When you write a critique of something, remember that unless you also outline a clear alternative with some decent argument to back up why this would be better - you are just a big whinger with nothing positive to contribute.
In my experience, the biggest whingers are generally also the biggest hypocrites - religious homophobes secretly cottage, smug wealthy ecologists fly on exotic holidays, welfare bashers immorally dodge their tax responsibilities, etc etc.
When I argue for electoral reform, or the end of drug prohibition or defend freedom of speech etc, I hope I back it up with a detailed alterntive and why I think it would make a significant improvement. Anything less is just the politics of fear that the right-wing thrive on.
It is always tempting to exagerate your case when it is so difficult to get heard in a sensationalist media that drowns out sensible debate, but the temptation has to be resisted if we are to truly get our message across.
Hang about here - Nulab have mastered the art of 'the politics of fear'. This is not exclusively a Tory thing.
ReplyDeleteWhat's more frightening - all these made-up MMGW scenarios or the commonsense view 'there is bugger all we can do about the weather'?
Mark: We fundamentally disagree here. As I have argued before,it doesn't matter who is right on MMGW - what matters is that reducing pollution and carbon emissions will improve our quality of life regardless of whether it affects the weather or not.
ReplyDeleteAs it happens I do believe the mainstream scientists and their scientific evidence that we do affect the weather but doubt we have time to make much difference unless we use carbon capture and space station reflectors. Considering that CO2 is a greenouse gas and that we can seed clouds to reduce or induce rainfall - it isn't a massive leap of faith to imagine that adding billions of tonnes of CO2 to the atmosphere could increase temperatures by a degree or two. Like I say, it doesn't matter who is right anyway, it is prudent to improve our environment.
OK, we disagree on MMGW.
ReplyDeleteThat was just to illustrate the point that Labour have mastered the politics of fear, e.g. in the 90 day detention debate (or however many days it is this time) in HoL recently, all of a sudden some Labour peer said there were 2,000 plots/groups being monitored.
FFS, if that were true, why don't they just bloody go out and arrest them all and charge them?
Yes, the Tories do this as well e.g. saying that "the countryside is being concreted over" every time somebody wants to build a house, and both major parties are guilty of this "cannabis drives you mad" nonsense, but my point still stands.
Mark: "Labour have mastered the politics of fear"
ReplyDeleteOh, come on! I admit that Labour may have attempted it, but they are not in the same league as right-wing parties like the Tories - who have a massive media machine in most homes to push their message.
I mean, Tony Blair could on occasion have a fair stab at it and sound sincere but Gordon is hopeless - he should give it up - it will never curry favour with the right-wing press or voters.
"why don't they just bloody go out and arrest them "
Because they haven't got enough evidence? Even you must realise that people commit crimes and get away with it if we have not gathered enough evidence (which can be difficult to do).
Finally Neil we agree on something! Merry Xmas to you and your family by the way.
ReplyDelete