QueenZone discussion #1430079

thomasquinn 32989 wrote: It is a simple, undebatable fact that our political system is completely rotten to the core - plutocracy rules, multinationals don't have to play by the same rules as smaller businesses, the extremely wealthy get to buy off prosecution for economic crimes that would land anyone else in jail (see the bankers and their illegal doings with regards to mortages/loans, but also outright fraud like falsifying rates), there are entire corporations whose industry is the destruction of real economic value (a group of investors buys a large business, has it borrow to the max of its credit-worthiness, divides the money up as profit, gets money BACK from the tax authority because you can spread a loss (like that of a large loan) out retroactively, then has the company go bankrupt and sells it off in pieces, resulting in the net loss of capital goods and hundreds or even thousands of jobs. This has happened, in The Netherlands alone, with three large businesses in the past five years, at an expense of several thousands of jobs). Politics refuses to do anything substantial about this - the same bankers and financial moguls who got us into this enormous depression are still in charge, they are not suffering from the collapsed economy, and they get to go on with business as usual. Nearly all political parties have direct lines to these economic interest groups - ex-politicians get juicy top-level jobs with them - the few politicians who try to make a difference run up against 'party discipline', the vast majority of the people fall for the lies they are fed by those same politicians who scare them into voting for the status quo yet again. People refuse to make the effort to inform themselves before making a vote, voting 'like their parents did', or on the basis of a couple of sound bites. Meanwhile, the returns on capital are still growing while those on labour are declining. Wealth is increasingly concentrated in ever fewer hands. Legislation to protect workers is abolished. Large employers are finding ever shrewder ways to con their employees out of things like sick pay, contributions to pensions and the likes. Labour unions, partly through their own fault, are becoming ever more ineffective while workers increasingly fail to see how they need to join forces to have a chance of enforcing their interests. Meanwhile, we still have a political system that was designed in the 18th and 19th centuries and has been only marginally modified to catch up with the times. People are increasingly disinterested and spoiled by decades of peace and prosperity, sacrificing without so much as a grumble what generations of their ancestors fought, bled and died for. All we have gained since the Great Depression is being gradually given up. We will need a lot more than simply a vote for a different party to change things around. Our economies, our system of finance, our international regulations, our democratic system, and most of all our mentality need to be dramatically overhauled. We don't want the transition from our current declining age to the next one to be like the last 'major' transition - through the blood of World War I and the poverty of the Great Depression. Mass communication, dramatic innovations in transport and the rise of the internet have changed the world into one that is entirely unlike the world of a century ago. Literacy and education are spreading across the globe, technology is reaching people who lived in pre-industrial conditions a few decades ago. Ideologies like ultra-nationalism and religious extremism are spreading among the fearful and the (sorry) dumb and gullible. Internationalism is a fact, and has been for decades, yet increasingly people are trying for national autarky, an utter deception. Increasingly, intellectuals, scientists and experts are distrusted and populists and demagogues lauded. People like Brand think that they have a clue, but they really don't - they're just loudmouths getting some attention. Brian May thinks he understands and means well, but he doesn't have any true solutions to offer, simply encouraging words. I don't have a solution either. Nobody has all the answers. We need to work together, internationally, with everyone who can contribute something meaningful getting a word in. We need to distrust and fight narrowly based interest groups maintaining the status quo. We need to resist the urge for conservatism - the present situation cannot be maintained, and we must move forward, no matter how scary and uncertain that is.

AlbaNo1 wrote:

Hi Russell, never knew you were a Queen fan

mooghead wrote: They are both just as boring and ridiculous as each other when it comes to politics. Remember when Brian used to play guitar?

thomasquinn 32989 wrote:

AlbaNo1 wrote:

Hi Russell, never knew you were a Queen fan

your remark about Brian wanting to enfranchise badgers says all we need to know about the level you operate on with regards to discussions.

mooghead wrote: 'Greens' implies hippies who shag trees and want the world to be vegan. What are their opinions on Europe and the NHS and immigration? Do they know? I dont.

Supersonic_Man89 wrote: i don't understand how people can disagree with the majority of things he's pointing out - even if he does it in a slightly annoying way sometimes (and sometimes a funny way).

thomasquinn 32989 wrote: We don't want the transition from our current declining age to the next one to be like the last 'major' transition - through the blood of World War I and the poverty of the Great Depression.

Supersonic_Man89 wrote: /\ Good post. We should have a like button on this forum

hobbit in Rhye wrote: Excellent posts, Wizard and Thomas ~~ The Trudeau Tax article was spot on. I don't think Brian could go far on the politic road. He's too gentle for it. But at least he tries. I haven't. So thumb up to him. I prefer him to focus on the guitar, which would benefit the human race more (in his particular case), but it is his choice and I respect it. I hate politics, but it still stays, and it isn't going anywhere, so better to improve it than to ignore it. On a side note, it needs more scientists in the government to create a more balanced and reasonable policy. But scientists generally aren't interested in it, because they think it's boring and rotten. So any scientists/artists going that road with a good intention are welcome. I don't quite understand why Russel Brand was taken back by Brian's question. It is a thought-provoking question. Unless he wasn't taken back and the article made things up. But his retort was kinda interesting. I can imagine the pressure that the good Doc put the band under when he's in a bad mood :D

Supersonic_Man89 wrote: Day Dop... why are you posting that made up, pointless bit of propaganda made up by somebody who quite possibly follows Britain First and all the crap they post on FB? Russell, recognised that Labour was the lesser of two evils, and considering that Milliband was polite enough to have an interview, whereas Cameron mocked him and spent his time hanging out with the likes of Katie Hopkins - Russell did suggest people vote Labour. I think that decision was quite brave as he knew the kind of backlash the largely conservative media monopoly would throw back at him. He recieved letters from disabled people who's benefits were going to be slashed, and recognised that even if the differences appear very minute between Labour and conservatives...those differences still affect a lot of people. Since the election, as you will be able to see, nothing has changed. He continues to do his Trews show where he deconstructs and criticises governments worldwide. He hasn't quit politics at all. So what's your point? Seriously, what's your point?