Comments on The Pensive Quill: Brave New North: Neoliberalism in the Six Counties

Brave New North: Neoliberalism in the Six Counties...

2013-06-10T18:15:49.517+01:00

Brave New North: Neoliberalism in the Six Counties...

Alec,

Socialism can hardly be described as an esoteric doctrine. It is a worldview.

But that can be said of anything. It more resembles a marginalised discourse than a view that is anchored in popular movements globally. More often than not it is a slogan. You would imagine that it should be a worldview but the top down socialist bureaucrats have damaged the project perhaps beyond repair

Robert- " a welfare system that sustains a c...

2013-04-07T10:32:35.999+01:00

Robert-

" a welfare system that sustains a culture "

Well the welfare system looks after the windsor family and is giving them an extra 5 million next year-the welfare system does not ask the windsor family to pay any bedroom tax-the family with the most bedrooms is allowed a get out clause-unlike every other family in england with less bedrooms-you must be so proud-

Robert, yet the royals have leeched more from Bri...

2013-04-07T07:52:32.177+01:00

Robert,

yet the royals have leeched more from British society in a year than the Philpotts have leeched in a generation. In my view much worse than the culture of welfare is the culture of greed. If you look at matters down here the effort expended in devising elaborate plans to catch benefit fraud as against the nonchalant approach towards banker fraud tends to show that crime is not targeted because it is wrong but because of the values that shape the mindset of law enforcement.

There will always be people who abuse whatever opportunity. I am old enough not to buy into notions that glorify the oppressed, for long having been impressed by Napoleon's idea that among the oppressed are many who like to oppress. And I know the 'working class' will as quickly cut your throat as the next class. But the greed and inequality that society is built upon seems plain and simply egregious.

Robert a cara I get the feeling the Philpotts will...

2013-04-06T23:55:42.430+01:00

Robert a cara I get the feeling the Philpotts will be a big stick to further beat welfare reforms into the already battered people relying on benefits.

Anthony, 'Not censoring you!!' The delet...

2013-04-06T23:33:00.171+01:00

Anthony,

'Not censoring you!!'

The deletion was simultaneous I think - only you beat me to the draw! That would never occur to me in any event.

I would prefer to maintain the monarchy in the form of the Windsors than a welfare system that sustains a culture that is exemplified by the Philpotts. I should emphasise that I am specifically referring to the culture and not the crime.

Robert, I deleted one of your comments as it was ...

2013-04-06T22:51:26.466+01:00

Robert,

I deleted one of your comments as it was a duplicate of the first. Not censoring you!!

Robert, to the extent that that is true it could ...

2013-04-06T22:42:44.073+01:00

Robert,

to the extent that that is true it could be diverted to the NHS, the Education system, or public transport, rather than back to the pockest of the greedy. I simply cannot get riled over somebody doing the double or fiddling a few quid when there is a royal family sponging mega bucks off society. That seems a much bigger crime than what the grifter on the street is doing.

Anthony, 'how can there be an over dependence...

2013-04-06T22:25:07.684+01:00

Anthony,

'how can there be an over dependence on welfare when without it people would suffer immensely?'

The welfare system as it currently stands is bank rolling the DLA taxi, the employed job seeker and the housing benefit sub let etc to a greater extent than it is providing the safety net as envisaged by Beveridge.

Alec, I will continue to try and box you in and y...

2013-03-28T22:04:49.290Z

Alec,

I will continue to try and box you in and you are free to do the same to me! That is what debate is about. Am I supposed not to box you in or are you supposed not to snare me? That would be an old boys' club debate.

Mackers' you are free to recognise anything ...

2013-03-28T21:54:49.315Z

Mackers'

you are free to recognise anything you like but don't attempt to box me in with your arguments. Again, I stress that I do not share your view of the democratic nature of the GFA. The mechanisms were constructed within the parameters of partition and for me that is the basic objection. It is so democratic that a minority opinion in the north trumps the majority opinion in the south. Add to this the 'tripple lock' and we are clearly dealing with a loaded dice.

I still contend that the democratic principle favoured by republicanism as the basis for resolving the conflict is vastly superior to the carefully crafted mechanism contained in the GFA.

Republicanism is based on universal sufferage and popular governance. Fascistic traits have more to do with politcal culture and organisational form than with the ideology itself.

Historical unionism has sought to exclude itself from the Irish nation. Organised violence has been used against catholics invloving state and paramilitary agents. I invite you to state the case for unionist separation and the legitmacy of such methods?

Self determination is a broad concept and is not restricted to the national.

This is true in some cases but mostly it is understood in the context of sovereignty i.e territorial integrity. Ethnocultural similarities is not enough to support a claim of secession without there also being an existential threat.

Alec, nations and nations states may or may not b...

2013-03-28T14:11:22.975Z

Alec,

nations and nations states may or may not be the best arrangements that societies devise for managing their affairs. There is nothing intrinsically good or bad about nations. In my view people should determine nations rather than nations determining people. That is probably one point of friction betwen republicanism and nationalism. Nationalism only appeals to me to the extent that it minimises harm.

Self-determination and sovereignty are still key demands of the left today.

They are and should be but both are wider than nationalism. Secessionists demand sovereignity over the area they wish to see secede, not necessarily the nation. Self determination is a broad concept and is not restricted to the national. Being, like myself, an old jail house libertarian, you should recognise that easily enough. It is what in large part drives much of the moral thinking behind abortion, right to die. The right to self determine at the individual level is crucial to human autonomy and freedom. This is why I favour individual rights so much.

What 'future communistic society.'?

Unionist and British violence has been criticised by me all my days. I am very much aware of it, more so than many of my former comrades who seem to have forgotten it. I just don't overlook the problems with republican violence and the rights it denies. I can hardly expect people to support my call for prisoners rights on the basis that I am serious about rights if at the same time I am taking over people's houses, holding people against their will, hijacking their cars, taking risks with their lives.

Alec, because a thing has a democratic basis does...

2013-03-28T12:31:24.820Z

Alec,

because a thing has a democratic basis does not mean we have to like it or even agree with it. Democracy can express itself in a number of ways and produce a variety of outcomes. I am compelled to accept that there is a democratic basis to partition even if I fundamentally disagree with what people have democratically assented to. We have been outmanoeuvred on this. It is not as if we did not try to point out 20 years ago what was happening and they sought to silence us for doing so.

And as you are aware one of the turn offs for me in respect of republicanism was its strong anti-democratic streak. It was simply overriding the rights of too many people.

I would welcome a single referendum on the issue of unity. But a referendum is a golden opportunity to get answers to a whole range of issues so why only waste it one issue? It seems a simple matter asking:

1/ do the Irish people prefer a unified country?

2/ Should the Irish people exercise the use of force to achieve Irish unity?

I am quite willing to abide by the answer to both and in doing so submitting to the democratic will of my fellow citizens. And it gives you the referendum you want.

Mackers, this not a question of right or wrong. ...

2013-03-28T10:47:27.919Z

Mackers,

this not a question of right or wrong. I am defending a position which has been the basis of Republicanism since partition. My view of the veto is that it is anti-democratic and politically constructuced for the purpose of denying the sovereign rights to the Irish people. You are entitled to disagree as you do.

We've come full circle as always, Mackers. G...

2013-03-28T00:07:25.962Z

We've come full circle as always, Mackers.

Good night.

Why not welcome a single national referendum on th...

2013-03-28T00:06:31.016Z

Why not welcome a single national referendum on the issue of untiy? This would appear a more sensible route.

Mackers. so you agree that political and economic...

2013-03-28T00:00:32.330Z

Mackers.

so you agree that political and economic formations will come and go. Marx, Engles, Lenin and Connolly all pointed to the importance of the Irish struggle for independance to the struggles of the British working class movement. Self-determination and sovereignty are still key demands of the left today. A federation of free nations based on socialist principles will proceed the disapperance of nation states. Cuitural,ethnic and religious diversity will not disappear in the future communistic society.

Internationalism and progess do not always go hand in hand.

The will of the Irish people expressed within a partitionist framework is a corruption of the democratic principle. The unionists have never been found wanting in their willingness to use violence to support their veto even when the republican threat was not present.

No. But they did stage a coup attempt in 81

2013-03-27T23:39:15.889Z

No. But they did stage a coup attempt in 81

Did fascism survive 4 yrs beyond him or is my date...

2013-03-27T23:32:14.665Z

Did fascism survive 4 yrs beyond him or is my date totally wrong? Anyhow even 1975 is quite a while after the 'world' (and ulster unionism lol)faught to defeat fascism.

Larry, I was trying to write he died in 75 when ...

2013-03-27T23:28:23.429Z

Larry,

I was trying to write he died in 75 when I hit the delete button

Alec, I deleted Larry's by mistake. I asked h...

2013-03-27T23:26:22.745Z

Alec,

I deleted Larry's by mistake. I asked him to repost.

Nations came. They will as surely go. Capitalism did much to shape them and pull them together. That’s why socialism has little in the way of romantic attachment to them, seeing them either as an aid or impediment to progress. That is why we have more affinity to the foreign Left than the Irish Right.

People will seek more self determination but it need not necessarily be national. Nationalism and progress don’t always go hand in hand.

The Irish people democratically underwrite the veto and there is nothing we can do to change that.
Coercion against the will of the Irish people which they do not underwrite will cause more problems for the Irish people than it will eradicate.

Do you think the veto rests on reasonable and virtuous attitudes?

It rests on people not wanting to be ruled by Dublin.

Why not give the Irish people as a whole the final say?

The Irish people are not demanding that and seem prepared to wait until a majoirty in the North make up their minds about the matter. If they demand a say, reject the GFA and the consent principle they most definitely should be given it along with a say as to how they should respond in the event of not getting the result they want. I would welcome a referendum in which the Irish people as a unit were asked what it is they want to be free from most – the consent principle or republican violence. Then I would like to see the republican response.

Why go through intellectual and constitutional hoops to support a minority position on the island?

Who does that? The vast bulk of people in this country reject our republicanism. To overcome that opposition some republicans go through hoops and torturous logic insisting that the Irish people can be free from this but not that. Freedom invariably means the freedom to decide what freedom is.

lol mackers don't be getting cranky now. I th...

2013-03-27T23:22:24.134Z

lol mackers don't be getting cranky now.

I think i confirmed loyalism as opportunistic. Also mentioned that Spain was fascist under Franco until 1979 without anyone complaining. Even after what he did to the Basques. Opportunists and hypocrites run the planet. I'm just thankful i was perfect until recently when i bacame big-headed.

was that one of mine removed?

2013-03-27T22:57:41.528Z

was that one of mine removed?

Larry, post that again. I hit delete by mistake....

2013-03-27T22:56:53.506Z

Larry,

post that again. I hit delete by mistake. Sorry

SF are actively sinking their own for acceptabilit...

2013-03-27T22:54:42.226Z

SF are actively sinking their own for acceptability in British society.

2013-03-27T22:45:14.391Z

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