Don't speak

[tinyjo]

The rambling byways of my thoughts* have lead me to consider all the things that never get mentioned in this journal, for one reason or another. Some of the things which I do or think about a lot or are very important to me don't ever get in here somehow. They slip through the cracks. So I'm going to try to write a bit about some of them.

So, I'm going to make a start with politics/current affairs. I am fascinated by politics. I used to think at one time that I'd like to be a politician, but I now realise that what I'd like to be is a political correspondent. I also have a reasonable collection of strongly held political beliefs. My leanings are leftward and libertarian (yes, there is more than one axis in British politics, you know). I'm not to far off swisstone I think, but tend more to be resigned than angry at the things the government get up to. I'm suspicious of Foundation hospitals and against tuition fees. I think there are advantages to a chamber where the majority are not elected on a popularity contest basis, but haven't yet come up with a good safe alternative for choosing good people for such a chamber.

Despite getting occasionally frustrated by the predictableness of it all, I am a news junkie. I used to read BBC news religiously, although I've more or less got out of the habit now. I listen to Radio 4 practically every day, generally picking up the end of PM and the 6 o'clock news while I'm cooking at the very least.

I am subject to paradoxical frustration that on the one hand that the government are a slave to public opinion on issues like the Euro (I'm for it) or GM (ambivalent) and refuse to show any leadership, but on the other when they do go against public opinion and show some leadership, it's something I strongly disagree with (the war) and I find myself getting angry that they don't listen to us. What I really wish is that they'd listen to *me*. I'd sort everything out.

*Its that "who are you" question again. I started wondering whether one answer might be to say "Read the archives - follow my life to get a picture of who I am". But then the above thoughts occurred to me. So blame Hg, that's all I'm saying.

Comments

politics politics

[applez.livejournal.com]

You know, I think you should write about that more often in your LJ ... that's something I'd love to write more on, and draw out your views, refine my own.

Also - I too am starting to go off BBC ... still, they are awfully convenient for a lot of international news.

[mzdt.livejournal.com]

hmmm libertarian (http://www.libertarian.co.uk/)? a broad chasm indeed from, say liberalism (http://www.lse.ac.uk/clubs/hayek/Ama-gi/Volume1/number2/what_is_liberalism.htm) or anarchism (http://www.anarchism.net/). All are generally not fussed by statism, but look at the priorities of the individual vs community for the real differences...

[sorry - that sounds a bit pronouncing, doesn't it? trouble is I've met too many nasty little right-wing shits who hide behind 'libertarian' labels, and I'm pretty sure you're not one of them]

[tinyjo.livejournal.com]

Although libertarianism is often associated with right-wing positions, it's not intrisically right wing. I see it as being about the government interfering as little as possible in peoples personal lives.

For example, I'm against the state providing incentives for marriage or the state concerning themselves with whether I choose to get married. I'm against the state having an established church whose religion all state run schools are required to teach.

Libertarianism and liberalism act as two balancing forces in my politics in some ways. For example I'm against fox hunting. The libertarian perspective is that the government shouldn't get involved in regulating leisure pursuits and if I don't like it, I can just not do it and try to explain to those who do what my objections are. In this case though, the fact that extreme and unnecessary cruelty is involved leads my liberal instincts to win out and I am in favour of a complete ban.

Finally, why anarchism? I'm definitely not an anarchist and I would say that anarchism is fundamentally opposed to liberalism as liberalism involves coming together to provide services to socity as a whole.

[mzdt.livejournal.com]

I would say that anarchism is fundamentally opposed to liberalism as liberalism involves coming together to provide services to socity as a whole.

anarchism is about mutual co-operation, though... extrapolating that leads to small-small specialisation, exchange of service etc; it all depends on who you believe. I'm not a subscriber to the Daily Mail interpretation, that's for sure...

[pikelet.livejournal.com]

I think this may be the one political post on LJ that I've ever read that didn't make me want to beat people with steel girders.

Things I like: (a) The honesty involved in the acknowledgement of apparently 'paradoxical frustration', in that government is about personal beliefs and not following the party philosophy word-for-word, and (b) the admission that you're more resigned than angry when the government that we have does do something that you find annoying.

I've learned lately that it's a special kind of mature that is willing to face the fact that one man's meat is another man's poison. That what a government does is not really out of malice, but out of what it believes is the right thing to do - and only time tends to tell is they're correct in that belief or not.

I'm wibbling now. I think I just meant to post a 'hear, hear' and be done with it. Please read this post as just that, and we're all good :)