The Political Thread

[Dandontdare]

Yet again upon hearing hoofbeats you've jumped right past zebras to unicorns.

I don't think I've come across a better description of Sharky's well meaning internet "research"

[Famous Mortimer]

The right moans the BBC is too left-wing. The left moans the BBC is too right-wing. The BBC must be doing something right.

Not really - and the difference is, when the right moans it's in the form of one of the newspapers owned by super-wealthy Tory supporters, and they're doing it to force the BBC even further to the right; when the left moans, it's in places like this, and the BBC completely ignores it. I've been on a couple of leftie demos that started from outside Broadcasting House in the past few months, neither of which were so much as mentioned by the BBC.

[Professor Bear]

Capitalism destroys more family units than pedophiles ever could - just look at the families being made homeless and getting split up right now thanks to London's social cleansing.  Councils have even given up on the pretense of doing it for the good of anyone but the rich.

Those techniques include political correctness (to control language and concepts in order to stifle meaningful debate),

Whether or not you approve of it, in challenging attitudes, stereotypes and entitlements, surely political correctness is responsible for expanding the lexicon and subjects open to debate?  If anything, Text messaging and Twitter are limiting our discourse, and unlike Political Correctness, we both want and willingly embrace social media, even finding their corrosive effects on debate and education to be charming.

[The Legendary Shark]

The family unit is simply the primary social group - of which there are many different kinds.
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JPM, the answer to both your questions is no.

[Professor Bear]

The family unit is simply the primary social group - of which there are many different kinds.

That's okay, capitalism doesn't discriminate.  It's destroying communities and nations, too.

[The Legendary Shark]

Bear, capitalism is a good thing and isn't destroying families. What is destroying families, and just about everything else, is - imv - corporatism.
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[ZenArcade]

Sorry Bear, my comments on our British cousins were in no sense a casting of stones exercise; if anything they were a complement to the people and a decry on their leaders. You are quite right in respect to what can only in the loosest sense be referred to as leadership both North and South of the Border over here. If anything we could only but look in envy at administrations in Westminister and that's saying something. Z

[NapalmKev]

If anything we could only but look in envy at administrations in Westminister and that's saying something. Z

Westminster has one of the highest concentration of Fools on the entire Planet, and the few that aren't Fools are drowned out by the hoo-hah and bluster of the Unthinking Majority.

Violence might not always be the answer, but sometimes you have to kick-off to get your voice heard.

Vote Bear!

Cheers

[The Legendary Shark]

But why does your voice have to be heard, and heard by whom? MP's are nothing more than priests, belonging to a handful of cults (the Tory Cult, the Labour Cult, the Lib-Dem cult, the Green Cult, the UKIP Cult, etc., etc.), whom we are expected to petition to speak to the mythical god called "Authority" on our behalf.
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Putting one's mark on a ballot paper every four or five years and expecting this act to make "government" change things for the better is like sacrificing a goat every four or five years and expecting "God" to change things for the better. It's not only absurd but corrosive, stupid and very, very dangerous.
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The sooner we see "authority" and "government" for what they really are - ignorant superstitions - the better off we'll all be.

[NapalmKev]

But why does your voice have to be heard, and heard by whom? MP's are nothing more than priests, belonging to a handful of cults (the Tory Cult, the Labour Cult, the Lib-Dem cult, the Green Cult, the UKIP Cult, etc., etc.), whom we are expected to petition to speak to the mythical god called "Authority" on our behalf.
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Putting one's mark on a ballot paper every four or five years and expecting this act to make "government" change things for the better is like sacrificing a goat every four or five years and expecting "God" to change things for the better. It's not only absurd but corrosive, stupid and very, very dangerous.
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The sooner we see "authority" and "government" for what they really are - ignorant superstitions - the better off we'll all be.

Are you being serious? You've regularly complained about not being acknowledged by the powers that be, but at the same time you don't believe my voice (and presumably, your own) should be heard?

You don't agree with Voting, and as far as I can tell (from your posts) you're not up for a Violent solution; What exactly do you want and how do you hope to achieve it?

Cheers

[The Legendary Shark]

What I want is to exercise my own personal freedoms and responsibilities without seeking permission from anyone. I want to achieve this on my own and not beg for it from others.
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I want the same thing for everyone but only if they want it for themselves. Those who feel more comfortable being told what to think, how to behave or whom to obey are, of course, free to do so.
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So long as I cause loss, harm or damage to nobody, pay my lawful bills, honour my lawful contracts and am honest in my dealings, what right does anyone have to dominate me?

[NapalmKev]

So long as I cause loss, harm or damage to nobody, pay my lawful bills, honour my lawful contracts and am honest in my dealings, what right does anyone have to dominate me?

Lawful bills/contracts! So the law does have some uses then?

What you are stating is an ideology without substance. You don't want authority to govern you but still expect everyone to behave in a civilized manner in the absence of authority. Some people will always be Cunts, authority isn't always to blame.

Cheers

[The Legendary Shark]

Of course law has its uses and I have never claimed otherwise.
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People do not need some mythical, overarching "authority" to act in a civilised manner. There is no government official moderating this very conversation, for example, and even if we disagree I have no fear of you rooting me out and murdering me in my sleep.
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"Authority" is the thing with no substance. It commands the "governed" to do all kinds of things, from handing over money to murdering "foreigners" to kidnapping (arresting and imprisoning) anyone who doesn't play the game its way with absolutely no moral or logical right to do so.
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If I were to say to you "pay me or I'll lock you up" I'd be guilty of extortion and you'd feel morally and logically justified in refusing and resisting my demands. If the "government" says the same thing to you, you'd feel morally and logically obliged to comply - but why? If I don't have the right to extort you and you don't have the right to extort me, where does our "government" derive the right? It doesn't get it from me and it doesn't get it from you because we cannot pass onto it rights that you and I don't have.
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It is "authority" that has no substance, not us. The way I see it, "authority" is as big a myth as a God who lives in the sky deciding what's going to happen to everyone, punishing the heretics and rewarding the faithful.
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You and I have substance but "authority" has none.

[Professor Bear]

Authority has the right to govern because we refuse to overthrow it, kill those responsible and redistribute their wealth.

In other news, the Tories promise they'll put £8bn of money in that there NHS that absolutely everyone knows they want to destroy on account of their spending the last five years doing so with that reorganisation they promised they'd never do.

[The Legendary Shark]

Again with the killing!
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Government has NO right to govern anyone.
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Take, for example, the oxymoronic phrase "consent of the governed." There are two basic ways in which people interact with one another; either by mutual consent in which the parties agree to cooperate or by government in which one party forces the other to comply. Bowing to the demands of a ruling class just because they've been "elected" (usually by an overall minority of brainwashed "believers") is like saying "I agree to do whatever you tell me to do whether I want to do it or not," which is patently foolish. When people consent to cooperate, there is no government and when people are governed there is no consent.
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There's no need for bloodshed - all we need to do, as individuals, is to withhold our consent from doing those things we don't want to be made to do against our wills.
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This flies in the face of everything we've all been brainwashed from infancy into believing, which is why so many people think they can't do anything without permission. What's the very first thing you learn at school? If you want something, anything, you have to put your hand up and ask authority for permission - even if you want to go for a piss. This false belief sticks with us throughout our lives as we seek permission to have a home, drive a vehicle, get a job, get married and so on and on. We eat only what we're allowed to eat, drink only what we're allowed to drink, live only where we're allowed to live, go only where we're allowed to go, buy only what we're allowed to buy, vote only for people we're allowed to vote for and so on.
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If one stops believing in God then one is freed from the controlling commands and demands of the priests. To defeat "government" requires only the same cancellation of faith. You don't need bullets or gallows for that.