Tag: Social Democrats

Closet Socialism?

Inkwell Institute

Professor’s Classroom

Subject:  Government/Socialism/Politics/Political Theory

Paper #27

“There are exactly 200 card carrying Communist in the State Department”

“How many Communists are there Senator?”

There are exactly 52 Communists”

(From the original “Manchurian Candidate”)

The point I am trying to make is that since 1917 there have been closet socialists trying to take over the government…at least, that is what the paranoid lame brain morons would have you believe……..it all boils down to YOUR definition of a socialist…..in the beginning almost all socialists were social democrats…that changed in 1917 with the rise of the Communists and the ideological battles fought between socialist and communist and somewhere along the way the social democrats became as liberal political movement not the radical movement of the communists/socialists…..

I have spent an inordinate amount of time trying to educate idiots that the use of the word socialist or Communist or Marxist is just plain lame and is nothing more than a boring tactic to incite fear…..

Would a socialist accept the concept that political change could be brought about peaceably and constitutionally?

Would a socialist accept capitalism as the ONLY reliable means  of generating wealth?

Would a socialist see the defects in capitalism and rectify them economics and social engineering?

Would a socialist view the nation state as a meaningful unit of political rule with a significant capacity to regulate economic and social life?

From what you know about socialism…answer the questions……

If you know anything then your answers would have to be NO!

There is a way of looking at social democracy, which above is…if you take a few of the “sociaslists ideals like redistribution of wealth, economic management and equality then we can make a case of Social Democracy being a sort of “socialist lite”……..but NOWHERE is this a radical form of socialism if anything it is a bit liberal in thought, modern definition not classical.

Personally, I do NOT consider social democracy as a form of socialism, but then I am not a pundit that wants to create hate and fear….to me this is what use to be called “neorevisionism”, a way to find a bridge between capitalism and socialism which to me looks a lot like what now is called neo-liberalism (a post for the future…watch for it).  Yes, there are too many “isms” in this post but I wanted to show just how complicated we can make political philosophy….

To me socialism is NOT about the ballot box and because social democracy depends on the ballot box I do NOT consider it as an indication of what is truly socialism….but then again I am not a traditional political philosopher by any stretch of the imagination….

2010 Election Watch: The UK

From the desk of the Scriptorium

Election series 2010:  The UK

I realize that most of the people in the US could care less about the elections in the UK…..I think they are mistaken…….

I have been asked why I subject myself to the agony of politics…..the answer is easy….my education made me a political addict….it is the most fascinating of subjects…..I meet a lot of good friends and a bunch of crazies….both are interesting in their own way….and the exchange of views is almost a good exercise…..I have also been asked why I would be interested in the politics of another country….that is easy also…they have a different type of government and it plays differently than the Federal system we have here……I also depend on my friend Quin from Quintessential Havoc (blogroll will get you there) to help me understand better and to fill in the gaps that I will no doubt have in my posts concerning the UK and the EU…….

The election for PM of Britain is under way…..they have Brown from Labor, Cameron from the Tories and Clegg from the Liberal Democrats….as best I can tell it is pretty much a draw right now, but the LibDem Clegg is making lots of noise and could be a spoiler for one of the dudes….

The voting system is a bit unique , at least I think it is……..Rather than marking an ‘X’ against their preferred candidate, each voter ranks candidates in order of preference. If a candidate receives a majority of first place votes, he or she is elected. However if no single candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote, the second choices for the candidate at the bottom are redistributed. The process is repeated until one candidate gets an absolute majority.  (Quin maybe able to expand this a bit)

The UK currently operates a simple plurality, first-past-the-post system. In this voting system the single winner is the person with the most votes; there is no requirement that the winner gain an absolute majority of votes.

Uses multi-seat constituencies and transfers votes that would otherwise be wasted to other eligible candidates. STV initially allocates an elector’s vote to his or her most preferred candidate and then, after candidates have been either elected or eliminated, transfers surplus or unused votes according to the voters’ stated preferences.  (Thanx to Reuters reporters for some of the facts in this post)

With that said…there is a push for electoral reforms in the UK….the issue is popular as it is in the US?

Labor

– Referendum early in the next parliament on whether to move to the Alternative Vote* system for elections to the House of Commons

– Free vote in parliament on reducing voting age to 16

– Legislation to ensure parliaments sit for a fixed-term

– Commission to chart a course to a written constitution

– Statutory register of lobbyists

– Completion of reform of the House of Lords

– Full implementation of a new system of independent regulation of MPs pay, pensions and allowances.

CONSERVATIVES

– Oppose change to ‘first-past-the-post’ system**

– Reduce the number of MPs by 10 percent to 585 from 650 (The US only has 435 Reps)

– Work to ensure consensus for substantially elected House of Lords

– Give House of Commons more control over own timetable

– Reduce discrepancy between constituency electorate sizes

– Right to kick out MPs found guilty of wrongdoing

– Ensure that legislation on devolved issues that only affects England, or England and Wales, can only be passed with the consent of MPs from England, and where applicable Wales

– Introduce new rules on lobbying

LIBERAL DEMOCRATS

– Prefer Single Transferable Vote system***, which would allow them to cut MPs by 150

– Right to vote from age 16

– Fixed-term parliaments

– Replace House of Lords with fully elected second chamber with fewer members

– Introduce written constitution(Wait!  There is NO written constitution?)

– Right to sack MPs who have broken the rules

– Curb influence of lobbyists

Alternative vote

This will make the Brit system of electing a PM as clear as mud for most, but I think that what effects one country may ultimately show up in others and that includes the US……once again I apologize of my UK readers if I screwed up any of this…..I look forward to hearing from them….

What The Hell Is A Democrat Socialist?

We have Social Democrats and Socialists and Democratic Socialists, but what the hell is a Democrat Socialist?

As reported in the Politico:

A conservative faction of the Republican National Committee is urging the GOP to take a harder line against both Democrats and wayward Republicans, drafting a resolution to rename the opposition the “Democrat Socialist Party” and moving to rebuke the three Republican senators who supported the stimulus package.

In an e-mail sent Wednesday to the 168 voting members of the committee, RNC member James Bopp, Jr. accused President Obama of wanting “to restructure American society along socialist ideals.”
“The proposed resolution acknowledges that and calls upon the Democrats to be truthful and honest with the American people by renaming themselves the Democrat Socialist Party,” wrote Bopp, the Republican committeeman from Indiana. “Just as President Reagan’s identification of the Soviet Union as the ‘evil empire’ galvanized opposition to communism, we hope that the accurate depiction of the Democrats as a Socialist Party will galvanize opposition to their march to socialism.”

This is just an expansion of the babble put forth by Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.) who  said recently that there were 17 socialists in Congress.  Alabama?  Is that not in the South? (that is sarcasm in case it was missed by anyone)

Jesus, do these morons realize just how pathetic they are looking?  This branding did NOT work in the election, but the GOP cannot let it go.  This type of hype is only playing to there base–old white guys in the South.  The only region in the country that fear works on anymore.  The rest of the country is NOT listening.