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TGM: Orb
Prog Reviewer Joined: October 21 2007 Location: n/a Status: Offline Points: 8052 |
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Anyone else following the Labour elections?
Crushingly uninspiring stuff, apart from Corbyn who obviously does not care because he has principles. I'm waiting to see how far Labour's Oxbridge public school hivemind go down the red tory rabbithole before they look back and realise that all the socialists, the North, the students and the public sector workers they've left behind were kind of important to their electability. |
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micky
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: October 02 2005 Location: . Status: Offline Points: 46828 |
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don't get in the water...
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The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip
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Atavachron
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: September 30 2006 Location: Pearland Status: Offline Points: 64351 |
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^ Jesus that's straight out of Jaws --
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"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." -- John F. Kennedy
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lazland
Prog Reviewer Joined: October 28 2008 Location: Wales Status: Offline Points: 13243 |
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As you say, crushingly uninspiring. I despair of Labour, and, because of them, we are condemned to a generation of Tory rule, in one guise or another. When will someone provide a Socialist narrative that is relevant to the 21st century, the times we live in now, not the times we used to live in, or the times we would like to be living in. Blair had the goodwill and power to change British politics. He failed because of two things. Firstly, his ridiculous pandering to a mad new-con movement in America making bad worldwide situations a damned sight worse. Secondly, not doing what he knew would be the right thing to do for the country, when he had the patronage to do it, namely getting rid of Brown once and for all. The man was a utter disaster area. What we have now are a bunch of metropolitan elite people running a party utterly disconnected with reality, or the people they purport to represent. The leadership election has three such people, and Corbyn. Burnham, no matter how he tries to impress with his "man of the people" Northern accent, and Cooper are card carrying members of the Brownite metropolitan elite. They know a sound bite, but speak an utterly different language to the rest of us. Kendall is a Blairite, and has failed to bring a new, modern, narrative to her hero's views. Corbyn? Principled, yes, a worthy thing, indeed. But he would take the party right back to the splits and thoughts of the 1980's, not a period which historians readily identify with Labour success. He would also be identified mercilessly with being the man of McCluskey, who is about the worst example of old fashioned trade union hegemony about, a dictator, not a democrat (I am a former trade union activist, and recognise him for what he is very well). Lastly, Labour has, for decades, taken its core voters utterly for granted, treating them like sh*te. Just look at the state of Northern England, Scotland, and many poor parts of Wales. The Scots gave them a damned good, deserved, kicking, one which will last for a very long time. I also think it will come in Wales, where the Assembly Government is hopelessly inept and regressive. As I say, I despair. The Tories are utterly triumphant, and will remain so until we have a tectonic shift in British politics. |
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Enhance your life. Get down to www.lazland.org
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Toaster Mantis
Forum Senior Member Joined: April 12 2008 Location: Denmark Status: Offline Points: 5898 |
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Mark Fisher, a Marxist philosopher who's basically Britain's answer to Slavoj Zizek, has written something similar in his analysis of the recent election.
I don't think he's quite on the same academic level as Zizek mind you, in large part because his criticism of right-wing ideology isn't anywhere as sharp, but I do find him to have a better sense for the nuts-and-bolts of economic and sociological problem-solving than most European academics inhabiting his end of the spectrum. His writing style also isn't quite as cryptic as Zizek, even if that also makes Fisher less entertaining to read. See this political manifesto Fisher wrote with someone called Jeremy Gilbert, wherein they lay down a future political programme for the British political left that looks forward to something new. |
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"The past is not some static being, it is not a previous present, nor a present that has passed away; the past has its own dynamic being which is constantly renewed and renewing." - Claire Colebrook
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Blacksword
Prog Reviewer Joined: June 22 2004 Location: England Status: Offline Points: 16130 |
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What does 21st century socialism look like? Socialism assumes a shared willingness to give up private wealth for the greater good. The trend has been for successive governments to facilitate the transfer of wealth to already mega rich, because it is they who bribe the political class to legislate in their favour. Until the relationship between BIG business and government is severed completely, socialism doesn't stand a chance and since the Thatcher Reagan years (arguably much earlier than that) conditions have been shaped in such away that challenging that relationship has become the preserve of those portrayed as actual communists (Occupy movement, Chomsky et al) or outright fascists (Tea Party) The middle ground with all it's bank bailouts and EU arse licking is presented as the sensible choice. Socialism is dead and we're all f***ed.. |
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Ultimately bored by endless ecstasy!
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Toaster Mantis
Forum Senior Member Joined: April 12 2008 Location: Denmark Status: Offline Points: 5898 |
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Read the second link to Mark Fisher's blog in my post above, wherein he and a co-author offer their answer to the question in an accessible pamphlet they made for a political think-tank they work for.
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"The past is not some static being, it is not a previous present, nor a present that has passed away; the past has its own dynamic being which is constantly renewed and renewing." - Claire Colebrook
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Svetonio
Forum Senior Member Joined: September 20 2010 Location: Serbia Status: Offline Points: 10213 |
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refugee
Forum Senior Member VIP Member Joined: November 20 2006 Location: Greece Status: Offline Points: 7026 |
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Swedish divers have discovered a sunken submarine in the Baltic Sea:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/27/sweden-wreckage-russian-submarine I’ve read that it’s quite small and yellow. Here’s a pic: |
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He say nothing is quite what it seems;
I say nothing is nothing (Peter Hammill) |
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Toaster Mantis
Forum Senior Member Joined: April 12 2008 Location: Denmark Status: Offline Points: 5898 |
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"The past is not some static being, it is not a previous present, nor a present that has passed away; the past has its own dynamic being which is constantly renewed and renewing." - Claire Colebrook
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Toaster Mantis
Forum Senior Member Joined: April 12 2008 Location: Denmark Status: Offline Points: 5898 |
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The philosophically inclined people here might enjoy this essay about how Donald Trump's presidential campaign is an example of the "society of the spectacle" that Guy Debord warned us against.
Relevant quote:
N. M. Phoenix' blog comes highly recommended in general, by the way. Not only does she have an encyclopaedic knowledge of Italian Futurism, French existentialism/post-structuralism/etc and Gnostic religious traditions but also an exceptionally sharp ability to critically reflect upon the ideological traditions inspiring her worldview and synthesize that into new insights I haven't seen anyone else come up with. |
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"The past is not some static being, it is not a previous present, nor a present that has passed away; the past has its own dynamic being which is constantly renewed and renewing." - Claire Colebrook
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rogerthat
Prog Reviewer Joined: September 03 2006 Location: . Status: Offline Points: 9869 |
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Said of American politics but it could be applied equally to India, or at least those parts that pretend to be living in some first world paradise. But is it true that people don't know what they want? No, I think that is clear. They want more food on the table and they don't care whose share has to be cut in order that they get to eat more. Obviously, you cannot say that flat out in politics so these illusions of equality, secularism, freedom of whatever are paraded around with neither party making much progress on these counts. Guess that's because they are so busy trying to quell their appetite for the entirety of their term in office. For democracy to work, there has to be shared values that everybody actually believes in and wants to live up to. If it's just I watch my back and you watch yours, you don't really need democracy or any other cracy.
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Toaster Mantis
Forum Senior Member Joined: April 12 2008 Location: Denmark Status: Offline Points: 5898 |
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Yeah, I don't think it is a specifically American phenomenon. It was a French philosopher who diagnosed the problem, after all. The first two people to notice how the "official press" sets the agenda for public thought were also Italian and German respectively. (Antonio Gramsci and Theodor W. Adorno)
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"The past is not some static being, it is not a previous present, nor a present that has passed away; the past has its own dynamic being which is constantly renewed and renewing." - Claire Colebrook
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SteveG
Forum Senior Member Joined: April 11 2014 Location: Kyiv In Spirit Status: Offline Points: 20497 |
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This message was brought to you by a proud supporter of the Deep State.
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SteveG
Forum Senior Member Joined: April 11 2014 Location: Kyiv In Spirit Status: Offline Points: 20497 |
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Svetonio
Forum Senior Member Joined: September 20 2010 Location: Serbia Status: Offline Points: 10213 |
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http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/greek-prime-minister-alexis-tsipras-6287762Go ahead, KKE!
Edited by Svetonio - August 21 2015 at 03:20 |
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Blacksword
Prog Reviewer Joined: June 22 2004 Location: England Status: Offline Points: 16130 |
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It would be interesting to see if he has any illegal immigrants working in his casinos. America is comprised almost entirely of immigrants, so yeah I guess a few will vote next time around.. I'm guessing you mean illegal immigrants. I did hear some are being given voting rights despite not being US citizens. Is this actually true or a myth being peddled by the Drudge Report and Alex Jones? |
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Ultimately bored by endless ecstasy!
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timothy leary
Forum Senior Member Joined: December 29 2005 Location: Lilliwaup, Wa. Status: Offline Points: 5319 |
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Washington State is on fire, even the Olympic rain forest is on fire.
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SteveG
Forum Senior Member Joined: April 11 2014 Location: Kyiv In Spirit Status: Offline Points: 20497 |
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^Egads! I just heard that 3 firefighters were killed. Dreadful!
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This message was brought to you by a proud supporter of the Deep State.
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dr wu23
Forum Senior Member Joined: August 22 2010 Location: Indiana Status: Offline Points: 20468 |
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http://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2015/07/07/donald-trump-immigrant-worker-johns-dnt-tsr.cnn
http://www.businessinsider.com/undocumented-immigrants-donald-trump-hotel-report-2015-7 Edited by dr wu23 - August 22 2015 at 12:19 |
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One does nothing yet nothing is left undone.
Haquin |
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