Considering voting for Conservatives or UKIP? Please read / fact check
I have just sent off my postal vote for the Labour party, an admittedly imperfect choice, with an uncharismatic leader , Ed Miliband, who sometimes talks of radical left wing reform, and other times risks adopting the populist, victim-blaming rhetoric of the right wing. In my mind it was ultimately a choice between Labour and the Liberal Democrats, and I opted for the party more likely to effect real change. For anyone thinking of voting for Tories/UKIP, let me help you understand whether either party is really for you:
If you believe the 6thrichest nation on earth cannot afford a reasonable standard of public services, that billionaires should be running everything and given tax breaks, that the public should be willing to work without contracted hours or pay, that all of our problems stem not from those with the power to effect change (the wealthy) but from those without power (refugees and the unemployed), that human rights are just ‘red tape’ that must be cut, that Britain would do better to isolate itself from the world stage; then by all means vote against the interests of the majority. But prepare for a downward spiral for everyone bar the privileged few.
Fascism and conservatism fall on the right wing of the political spectrum - the politics of fear. The fascist goal is to divide the public and unite their followers against a common enemy, whether real or imagined, and maintain their grip via the merger of state and corporate power. Anyone who does not fall in line becomes a non-citizen, a criminal, or worse.
In this instance, the common enemies are immigrants and benefits claimants. Right wingers do not tell you that tax evasion cost us ten times as much as benefit fraud. Nor do they tell you that 90% of the benefits bill goes towards pensioners – you know those war heroes they claim to support? Don’t believe a word of it. They resent every penny they have to pay towards those in need, whether that be 7% of benefits claimants who are disabled and forced to return to work when they cannot; or 3% unemployed who are forced to work for NOTHING if they have been out of work for 6 months; and if they are fortunate enough to find paid work, are not guaranteed a full working week, thanks to zero hours contracts.
No wonder the suicide rate is so high. No wonder there have been so many avoidable deaths from those with severe physical and mental disabilities. As far as the Tories are concerned, every one of those deaths is one less scrounger to feed.
Every leading economist agrees that immigration gives us a net profit, and the right wingers do not mention that we take on half as many refugees as the average European nation – so much for the UK being a soft touch on immigration. Right wingers talk tough, but are unable to reduce the number of illegal immigrants, because, quite simply, they do not know where most of them are. Their solution is to kick out economically viable migrants doing jobs the British public won’t do (so businesses suffer), as well as declining Visa applications for the spouses of British citizens. Imagine being told your (non-EU) husband/wife was not allowed to live in this country because you, a British citizen, do not earn above the average wage. Imagine the impact this would have on your kids. This is what the Tories have been doing to real families. UKIP would be even crueller.
Take a look around the world and I guarantee that nearly every progressive law made in favour of equality or workers’ rights has come courtesy of a left wing government, and that once a right wing government is elected, they will often try to repeal these rights. All of the perks we take for granted – weekends, paid holidays, minimum wage, safety standards – these are all socialist ideals, the kind conservatives like to call ‘red tape’ until they can no longer dupe us, and then they claim to have been in favour of these things all along.
Think all of this is an exaggeration? That it is unfair to conflate conservatism and fascism? Pay a visit to any right wing publication, even a ‘respectable’ one like the Daily Mail. Read the comments sections on any political argument - you will see a cesspit of every kind of bigotry from those who claim to advocate moral purity. Visit an equivalent left wing publication like the Guardian, and you will see thousands of comments from people who actually give a damn, whose priority is not demonisation but understanding, not indifference but compassion. Ask yourself which mentality you really want to align yourself with.
UKIP ally themselves with the lunatic Tea Party branch of the Republican party who believe you should be able to carry machine guns in public places, gay people should be second class citizens, and benefits should be scrapped because they are funding the 'extravagant' lifestyles of scroungers and criminals. It seems every week UKIP have to expel another member for a racist outburst.
Right wing parties are as fascist as the public will allow them to become, but in a liberal society will abandon their Thatchers for their Camerons - this is just a moderate facade. The most dangerous people are those gullible enough to swallow their divide-and-conquer rhetoric because they prop these parties up. The further we lurch towards the right wing, the less equal we become, the lower the standard of living for the working and middle classes, and the less trusting and compassionate our society becomes.
David Cameron is pretty much in a minority of one within his party with his moderate stance. May, Osborne, McVey, and Smith are far from moderate, and these are the ones whom the Tories allow to have a public face. Ever wondered why so many Tories are hidden from public view? It’s because the right wing stereotype for the main-part holds true. You’d be hard-pressed to tell a Conservative, UKIP, or BNP member apart if you did not know better.
They would have you believe only conservatives are reliable custodians of the economy, that the left cannot be trusted, fiscally-speaking. However, reality tells a different picture – since 1979 every Conservative government has spent a higher percentage of GDP than Labour, and yet standards of public services have fallen under their leadership (remember how patients used to die in hospital corridors in the 1990s because there were not enough beds?)
At every opportunity, the Conservatives have allowed our public services to be privatised, absolving the state of responsibility and putting profit before people – just look at how the energy and rail companies rip us off.
Under Osborne's stewardship, standards of living are worse now than at the start of the recession, unemployment has risen if you discount forced labour and zero hour contracts (no sensible person would consider these people employed so much as at the beckon call of capitalists). Osborne likes to claim the deficit has fallen, but many economists dispute this. More tellingly, government borrowing has increased 50% in five years, yet there has been little investment in our infrastructure so we are unlikely to see a return. The evidence suggests things will get worse before they get better, and that's by the Tories' own admission!
The Tories seem to want a recovery for free, but reality does not work like that. After our nation's biggest economic catastrophe, World War 2, we recovered not by cutting public spending, but by increasing it dramatically. Clement Attlee understood that only investment could rebuild our nation so his government gave us the NHS, social housing, the welfare state, and workers' rights. He was probably the greatest Prime Minister we've ever had - an anti-Thatcher if you will. Guess which of those two we gave a state funeral to - clue, it wasn't Attlee.
Far poorer countries than the UK, such as South Korea, are providing drastically superior public services to ours at a fraction of the cost. Year on year, the nations that top the UN Index of Human Development in nearly every category are arguably the five most socialist nations on earth – Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and The Netherlands.
The reason socialism works, if properly implemented, is this – the working class must have spending power in order for an economy to properly function. If you take away that spending power, money is hoarded by the wealthy and unemployment is an inevitable consequence. The Conservative solution is always to work longer hours for less money. The ultimate capitalist system was the slavery system, and if they thought they could get away with it, that’s exactly what they would implement again. Evidence? Look at the third world in which the poor work in sweat shops for pennies, seven days a week. How do you protect them from this? That dirty socialist word – regulation.
What you must understand is, left wing parties almost always have admirable ideals: fight for the underdog, protect the vulnerable, say no to war, tackle poverty, save the environment. And whether they are competent enough to achieve their goals or not, they are usually sincere in those beliefs. Sometimes, the right wing will adopt similar language because they know it will resonate with the public, but they are almost always insincere. Their main goal is to support the wealthy and strip the masses of their rights. Whichever way you choose to vote, you risk voting for incompetence, but as a starting point, at least narrow your options down to those who actually give a damn.
The right wingers would have you believe that socialism and communism are synonyms for fascism, and they all fall on the left wing of the political spectrum. The fact of the matter is communism and fascism are polar opposites - one evil - one unrealistic. Liberalism and libertarianism are unhappy compromises between these two ultimately unachievable goals. Ask yourself which ideology your beliefs are closest to, before accepting propaganda.
Communism Fascism Far left ideology Far right ideology Extreme form of socialism Extreme form of conservatism Abolition of state and corporate power Merger of state and corporate power Lack of currency Rigid nationalism Lack of borders Hostility to outsiders Work for the common good Absolute authority driven by fear Take only what you need from society Little or no social mobility Management of resources Consumption of resources Unsustainable due to human materialism Unsustainable due to working class unrest
Some fascist leaders adopted the communist label because they could never admit to being dictators serving only self-interest, and instead masqueraded as men of the people. This played into the hands of capitalists. There has never been, and, by definition, can never be a communist state. How can you have a state without borders or currency?
Nearly every dystopian society ever imagined has been a fascist state where capitalism has grown too powerful (think Bladerunner). Nearly every utopian society imagined has been of a communist system in which capitalism has been abandoned (think Star Trek). We instinctively know capitalism is unfair by its nature, and, if left untamed, will result in fascism. Socialism is the process by which we tame capitalism in order to achieve a fairer society. Conservatives tend to be on the wrong side of human rights arguments until they lose…
If you believe the 6thrichest nation on earth cannot afford a reasonable standard of public services, that billionaires should be running everything and given tax breaks, that the public should be willing to work without contracted hours or pay, that all of our problems stem not from those with the power to effect change (the wealthy) but from those without power (refugees and the unemployed), that human rights are just ‘red tape’ that must be cut, that Britain would do better to isolate itself from the world stage; then by all means vote against the interests of the majority. But prepare for a downward spiral for everyone bar the privileged few.
Fascism and conservatism fall on the right wing of the political spectrum - the politics of fear. The fascist goal is to divide the public and unite their followers against a common enemy, whether real or imagined, and maintain their grip via the merger of state and corporate power. Anyone who does not fall in line becomes a non-citizen, a criminal, or worse.
In this instance, the common enemies are immigrants and benefits claimants. Right wingers do not tell you that tax evasion cost us ten times as much as benefit fraud. Nor do they tell you that 90% of the benefits bill goes towards pensioners – you know those war heroes they claim to support? Don’t believe a word of it. They resent every penny they have to pay towards those in need, whether that be 7% of benefits claimants who are disabled and forced to return to work when they cannot; or 3% unemployed who are forced to work for NOTHING if they have been out of work for 6 months; and if they are fortunate enough to find paid work, are not guaranteed a full working week, thanks to zero hours contracts.
No wonder the suicide rate is so high. No wonder there have been so many avoidable deaths from those with severe physical and mental disabilities. As far as the Tories are concerned, every one of those deaths is one less scrounger to feed.
Every leading economist agrees that immigration gives us a net profit, and the right wingers do not mention that we take on half as many refugees as the average European nation – so much for the UK being a soft touch on immigration. Right wingers talk tough, but are unable to reduce the number of illegal immigrants, because, quite simply, they do not know where most of them are. Their solution is to kick out economically viable migrants doing jobs the British public won’t do (so businesses suffer), as well as declining Visa applications for the spouses of British citizens. Imagine being told your (non-EU) husband/wife was not allowed to live in this country because you, a British citizen, do not earn above the average wage. Imagine the impact this would have on your kids. This is what the Tories have been doing to real families. UKIP would be even crueller.
Take a look around the world and I guarantee that nearly every progressive law made in favour of equality or workers’ rights has come courtesy of a left wing government, and that once a right wing government is elected, they will often try to repeal these rights. All of the perks we take for granted – weekends, paid holidays, minimum wage, safety standards – these are all socialist ideals, the kind conservatives like to call ‘red tape’ until they can no longer dupe us, and then they claim to have been in favour of these things all along.
Think all of this is an exaggeration? That it is unfair to conflate conservatism and fascism? Pay a visit to any right wing publication, even a ‘respectable’ one like the Daily Mail. Read the comments sections on any political argument - you will see a cesspit of every kind of bigotry from those who claim to advocate moral purity. Visit an equivalent left wing publication like the Guardian, and you will see thousands of comments from people who actually give a damn, whose priority is not demonisation but understanding, not indifference but compassion. Ask yourself which mentality you really want to align yourself with.
UKIP ally themselves with the lunatic Tea Party branch of the Republican party who believe you should be able to carry machine guns in public places, gay people should be second class citizens, and benefits should be scrapped because they are funding the 'extravagant' lifestyles of scroungers and criminals. It seems every week UKIP have to expel another member for a racist outburst.
Right wing parties are as fascist as the public will allow them to become, but in a liberal society will abandon their Thatchers for their Camerons - this is just a moderate facade. The most dangerous people are those gullible enough to swallow their divide-and-conquer rhetoric because they prop these parties up. The further we lurch towards the right wing, the less equal we become, the lower the standard of living for the working and middle classes, and the less trusting and compassionate our society becomes.
David Cameron is pretty much in a minority of one within his party with his moderate stance. May, Osborne, McVey, and Smith are far from moderate, and these are the ones whom the Tories allow to have a public face. Ever wondered why so many Tories are hidden from public view? It’s because the right wing stereotype for the main-part holds true. You’d be hard-pressed to tell a Conservative, UKIP, or BNP member apart if you did not know better.
They would have you believe only conservatives are reliable custodians of the economy, that the left cannot be trusted, fiscally-speaking. However, reality tells a different picture – since 1979 every Conservative government has spent a higher percentage of GDP than Labour, and yet standards of public services have fallen under their leadership (remember how patients used to die in hospital corridors in the 1990s because there were not enough beds?)
At every opportunity, the Conservatives have allowed our public services to be privatised, absolving the state of responsibility and putting profit before people – just look at how the energy and rail companies rip us off.
Under Osborne's stewardship, standards of living are worse now than at the start of the recession, unemployment has risen if you discount forced labour and zero hour contracts (no sensible person would consider these people employed so much as at the beckon call of capitalists). Osborne likes to claim the deficit has fallen, but many economists dispute this. More tellingly, government borrowing has increased 50% in five years, yet there has been little investment in our infrastructure so we are unlikely to see a return. The evidence suggests things will get worse before they get better, and that's by the Tories' own admission!
The Tories seem to want a recovery for free, but reality does not work like that. After our nation's biggest economic catastrophe, World War 2, we recovered not by cutting public spending, but by increasing it dramatically. Clement Attlee understood that only investment could rebuild our nation so his government gave us the NHS, social housing, the welfare state, and workers' rights. He was probably the greatest Prime Minister we've ever had - an anti-Thatcher if you will. Guess which of those two we gave a state funeral to - clue, it wasn't Attlee.
Far poorer countries than the UK, such as South Korea, are providing drastically superior public services to ours at a fraction of the cost. Year on year, the nations that top the UN Index of Human Development in nearly every category are arguably the five most socialist nations on earth – Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and The Netherlands.
The reason socialism works, if properly implemented, is this – the working class must have spending power in order for an economy to properly function. If you take away that spending power, money is hoarded by the wealthy and unemployment is an inevitable consequence. The Conservative solution is always to work longer hours for less money. The ultimate capitalist system was the slavery system, and if they thought they could get away with it, that’s exactly what they would implement again. Evidence? Look at the third world in which the poor work in sweat shops for pennies, seven days a week. How do you protect them from this? That dirty socialist word – regulation.
What you must understand is, left wing parties almost always have admirable ideals: fight for the underdog, protect the vulnerable, say no to war, tackle poverty, save the environment. And whether they are competent enough to achieve their goals or not, they are usually sincere in those beliefs. Sometimes, the right wing will adopt similar language because they know it will resonate with the public, but they are almost always insincere. Their main goal is to support the wealthy and strip the masses of their rights. Whichever way you choose to vote, you risk voting for incompetence, but as a starting point, at least narrow your options down to those who actually give a damn.
The right wingers would have you believe that socialism and communism are synonyms for fascism, and they all fall on the left wing of the political spectrum. The fact of the matter is communism and fascism are polar opposites - one evil - one unrealistic. Liberalism and libertarianism are unhappy compromises between these two ultimately unachievable goals. Ask yourself which ideology your beliefs are closest to, before accepting propaganda.
Communism Fascism Far left ideology Far right ideology Extreme form of socialism Extreme form of conservatism Abolition of state and corporate power Merger of state and corporate power Lack of currency Rigid nationalism Lack of borders Hostility to outsiders Work for the common good Absolute authority driven by fear Take only what you need from society Little or no social mobility Management of resources Consumption of resources Unsustainable due to human materialism Unsustainable due to working class unrest
Some fascist leaders adopted the communist label because they could never admit to being dictators serving only self-interest, and instead masqueraded as men of the people. This played into the hands of capitalists. There has never been, and, by definition, can never be a communist state. How can you have a state without borders or currency?
Nearly every dystopian society ever imagined has been a fascist state where capitalism has grown too powerful (think Bladerunner). Nearly every utopian society imagined has been of a communist system in which capitalism has been abandoned (think Star Trek). We instinctively know capitalism is unfair by its nature, and, if left untamed, will result in fascism. Socialism is the process by which we tame capitalism in order to achieve a fairer society. Conservatives tend to be on the wrong side of human rights arguments until they lose…
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Ken
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Apr 27, 2015 08:08AM
If you want to find a cesspit of bigotry I suggest you read the left wing Daily Mirror which would blindly support a Labour Government if it even if it was made up of mass murderers. The Daily Mail is a capitalist Right Wing newspaper, no question of it, but we live in a capitalist society, which is why we're the sixth richest nation on Earth.
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