I've always taken the meaning of liberalism to meen freedom, which should be distinguishable from socialism. However, the Liberal Democrats are both a liberal AND socialist (to some degree) party since being formed from the older Liberal Party and Social Democratic Party (an off-shoot from the Leftist Labour Party of the 1970s and 1980s).
I did a quick google, and found the following resources (definitions, not spin):
I would've equated Democrats to the Liberal Democrats in the UK and Republicans to the Conservatives. IMHO, the Labour Party used to be a lot more left-wing than they are now, and perhaps may have been considered more left-wing that the Liberal Democrats, but hunger for power has comprimised the ideological framework of their politics, and seen them make a beeline for the political majority, which I believe lies somewhere right of centre in the UK.
Please note that this only my opinion of UK politics, and therefore shouldn't be taken as fact without additional sources.
I'm not going to get into a full-on debate about the legitimacy of the war in Iraq. That decision has already been made, despite the general concencus of the population.
You make a good point about the opinions of those in charge may often be better informed than that of the public, and I cannot dispute the example you have given.
I will pose one last question: if those in charge were so well informed, why is it that a) the information used to attain this position was not shared; and b) we have yet to see evidence of those factors used to justify the war (e.g. WMD).
I don't think I made myself clear. When I said 2,000,000 opposed, I should've said that this figure was actually the number of people marching through the streets of London in protest. In fact, the majority of the UK population were against a war in Iraq.
It seems to me that the British voting public voted [New] Labour in as an alternative to the almost-two-decade rule of the Conservatives, rather than for any ideological political reason, such as a leaning towards policies with a higher degree of socialism.
British voters need to sit up and pay attention, and vote to reflect their personal ideologies, not just voting for an alternative. I'd love to have a more liberal ruling party (I generally vote Liberal Democrat), but do the people in my constituency feel the same way? I doubt it.
Therefore, voting anything but New Labour is not the key (especially since "anything but" includes the Conservative party) to a government that reflects its public. This can only come about through a government that is voted by an informed society using its intelligence, and not just putting a cross in the alternative box to last time.
Do you really think this will lose New Labour the next election? I have my doubts. For them to lose, the British public need to stop being so fucking apathetic to issues that affect them (how much did the anti-War movement fade when war was declared?) and check the box of another party. This in itself is another problem -- who are people going to vote for? The Conservative party is even more right-wing than New Labour, and wouldn't've hesitated to send British forces to Iraq, nor I doubt hesitate to implement a ID card scheme.
Many of the older generations do not believe in the attainability of the policies set forth by the Liberal Democrats, and thus I predict the same result again: another term for New Labour. I wonder what new and exciting threats to our liberty Blair and his Cabinet will bring us next term?
We've already seen that the UK government has forgotten those people that voted for it. Before the war started in Iraq, there were estimates of up to 2,000,000 people opposing sending British forces to the Middle East.
If the Government can so easily ignore 2,000,000, then I'm hardly surprised to see it ignore mere thousands.
Unfortunately, I doubt the British public will remember this behaviour when it comes to the next general election.:(
Hehe. Just got a mental picture of the scene where Michael "Why should I change my name? He's the one that sucks" Bolton utterly destroys the printer. Excellent.:)
Ah-ha! You have made a beginner's mistake there! You have failed to take into account the cardinal rule of the S.A.M. (Slashdot Audience Member). That is, when faced with an opportunity to socialise -- to use your example, play chess against a human opponent -- one must first try to find if the same opportunity can be synthesised by a non-human, and should that be possible and have more than one option, to take the option of the greatest complexity.
OK, so HIV can be avoided by taking appropriate precautions, and if you catch it by not using your common sense, then you have no-one else to blame. However, it remains that HIV is still spreading like wild fire, and there is no known cure (AFAIK). Personally, HIV concerns me more than SARS, but that's just me...
Funny, the threat of HIV/AIDS seems a lot more worrying than SARS. People have recovered from SARS, how many people have recovered from AIDS? Can SARS be passed on?
Too true -- I use the nvidia module as a driver for my graphics card. You'll get a warning about tainting the kernel, but there's nothing there to break the GPL, as I understand it...
These kind of "office toys" play havoc with one's productivity in the office. I have bought a couple of toys (namely a Mini MP5 Gun and a Rubber Band Gun, and both caused much merriment, and less work. I know I could kiss work goodbye if I had one of these babies!
Slashdot Mirror
Some even weigh 800 lb. They own insane amounts of cash. These gorillas control millions of supposedly more intelligent sapient humans.
An insanely rich 800lb gorilla? Surely someone like that would stand out in the crowd?
Duh! It's something that comes out of a Gnu's nose.
That was overly critical, even for you..
I've always taken the meaning of liberalism to meen freedom, which should be distinguishable from socialism. However, the Liberal Democrats are both a liberal AND socialist (to some degree) party since being formed from the older Liberal Party and Social Democratic Party (an off-shoot from the Leftist Labour Party of the 1970s and 1980s).
I did a quick google, and found the following resources (definitions, not spin):
Enjoy.
I would've equated Democrats to the Liberal Democrats in the UK and Republicans to the Conservatives. IMHO, the Labour Party used to be a lot more left-wing than they are now, and perhaps may have been considered more left-wing that the Liberal Democrats, but hunger for power has comprimised the ideological framework of their politics, and seen them make a beeline for the political majority, which I believe lies somewhere right of centre in the UK.
Please note that this only my opinion of UK politics, and therefore shouldn't be taken as fact without additional sources.
I'm not going to get into a full-on debate about the legitimacy of the war in Iraq. That decision has already been made, despite the general concencus of the population.
You make a good point about the opinions of those in charge may often be better informed than that of the public, and I cannot dispute the example you have given.
I will pose one last question: if those in charge were so well informed, why is it that a) the information used to attain this position was not shared; and b) we have yet to see evidence of those factors used to justify the war (e.g. WMD).
OK, it may be unfair to label New Labour right-wing, but they're certainly no longer left-wing, are they?
My post was misleading: 2,000,000 was the total number of anti-war demonstrators that marched through central London.
The actual proportion against the war was greater than 50% of the population (IIRC 70-80%).
I don't think I made myself clear. When I said 2,000,000 opposed, I should've said that this figure was actually the number of people marching through the streets of London in protest. In fact, the majority of the UK population were against a war in Iraq.
Somehow, I doubt this will change your opinion.
Fortunately, ZSNES is very much alive.. You never appreciate a games controller until you're forced to use a keyboard to play a fighting game... :P
It seems to me that the British voting public voted [New] Labour in as an alternative to the almost-two-decade rule of the Conservatives, rather than for any ideological political reason, such as a leaning towards policies with a higher degree of socialism.
British voters need to sit up and pay attention, and vote to reflect their personal ideologies, not just voting for an alternative. I'd love to have a more liberal ruling party (I generally vote Liberal Democrat), but do the people in my constituency feel the same way? I doubt it.
Therefore, voting anything but New Labour is not the key (especially since "anything but" includes the Conservative party) to a government that reflects its public. This can only come about through a government that is voted by an informed society using its intelligence, and not just putting a cross in the alternative box to last time.
Do you really think this will lose New Labour the next election? I have my doubts. For them to lose, the British public need to stop being so fucking apathetic to issues that affect them (how much did the anti-War movement fade when war was declared?) and check the box of another party. This in itself is another problem -- who are people going to vote for? The Conservative party is even more right-wing than New Labour, and wouldn't've hesitated to send British forces to Iraq, nor I doubt hesitate to implement a ID card scheme.
Many of the older generations do not believe in the attainability of the policies set forth by the Liberal Democrats, and thus I predict the same result again: another term for New Labour. I wonder what new and exciting threats to our liberty Blair and his Cabinet will bring us next term?
We've already seen that the UK government has forgotten those people that voted for it. Before the war started in Iraq, there were estimates of up to 2,000,000 people opposing sending British forces to the Middle East. If the Government can so easily ignore 2,000,000, then I'm hardly surprised to see it ignore mere thousands. Unfortunately, I doubt the British public will remember this behaviour when it comes to the next general election. :(
You sure as hell wouldn't want CmdrTaco to act as a proof-reader...
Hehe. Just got a mental picture of the scene where Michael "Why should I change my name? He's the one that sucks" Bolton utterly destroys the printer. Excellent. :)
Ah-ha! You have made a beginner's mistake there! You have failed to take into account the cardinal rule of the S.A.M. (Slashdot Audience Member). That is, when faced with an opportunity to socialise -- to use your example, play chess against a human opponent -- one must first try to find if the same opportunity can be synthesised by a non-human, and should that be possible and have more than one option, to take the option of the greatest complexity.
OK, so HIV can be avoided by taking appropriate precautions, and if you catch it by not using your common sense, then you have no-one else to blame. However, it remains that HIV is still spreading like wild fire, and there is no known cure (AFAIK). Personally, HIV concerns me more than SARS, but that's just me...
Funny, the threat of HIV/AIDS seems a lot more worrying than SARS. People have recovered from SARS, how many people have recovered from AIDS? Can SARS be passed on?
Too true -- I use the nvidia module as a driver for my graphics card. You'll get a warning about tainting the kernel, but there's nothing there to break the GPL, as I understand it...
No! Phoenix the database! Damn it all to hell!
Duh! Everyone knows X11 should be followed by X001. :P
Check out his page for some interesting papers...
... folded into a swan, a viking longboat, and a scale model of the moon.
Cool, that works with both pronounciations.
These kind of "office toys" play havoc with one's productivity in the office. I have bought a couple of toys (namely a Mini MP5 Gun and a Rubber Band Gun, and both caused much merriment, and less work. I know I could kiss work goodbye if I had one of these babies!
Duh! Cats have no opposable thumbs! How the HELL do you think they're going to use a remote control?!