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The Forum > Article Comments > Why the left is afraid of itself > Comments

Why the left is afraid of itself : Comments

By Aidan Anderson, published 10/9/2015

The very real possibility that a politician from the left will assume leadership of a mainstream political party has sent British commentators into hysterics.

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Perhaps you're right, Tristan, in the old Soviet Union, there was a highly stratified 'party vs non-party system', whereby highways lanes were reserved for Party members. Not sure if that ever happened in the US. I've heard that Putin now has a dozen or so fabulous palaces. Do you reckon he might have more than Obama ?

As an aside, I get a kick out of this notion (that I'm sure Corbyn will flog) of the 99 % against the evil 1 %: I suggest that it might be more of a matter of the top 50 % (MINUS the evil 1 %) trying to rally the bottom 50 % to, as usual, fight its battles for them. I suspect that every revolution has actually been along those lines: the professionals trying to rally the lumpens against the evil plutocrats, to fight and die for them, and for their manifest destiny of more efficient rule.

Sorry, Tristan, as a sort-of-Marxist, I still tend to see things in class terms. You suggest that Corbyn is al old-fashioned social democrat - like Tony Benn, I suppose, people who learn nothing from experience, as the world goes by, and doesn't ever come back, for the convenience of social democrats.

Joe
Posted by Loudmouth, Sunday, 13 September 2015 12:32:59 PM
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Loudmouth,

Cameron's previously announced his intention to step down before the next election.

A democratic socialist (such as Corbyn) is quite different from a social democrat.

While the most confident Conservatives will no doubt be rejoicing, I expect more of them to cautiously watch the opinion polls.

One thing in Corbyn's favour is he appears to be a consensus seeker rather than trying to lead from the front.

Where did you get the idea that Anti-austerity means 'we shouldn't ever have to pay our bills!'? Austerity in the current economic climate is just stupid: it shrinks the economy for no tangible benefit. In Eurozone countries (which are forced into it) it REDUCES the ability to pay future bills. But Britain is financially sovereign, so has the ability to pay the bills whether or not it implements austerity. Individual debts must of course be honoured, but there is no sensible reason to aim for a position of no debt.

I expect the government's chances at the next election will depend largely on whether they manage to advance the economy to the stage where austerity does become a sensible policy (that is, where the private sector is strong enough to pick up the slack). They haven't managed it in five years, largely because austerity hindered their progress.
Posted by Aidan, Monday, 14 September 2015 2:05:05 AM
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