Trump came to mind as soon as i began reading your article and you do go on to notice the comparison. I’m pretty much on the same page as you, however i will note that in the US two-party system and it’s (mostly) open ‘Primaries’ for deciding who will be the ‘nominee’ - for both State and Federal elections - is much more open (or vulnerable depending on which side of the issue one stands) and allows for the success of “insurgent” candidates such as Trump in the GOP 2015 primaries.
My wishful thought is that the Reform Councils will make such a mess of local government that people may be wiser at the next general election. However, there are still people who think Brexit was a good idea, so I wouldn't bet on it.
Yes, i agree, although who would a wiser electorate vote for? Both Labour and the tories are responsible for crumbling infrastructure, struggling nhs and falling living standards made even more starkly visible by the obscene amount of wealth and wealth inequality.
I fear it is wishful thinking..... more likely is that they are now consolidating themselves as an unapologetially white supremacist party. Tbh I was surprised that they had someone called "Zia Yusuf" as a party leader at all, and indeed some of their more straightforward supporters expressed sentiments to this effect (bless)....
Our political system as it stands is now in thrall to big money and corporations. I've been watching documentaries on YouTube about the rise of the Nazis and the present crises we have with democracy in the West is beginning to mirror quite frighteningly the chaos of the 1920s and 1930s that finally ushered in various dictatorships. Dissatisfaction underpinned by lying politicians, no difference between parties, sheisters and grifters selling 'snake oil' populism, blaming minorities, the poor, the disabled and all that binary evil of 'us' and 'them' and the resurgence of extremist right wing politics built on further divisions and injustice.
All of the above has its foundations in greed, elitism, the exacerbating of various divisions and the growing censorship of any sane voices. Sadly, the gatekeepers have been bought off, there are genuinely very very few true dissenting voices anymore and there is a frightening dearth of morality and integrity and principles in our leaders anymore. Starmer promised change yet has backtracked on almost everything. He is not being called out on this, just as Johnson, Truss and Sunak were not being called out. So our politics and political system is unaccountable, corrupt and full of loose cannons emboldened by a supine and spineless MSM which includes the Guardian and the BBC. I have been writing about these things for many years because I believe someone must stand in the breach when those who are supposed to speak out seem comfortable and indifferent to the falling into the abyss of our society. Sadly I think things will get worse and worse. The powers-that-be will simply double down.
Lots of good points here Ricky. People to the left of Labour --- as you are -- should be starting to write and think more about how we can create and build a mass socialist party. We need an alternative to Labour so very badly. It won't be easy...but I don't think any alternative. Alan Story, The Left Lane substack
Indeed. Rather curiously it also shows the 'chattering classes' desire for more representative politics hasn't actually changed anything. Patel, Braverman and Sunak held even more extreme racist views and anti immigrant views than most frothing upper middle class old die hard Tory types and yet were never called out for it. The consensus seems to be around money and power these days and nothing else.
The real political problem in this country is the incipient fascism of a significant portion of the electorate, rather than the politico grifters trying to ride that wave. Proper political action is now about defusing fascistic tendencies at the "grassroots" level which can only be achieved by talking to the widest possible range of people, even (especially) those you don't like.
As with Trump in America, the inference is that it is the working class there and here who constantly vote for fascists like Farage. The reality I believe is much different. It is much more complicated. I don't have the time or patience atm to explain myself any better but suffice to say right wing policies and governments always favour the wealthy over the poor in actual reality. I am from a working class background and have never once felt the need to ever vote for the Tories or Reform or any such parties. The economic system is geared to the further theft of wealth from the majority to the wealthy elite. Everything after that is just forms of diversion, obfuscation and propaganda.
Who's inferring that the working class is fascist? Not me! What I will say, is that people who vote on the basis of "strong man" politicians are fascist. Such people can be redirected through personal dialog. If they say "Reform deserve a chance", immediately ask "a chance to do what, exactly?" and takes things from there. If they say they're concerned about immigration, ask exactly how immigration has affected them personally. Get down to what is specific and personal, and there's always a better solution than voting for the local Refuk carpetbagger.
I apologise. I agree with you completely as my own wife is an immigrant. My ire is focussed on those whose sole aim is to fill their pockets at everyone else's expense. But I have heard the 'working classes vote for fascists' trope so many times.
Trump came to mind as soon as i began reading your article and you do go on to notice the comparison. I’m pretty much on the same page as you, however i will note that in the US two-party system and it’s (mostly) open ‘Primaries’ for deciding who will be the ‘nominee’ - for both State and Federal elections - is much more open (or vulnerable depending on which side of the issue one stands) and allows for the success of “insurgent” candidates such as Trump in the GOP 2015 primaries.
My wishful thought is that the Reform Councils will make such a mess of local government that people may be wiser at the next general election. However, there are still people who think Brexit was a good idea, so I wouldn't bet on it.
Yes, i agree, although who would a wiser electorate vote for? Both Labour and the tories are responsible for crumbling infrastructure, struggling nhs and falling living standards made even more starkly visible by the obscene amount of wealth and wealth inequality.
You still think the EU is a good thing?
That's wishful thinking alright.
I fear it is wishful thinking..... more likely is that they are now consolidating themselves as an unapologetially white supremacist party. Tbh I was surprised that they had someone called "Zia Yusuf" as a party leader at all, and indeed some of their more straightforward supporters expressed sentiments to this effect (bless)....
Our political system as it stands is now in thrall to big money and corporations. I've been watching documentaries on YouTube about the rise of the Nazis and the present crises we have with democracy in the West is beginning to mirror quite frighteningly the chaos of the 1920s and 1930s that finally ushered in various dictatorships. Dissatisfaction underpinned by lying politicians, no difference between parties, sheisters and grifters selling 'snake oil' populism, blaming minorities, the poor, the disabled and all that binary evil of 'us' and 'them' and the resurgence of extremist right wing politics built on further divisions and injustice.
All of the above has its foundations in greed, elitism, the exacerbating of various divisions and the growing censorship of any sane voices. Sadly, the gatekeepers have been bought off, there are genuinely very very few true dissenting voices anymore and there is a frightening dearth of morality and integrity and principles in our leaders anymore. Starmer promised change yet has backtracked on almost everything. He is not being called out on this, just as Johnson, Truss and Sunak were not being called out. So our politics and political system is unaccountable, corrupt and full of loose cannons emboldened by a supine and spineless MSM which includes the Guardian and the BBC. I have been writing about these things for many years because I believe someone must stand in the breach when those who are supposed to speak out seem comfortable and indifferent to the falling into the abyss of our society. Sadly I think things will get worse and worse. The powers-that-be will simply double down.
Exactly. It’s comparable to Biden, a man who pushed out Sanders to skew the Democratic Party even further right, being thrown out in favor of Trump.
Lots of good points here Ricky. People to the left of Labour --- as you are -- should be starting to write and think more about how we can create and build a mass socialist party. We need an alternative to Labour so very badly. It won't be easy...but I don't think any alternative. Alan Story, The Left Lane substack
Sorry. Meant AAV.
I think he’s gone back
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwyv040rnqzo
He's rejoined apparently.
It was all a ploy to get the chattering classes to talk more about Refuk. And it worked.
Indeed. Rather curiously it also shows the 'chattering classes' desire for more representative politics hasn't actually changed anything. Patel, Braverman and Sunak held even more extreme racist views and anti immigrant views than most frothing upper middle class old die hard Tory types and yet were never called out for it. The consensus seems to be around money and power these days and nothing else.
The real political problem in this country is the incipient fascism of a significant portion of the electorate, rather than the politico grifters trying to ride that wave. Proper political action is now about defusing fascistic tendencies at the "grassroots" level which can only be achieved by talking to the widest possible range of people, even (especially) those you don't like.
As with Trump in America, the inference is that it is the working class there and here who constantly vote for fascists like Farage. The reality I believe is much different. It is much more complicated. I don't have the time or patience atm to explain myself any better but suffice to say right wing policies and governments always favour the wealthy over the poor in actual reality. I am from a working class background and have never once felt the need to ever vote for the Tories or Reform or any such parties. The economic system is geared to the further theft of wealth from the majority to the wealthy elite. Everything after that is just forms of diversion, obfuscation and propaganda.
Who's inferring that the working class is fascist? Not me! What I will say, is that people who vote on the basis of "strong man" politicians are fascist. Such people can be redirected through personal dialog. If they say "Reform deserve a chance", immediately ask "a chance to do what, exactly?" and takes things from there. If they say they're concerned about immigration, ask exactly how immigration has affected them personally. Get down to what is specific and personal, and there's always a better solution than voting for the local Refuk carpetbagger.
I apologise. I agree with you completely as my own wife is an immigrant. My ire is focussed on those whose sole aim is to fill their pockets at everyone else's expense. But I have heard the 'working classes vote for fascists' trope so many times.