tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7733583.post1615129553287011093..comments2024-03-04T08:34:20.376+00:00Comments on John's Labour blog: Council Speech on Income Inequality (and some other stuff)John Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14269161145575667147noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7733583.post-2819240967185318342011-12-16T00:41:34.012+00:002011-12-16T00:41:34.012+00:00Hi rude anon
Please resubmit your comment. I will...Hi rude anon<br /><br />Please resubmit your comment. I will put up with loads of silly nonsense but do not try and post offensive swear words on this blog.John Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14269161145575667147noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7733583.post-55806561527439834912011-12-15T17:47:53.714+00:002011-12-15T17:47:53.714+00:00Hi macuser
Jesse Jackson certainly knows how to a...Hi macuser<br /><br />Jesse Jackson certainly knows how to articulate and hold his audience but he also puts forward arguments that people understand and are receptive towards.John Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14269161145575667147noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7733583.post-44092903231420592842011-12-15T09:58:41.373+00:002011-12-15T09:58:41.373+00:00John,
Maybe 'angry' is not quite the righ...John,<br /><br />Maybe 'angry' is not quite the right word, but I think you know what I mean.<br /><br />Perhaps, to channel Jesse Jackson, they need to articulate a righteous sense of injustice. And a clear vision of what a better and more just society would look like.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7733583.post-2393247633920376532011-12-14T18:38:24.634+00:002011-12-14T18:38:24.634+00:00ps I’ve put the world to right and I am now going ...ps I’ve put the world to right and I am now going to see Jessie Jackson and wish him a happy 70th birthday.John Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14269161145575667147noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7733583.post-33360559771095675052011-12-14T18:34:46.408+00:002011-12-14T18:34:46.408+00:00Hi Macuser
I am not a Marxist so I don’t think tha...Hi Macuser<br />I am not a Marxist so I don’t think that I am the right person to decide whether the Soviet Union was ever once a Marxist state, a failed Marxist state or not. I think that many people at the time and since did genuinely think it was. However, I still think it is true that “socialism” was damaged by association with the Soviet Union.<br /><br />I think with hindsight that practically the whole Labour Party (not just the leadership) made a huge mistake over the role of the market. Yet, due to the “failure” of the left to come up with a practical and convincing alternative that the Great British public would support, then perhaps it is no real surprise. <br /><br />Yes, Labour needs to come up with a credible plan and I hope no-one of consequence would ever never say anything so silly about the “filthy rich” again (I won’t hold my breath). <br /><br />Getting "angry" won’t achieve very much. We need a plan that will convince people. We need to convince them that to support a rebalanced and make a genuinely mixed economy of strong accountable well funded public services, publically owned natural monopolies, mutual’s, co-ops and properly regulated private businesses. We need effective trade unions and progressive taxation.John Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14269161145575667147noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7733583.post-1045844748896877502011-12-14T09:43:56.244+00:002011-12-14T09:43:56.244+00:00John,
You say "many think that socialism gen...John,<br /><br />You say "many think that socialism generally was discredited by the failure of Marxist states such as the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe." I'm sure what you really meant was "Leninist states". Marx wouldn't have recognised the Soviet Union and its satellites as having anything to do with his thinking.<br /><br />You go on to say that "the resulting rise of the Neo-liberal Right was the main reason for the disastrous Financial services and Banking collapse in 2008." <br /><br />Quite so, but you fail to add that the leadership of the Labour party was equally in thrall to that neo-liberal thinking. The pro-City, pro-market philosophy of Thatcherism was embraced by Blair and Brown, and it led directly to the failure of regulation that allowed casino banking to flourish, with the consequences we are now paying for. <br /><br />We see clearly from Cameron's antics in Brussels last week that Britain remains a country run by, and in the interests of, the bankers. Labour's problem is that it has to distance itself from its own recent history and articulate a credible alternative vision for society. It needs to stop being "intensely relaxed about people being filthy rich" and start getting angry.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com