23 replies to this topic

[krazykooki]

day off school!! Yay!!!!

feck all to do cos the buses r on strike too so cant get to town an gym/swimming pool closed too an theres nothin else in penicuik

yes i know first buses r runnin but where i stay theres like 1 an hour an theyl b packed wi ppl who av to go places an usually use the lothian buses

[loved-up-loon]

No school, its great!!
But when I dont have to go to school I tend to shop and Have already spent like £30 on random stuff I "needed" Oh well, better than being stuck in school!!!!

[broughy]

on the front page of the evening times today, the headline is something about the strike bringing scotland to a standstill. i was in town earlier, & trust me, it was definitely not at a standstill! it was just as busy as it always is! really, there wasn't any difference!

[ermd]

Well rounded socialists who live in the real world know that it never works properly, and so aim to improve what we have. At least, for all the flaws in our system, we can choose who we are governed by.

Hahaha - man I LOVE that phrase - "well rounded socialists". Excellent. I don't know who or what you speak of - I'm not saying that socialists shouldn't contest elections just now, just that it is extremely unlikely, if not impossible to achieve a socialist outcome from attempting to "convert" a capitalist state...the history of the Labour party from 1940 until Blair is a prime example.

I suggest everyone uses their vote while they can since the revolution is coming . I don't think I'm quite ready for the dictatorship of the proletariat, and judging by election results for the past (almost) 300 years, I don't think the rest of Britain is either. (By the way, we don't really have many poletarians left.)

I think you totally misunderstand the concept of "dictatorship of the proletariat"...that or you're doing it on purpose to ruffle my feathers. And I would disagree on the issue of who is a proletarian and who isn't. Most people would agree that service sector workers are definately not members of the bourgeoise anyway .

I have nothing against socialists (I am a liberal, each to their own), it's the idea that I don't like. Put it this way, I've worked hard (and still am) to get where I am in life. I am from a single-parent family, yet somehow (shock horror) I managed to do well at school and I'm currently doing quite well at university. Now I know I'll probably earn more than the average person later in life, and I'm prepared to pay my way and help those people who haven't done so well. What incentive is there if no one is rewarded for their hard work?

I accept that - I would say much the same about myself, apart from the single-parent part. But we live in a developed nation - minimun wage still puts you in the top 4% of the world for earnings. What about the large majority of the world's population who work a HELL of a lot harder than you could ever dream of and still live in dire poverty. In a way, the bourgeois/proletarian relationship is projected on a global scale - developed world is like the bourgeois, constantly exploiting and profiting from the developing world. This won't end whilst governments at the mercy of big business run the world.

This all depends on what you mean by "fair" - if fair is punishing people who have excelled in their chosen role, then I'm afraid I don't agree with you.

By fair, I mean that every single human being should be able to live in decent living conditions, have a secure and satisfying job and be paid for the work they do. Jobs should be assessed based on their necessity within society - not the expensive pricetag laid on their services.

And why then do socialists turn every instance of people being underpaid into propaganda for their selfish cause? Maybe if they spent more time and money (I know, that horrible "m" word) on improving things they would have more success. (I'm thinking of one so-called socialist with his own small political party, who never turns up for votes in the House of Commons.)

They use it because it ideally demostrates the theory upon which socialist is built. It's like asking "why do pacifists make a big deal everytime someone starts a war?" Honestly, duuuh.

Do you think socialist parties recieve large donations/payoffs/whatever they call them nowadays from multi-millionaires, huge MNCs etc? No they don't - because these people accumaulate capital only with the purpose and intention of furthering their own position - the buying out of the Labour party, for example.

This thread is not about the merits and shortcomings of socialism

It shouldn't be - I agree.

...and therefore I don't think it is appropriate to post propaganda posters.

I actually think they are perhaps more at home here than a discussion of the merits of socialism...but you're the boss .

PS, this is not a personal attack against you. I have read many of your posts and have found myself agreeing with you on a number of occasions.

Wellll, that's ok then!