Political farce?

[Theocrat]

I'm really getting fed up by the local politicians.. Here again we can see the political 'ghost' of the 1920's coming back to life.

http://www.arbetarbladet.se/bild_ark...0000126257.jpg

These are our local politicians having a blast doing a show celebrating the
100-year jubilee of The Social Democrats in sweden. Who are they shitting? 'Us' of course.. Educational programmes are getting cut down.
The ones that mainly get the budget cut are the 'aesthetic' faculties.
And they are either reformed into obscurity or shut down.

Everyone i know in my town is really pissed of at their behaviour, of kissing the ass of the company i work at, which are by now, cutting jobs and kaizening their hearts out. And the 'Social'(?) Democrats are raising the taxes for people who work, and lowering taxes for the rich.
Thats not egalitarian!

Sorry for bothering you guys with this..
But this makes me almost want to "Cry Havoc!" ;)

[Mikey_C]

Oh yes, social democracy. I remember that. (showing my age...)

[Theocrat]

Oh yes, social democracy. I remember that. (showing my age...)

Go into the 'Escapism political' thread. I wrote something really funny and true. I can't stop laughing..

[Michael Moorcock]

I'm very much a pro-European, but it seems that Brussels has bought the American logic (not doing America much good, these days). It might be time to come up with a better economic plan! The French and Germans are having to deal with this at the moment. They don't want the Anglo-American (Thatcher/Reagan) model any more than many of us in England or America do! Cutting social programmes is the easiest form of economics -- of putting more money into a monetarist economy.
We need to be getting together in all our countries to see what else we can come up with.

[Mikey_C]

Doesn't all the snuggling up to smarmy Bush right now make you feel sick :x

[mordenkainen]

Cutting social programmes is the easiest form of economics -- of putting more money into a monetarist economy.

Don't forget "militarist" ! European Defence is still at an embryonic stage but is much talked about of late. I guess it would be phase 2 of "becoming America"....

We need to be getting together in all our countries to see what else we can come up with.

That is the most positive point I see in that bloody ultraliberal Constitution thing. That militants realise they have to be as united as the opposite side is.
(did I hear somenone say "workers of the world unite"???). At some point I almost thought it was a good reason to vote it.

[Rymdolov]

Re: Political farce?

Everyone i know in my town is really pissed of at their behaviour, of kissing the ass of the company i work at, which are by now, cutting jobs and kaizening their hearts out. And the 'Social'(?) Democrats are raising the taxes for people who work, and lowering taxes for the rich.
Thats not egalitarian!

I quote the local anarchists/syndicalists of my old home town:

"Sossar utan blod, sossar utan mأ¤rg
Rأ¶da fanor utan fأ¤rg"

as well as

"Socialdemokrati - Kapitalets garanti"

and perhaps

"Inget jأ¤vla sossetjafs
Krossa staten i ett nafs"

[Theocrat]

Re: Political farce?

Everyone i know in my town is really pissed of at their behaviour, of kissing the ass of the company i work at, which are by now, cutting jobs and kaizening their hearts out. And the 'Social'(?) Democrats are raising the taxes for people who work, and lowering taxes for the rich.
Thats not egalitarian!

I quote the local anarchists/syndicalists of my old home town:

"Sossar utan blod, sossar utan mأ¤rg
Rأ¶da fanor utan fأ¤rg"

as well as

"Socialdemokrati - Kapitalets garanti"

and perhaps

"Inget jأ¤vla sossetjafs
Krossa staten i ett nafs"

Hehe tjena Rymdolov! Lأ¤ste igenom 'socialist.nu'.
Inte varit mycket fأ¶r slagdأ¤ngor faktiskt.. ;)
(Med hأ¤nsyn till vأ¥ra englesktalande vأ¤nner)

I think socialism has alot to say on these matters. But i wonder if it is self-critical in it's own application? As we've seen communist dictatorships be enabled quite easily. And greed is a result of this. How can one root out 'greed' from unions gaining more power. Or help people gain insight about their society and not let power slip into the wrong hands again.
Or the government beauracracy setting up smokescreens around the people it's supposed to represent?

[Rymdolov]

Re: Political farce?

Hehe tjena Rymdolov! Lأ¤ste igenom 'socialist.nu'.
Inte varit mycket fأ¶r slagdأ¤ngor faktiskt.. ;)

Inte jag heller. Jag tأ¤nkte bara att de kanske skulle muntra upp dig. Det blir lite lأ¶jligt, ocksأ¥, nأ¤r أ½ttervأ¤nstern mأ¥lar upp LO och/eller sossarna som de stأ¶rsta fienderna. Vad ska man dأ¥ sأ¤ga om KD eller, fأ¶r den delen, Nationaldemokraterna.

Perhaps you (and the left in general) don't need being cheered up, but being really p-ssed off!

[Theocrat]

Re: Political farce?

Hehe tjena Rymdolov! Lأ¤ste igenom 'socialist.nu'.
Inte varit mycket fأ¶r slagdأ¤ngor faktiskt.. ;)

Inte jag heller. Jag tأ¤nkte bara att de kanske skulle muntra upp dig. Det blir lite lأ¶jligt, ocksأ¥, nأ¤r أ½ttervأ¤nstern mأ¥lar upp LO och/eller sossarna som de stأ¶rsta fienderna. Vad ska man dأ¥ sأ¤ga om KD eller, fأ¶r den delen, Nationaldemokraterna.

Perhaps you (and the left in general) don't need being cheered up, but being really p-ssed off!

I get annoyed at that old 'international' hymn sung by most far-right communists. It's just too farty and old to be of any significance to any party or political category. "Red-wine" communists is what i always think.
The 'sovjet sympathizers' in Sweden really annoy me as well.
"They had so much culture!".. Yeah.. But not food!
I have been to Sovjet at a young age, and it scared the shit out of me!
Socialism needs a reform to suit a new age 'in tact' with industry.
People need to activate themselves globally i think, or be more aware on a global level. The internet is the greatest tool for this, the information age is fascinating and powerful. Workers should start getting interested in what motivates them in the matter. And not mope around just saying "What a pissy job i have! :(".

I met a friend who's a cashier at a smaller supermarket (konsum).
And explained to him about whats happening at my work. He said
"You mean fascism"? I can't begin to tell you how right he is.
Well... More of a sneaky kind of fascism i think..
And maybe... Just maybe.. Unknowingly so by management.

[Michael Moorcock]

The Soviet model, I agree, is scarcely anything we want to reproduce anywhere! But the European model of a mixed economy, with certain
institutions in public ownership and others in private, seems as good as any. What we need to do is improve that model, not get rid of it. I suspect that's what much of the debate in France and Germany, for instance, is about at the moment. I worry about Spain a little bit, not because I believe there's anything much wrong with the current socialist government, but because they could be imposing too much too soon on a conservative public. I'd be curious to hear how that public is taking the legalisation of gay marriage, for instance. I speak as a supporter (if you're going to have the institution at all, you might as well have it for everyone, since it involves a contract with society as well as between two people) but I also worry about the Republic and the Civil War! Not that believe we'd see a rerun of that -- but it was 'extreme' republicanism imposed on a rather conservative, largely Catholic populace, which gave Franco so much purchase on the popular imagination. We have to distinguish between 'society' and the social contract and left radicalism, which can be as disconcerting as right radicalism of the Bush variety.
I believe it's important to establish our civil institutions under public influence and ownership -- hospitals, the law, education and so on -- and make them function for the common good. More radical legislation should be done after considerable public debate where people are persuaded by experience and argument rather than having uncomfortable ideas imposed on them. An example I frequently use is that of the UK and US over abortion. In the UK abortion was legalised after much parliamentary (and public) debate and the present laws were pretty much a public consensus. Roe v. Wade used constitutional law to impose abortion rights on a relatively conservative population and therefore is still a matter of debate. This is not to say I'm against the principle of women having control over their own bodies. I'm just not certain the principle was established through public debate. Of course, public debate can be almost impossible in the US where newspapers, TV and radio scarcely deal with the issues at any intelligent level. This is why I believe that the US Fourth Estate is failing in its public duty and deserves whipping! This is not, by and large, a problem in Europe, however where a large element of the media does pretty much fulfill its duty. I happen to believe that freedom of speech carries responsibility with it. I didn't notice George Bush making any remarks about the increased curtailment of freedom of speech in Russia, incidentally, as he made his deeply sentimental speeches about what he calls democracy.

[Theocrat]

This is why I believe that the US Fourth Estate is failing in its public duty and deserves whipping! This is not, by and large, a problem in Europe, however where a large element of the media does pretty much fulfill its duty.

Yes i agree.. I think that so called "alarmist" (Ben Bagdikian, The Media Monopoly 1983) was entirely right in that the media would be owned by no more than 5 media conglomerates in our time.
The fact is that many are seeing the effectiveness in 'dumbing down' the populace to sway them to their vote. Hopefully europe will see this and try to regulate the whole ordeal of 'not making the corporate media into a fully fledged propaganda machine'.

"Dont' hate the media. Become the media!" ;)

[Doc]

I didn't notice George Bush making any remarks about the increased curtailment of freedom of speech in Russia, incidentally, as he made his deeply sentimental speeches about what he calls democracy.

He sidestepped that a little. He also completely ignored what he has done to curtail freedom of speech in the U.S.