, if you didn't vote in the European elections last May then you don't have grounds for complaint. The UK turnout at the last European Elections was , wait for it............
35.6 %
Compare that with of 84.6 % for the Scottish referendum, or the 89.6 % turnout last May in Belgium.
Farage will take Thanet.....mark my wordsJoke party. Might get 1 seat at a GE and it won't be Farage's. They hopefully will take some of the Tory vote at the next GE. Labour appealing to their traditional support will get close to 35% of the vote. Cheers Nigel!
Whilst there were many steps still to be taken towards full communism in those countries, I don't think it's particularly fair for the Left to wash their hands of the Soviet era. It was far from 'communism in name only'. They implemented many of the preliminary measures necessary for communism - command economy, class warfare, workers controlling the means of production, dictatorship of the proletariat and banning of opposition parties, compulsory political 'education', the necessary removal and prosecution of reactionary elements and counter-revolutionaries. It may not have been communism but it was certainly a dictatorship of the Left.
It does also make me think that it's unfair when Left-leaning observers make comparisons between Capitalism and Socialism and caveating that by saying that the Socialist system they advocate has never been tested. Let's compare like with like for once. Either Pure Capitalism (never been tried, never been tested) v Pure Socialism or the existing and historic Capitalist model in free market economies such as the UK and USA with a huge degree of social intervention v the existing and historic Socialist models.
The former just becomes a matter of theoretical debate whereas with the latter it seems to me at least that the system that has consistently brought about a more prosperous and fairer society is predominantly free-market but with a large degree of social responsibility - but maybe that's just me being a thick racist scaredy-cat.
The democratic mandate for decision making at EU level comes from the European Parliament, for which you have the opportunity to vote for every 5 years - most recently last May.
So, if you didn't vote in the European elections last May then you don't have grounds for complaint. The UK turnout at the last European Elections was , wait for it............
35.6 %
Compare that with of 84.6 % for the Scottish referendum, or the 89.6 % turnout last May in Belgium.
If you don't use your vote in European Elections, then you'll get the kind of EU that Other People want. If UKIP got their supporters out then, what did the rest of the electorate want as a result? What they'll get is the kind of EU that UKIP want, basically a 'smash the system' approach.
Simples.
The absence of 65 % of the electorate from the poll tells us one thing, the vast majority of the UK is happy with the 'status quo'. And happy to NOT bother with a referendum. And happy to see the EU wrecked from within.
It's quite straight forward - the only reason for any essential service to be delivered privately is where competition can drive improvement either through cost, quality or ideally both. It's not rocket science.
And you think politicians are competent enough people in Health, Education and other areas to actually WRITE these specifications?
Cheers. They are. I genuinely believe that equality and environmentalism should be the most important thing in politics - not just for our own quality of life, but certainly for those of our children who, if things continue as they are, will grow up to live in an extremely bleak era.
Capitalism has evolved into a corporatocracy, an oligarchy, where everything from the worlds resources, to world politics, to our individual lives, is dictated by the few who can afford it. Wealth is power, we need to return it to the people.
Like Labour and the Tories have done you mean...er UKIP are not in power,so who is responsible for MPs getting a £9,000 extra then.If their record on MEP's expenses is anything to go by, the last thing we should be doing is let them anywhere near the Westminster system - it's only just been tightened up. I'd expect the first thing Farage would do as PM is award himself a huge pay rise and then make sure his MP's can claim for everything they can get away with.
You can still visit the Brighton workhouse/asylum....Brighton General Hospital.Whilst I'm not excusing the horrors of the Industrial Revolution and I'm certainly not advocating pure Capitalism - the vast majority of the "results" you refer to were pre-existing conditions and certainly not a new phenomenon peculiar to the Industrial Revolution. Child labour had been rife since before recorded history. Disease and poverty also. The Black Death wiped out huge swathes of Europe, the first pandemic in the 1300s accounting for over 50% of Europe's population. It's noticeable that the huge leaps in scientific and medical understanding also started during the Industrial Revolution and particularly in the UK.
Poor houses and debtors prisons had existed for centuries prior to Oliver Twist's historical setting, you can still visit the Bristol workhouse built over a hundred years before the Industrial Revolution reached Bristol. Well before that, the Elizabethans were passing Poor Laws that effectively gave towns and cities the right to compel the poor into forced work.
Capitalism is far from perfect but it's the most workable type of society that exists.