We shall (not) overcome

gmc · Post by **gmc** » Sat Mar 08, 2008 8:28 am

Did you ever think it would be labour that would so detract from our right to protest?

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/ho ... 93123.html

Post by **Bryn Mawr** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 4:16 pm

gmc;796968 wrote: Did you ever think it would be labour that would so detract from our right to protest?

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/ho ... 93123.html

Those in the original Labour movement must be turning in their graves by now - this is a total denial of all they did!

Post by **Bryn Mawr** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 4:37 pm

rjwould;806837 wrote: Looks like your Labour movement is going the way of the Democrats of America have gone in the 20 years..

Sure as hell do not resemble the Labour Party of Michael Foot and Wedgie Been that's for certain.

Then again, I was not a fan of theirs at the time either

gmc · Post by **gmc** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 2:41 am

rjwould;806837 wrote: Looks like your Labour movement is going the way of the Democrats of America have gone in the past 20 years..

The thing is a lot of the main goals have been achieved-universal suffrage, universal healthcare etc and economic change has taken out most of the archetypal working class occupations blurring the boundaries between classes so it's morphing in to something else-although what is not clear. The thing is the tories have lost their identity as well and for much same reasons. If they tried to dismantle things like the NHS they wouldn't get elected. I don't know enough about american party politics to make any valid comparisons.

Our next elections will be interesting I hope.

Accountable · Post by **Accountable** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 5:25 am

Anybody that ran a campaign on "We've accomplished our goals. I promise not to muck it up" would get laughed off the stage. Politicians feel like they have to do something, change something, so they can justify re-election. I'd vote for anybody who would fight for trimming the government instead of growing it.

gmc · Post by **gmc** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 6:26 am

Accountable;807024 wrote: Anybody that ran a campaign on "We've accomplished our goals. I promise not to muck it up" would get laughed off the stage. Politicians feel like they have to do something, change something, so they can justify re-election. I'd vote for anybody who would fight for trimming the government instead of growing it.

I assumed you meant labour movement in it's broadest sense which in the UK goes back a very long way, not the labour party which is actually only one, albeit important, part of it.

Accountable · Post by **Accountable** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 7:09 am

gmc;807162 wrote: I assumed you meant labour movement in it's broadest sense which in the UK goes back a very long way, not the labour party which is actually only one, albeit important, part of it.
So what's left for the labour movement to do?

gmc · Post by **gmc** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 9:33 am

Accountable;807326 wrote: So what's left for the labour movement to do?

At it's heart it was always been a basic desire for social justice and liberty that manifests itself in various ways down the centuries. The "labour" movement was one such manifestation. So there's still a lot going in and the debate takes different forms in different countries.

The states seem to have a good argument going on just now about access to healthcare-social justice or big brother government?

Do the poor and dispossessed have the right to make demands? Does the opinion of someone living in a trailer matter as much as say alan greenspan? Does joe bloggs the miner or factory hand -or the american equivalent -have a right to share in the wealth he helps create or is he a dangerous communist for even thinking it.