| A thoroughly good read...... on 19:53 - Feb 3 with 773 views | Guthrum |
The problem with all these "it's the middle-ground establishment wot done it" theses is the assumption that something more radical would have performed any better.
Attractive because none of the alternatives have been tried in recent memory. Altho if you go back a bit further, radical movements such as communism, fascism, Nazism all failed to deliver on what they claimed to promise and fell into one or another form of authoritarian bureaucracy. Or resulted in a major disaster, such as worldwide war.
And if you consider that the rise of the Right is a good thing because it will inspire a new combative Left, I would ask how many people's lives are you prepared to sacrifice in order to achieve a return to moderation and compromise?
The situation in Syria has not arisen because of some centrist plot, but instead with an injection of extremism (mainly Wahabi Islamism), coupled with an authoritarian reaction to the moderate protests of the Arab Spring.
It's all very well predicting the demise of "capitalism" because of the crisis we're now in, but, as a system, it survived many difficult situations before. 1929 didn't kill it and the aftermath of that threw more people into genuine poverty (actual risk of starvation) than 2008 did. |  |
|  |
| A thoroughly good read...... on 20:17 - Feb 3 with 751 views | BanksterDebtSlave |
| A thoroughly good read...... on 19:53 - Feb 3 by Guthrum |
The problem with all these "it's the middle-ground establishment wot done it" theses is the assumption that something more radical would have performed any better.
Attractive because none of the alternatives have been tried in recent memory. Altho if you go back a bit further, radical movements such as communism, fascism, Nazism all failed to deliver on what they claimed to promise and fell into one or another form of authoritarian bureaucracy. Or resulted in a major disaster, such as worldwide war.
And if you consider that the rise of the Right is a good thing because it will inspire a new combative Left, I would ask how many people's lives are you prepared to sacrifice in order to achieve a return to moderation and compromise?
The situation in Syria has not arisen because of some centrist plot, but instead with an injection of extremism (mainly Wahabi Islamism), coupled with an authoritarian reaction to the moderate protests of the Arab Spring.
It's all very well predicting the demise of "capitalism" because of the crisis we're now in, but, as a system, it survived many difficult situations before. 1929 didn't kill it and the aftermath of that threw more people into genuine poverty (actual risk of starvation) than 2008 did. |
At the risk of putting words into the author's mouth I think that they would suggest that we have reached ' limits to growth' and that a new post growth paradigm is required (Fwiw ...for me this would learn considerably more from values of the left than the right)...the crisis is the result of the ends of globalism/growth/capitalism rather than a harbinger to it.
Thanks for a considered response to the article which was put there to promote thought rather than as a personal statement( I concur with most of it though as far as it's analysis goes)
As for the Arab spring, there were certain to have been many puppeteers pulling many strings as it evolved....there was certainly complicity in allowing the free flow of arms from Libya into Syria after the fall of Gaddafi ...how much control there was over which hands they fell in to is less clear . |  |
| |
| A thoroughly good read...... on 20:30 - Feb 3 with 726 views | Guthrum |
| A thoroughly good read...... on 20:17 - Feb 3 by BanksterDebtSlave |
At the risk of putting words into the author's mouth I think that they would suggest that we have reached ' limits to growth' and that a new post growth paradigm is required (Fwiw ...for me this would learn considerably more from values of the left than the right)...the crisis is the result of the ends of globalism/growth/capitalism rather than a harbinger to it.
Thanks for a considered response to the article which was put there to promote thought rather than as a personal statement( I concur with most of it though as far as it's analysis goes)
As for the Arab spring, there were certain to have been many puppeteers pulling many strings as it evolved....there was certainly complicity in allowing the free flow of arms from Libya into Syria after the fall of Gaddafi ...how much control there was over which hands they fell in to is less clear . |
I, too have a problem with the concept of constant economic growth. Especially when every species of inflation is thrown into the mix to beef up the figures, rather than strictly sticking to increase in production. There is no logical reason why growth should be constant in any meaningful sense.
Plus I still have a hard time with stock markets as a means of attempting (not always successfully) to generate money from share price variations, rather than as a means to invest in good businesses and thus reap dividends from profitability.
The fact that the Arab Spring (like the fall of the Soviet bloc) caught most observers by surprise suggests to me that it was more an organic movement, even if taking inspiration from elsewhere, than an outside interference. | |
| |
| A thoroughly good read...... on 20:35 - Feb 3 with 719 views | Guthrum |
| A thoroughly good read...... on 20:17 - Feb 3 by BanksterDebtSlave |
At the risk of putting words into the author's mouth I think that they would suggest that we have reached ' limits to growth' and that a new post growth paradigm is required (Fwiw ...for me this would learn considerably more from values of the left than the right)...the crisis is the result of the ends of globalism/growth/capitalism rather than a harbinger to it.
Thanks for a considered response to the article which was put there to promote thought rather than as a personal statement( I concur with most of it though as far as it's analysis goes)
As for the Arab spring, there were certain to have been many puppeteers pulling many strings as it evolved....there was certainly complicity in allowing the free flow of arms from Libya into Syria after the fall of Gaddafi ...how much control there was over which hands they fell in to is less clear . |
For that matter, I find the archaic terms of "left" and "right" to be no longer adequate in describing the modern political landscape.
After all, a small government follower of Ayn Rand in the US is not the same sort of "right" as an authoritarian dictator in South America or interwar Europe. Corbyn not the same variety of "left" as Castro, let alone Stalin.
We need new terminology, to avoid a loose simplicity of thought. | |
| |
| A thoroughly good read...... on 21:19 - Feb 3 with 684 views | BanksterDebtSlave |
| A thoroughly good read...... on 20:35 - Feb 3 by Guthrum |
For that matter, I find the archaic terms of "left" and "right" to be no longer adequate in describing the modern political landscape.
After all, a small government follower of Ayn Rand in the US is not the same sort of "right" as an authoritarian dictator in South America or interwar Europe. Corbyn not the same variety of "left" as Castro, let alone Stalin.
We need new terminology, to avoid a loose simplicity of thought. |
Were they ever adequate . (Ayn Rand....small government or large corporate..depending on point of view ) | |
| |
| A thoroughly good read...... on 21:27 - Feb 3 with 676 views | Guthrum |
| A thoroughly good read...... on 21:19 - Feb 3 by BanksterDebtSlave |
Were they ever adequate . (Ayn Rand....small government or large corporate..depending on point of view ) |
In the early-to-mid 20th century, they were a lot better fit than now. | |
| |
| |
By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions.
