The New Socialism At Large
"Let us be a force for change in the world, a force for humanity in the world, a force for peace in the world, and a force that recognizes we cannot go on like this, with grotesque levels of global inequality, grotesque threats to our environment all around the world."
"Going back a lot further, there is a Jewish element in the family, probably from Germany."
"I go to churches, I go to mosques, I go to synagogues. I find the power of faith very interesting.
I have friends who are very strongly atheist and wouldn’t have anything to do with any faith; but I take a much more relaxed view of it. I think the faith community offers and does a great deal for people."
Jeremy Corbyn, newly-elected Labour leader, Britain
"Corbyn was very unwise. You want to be PM? Respect our Queen -- and sing the anthem."
"Whenever there is tension in Middle East it leads to anti-Semitism in our country. There are Jewish schools and synagogues in London which need round-the-clock security. I will have a zero-tolerance of anti-Semitism -- it's not acceptable in 21st Century London."
"The idea that a senior politician can condone terrorism is not me. Language is very important. If you are condoning acts of terror ... you are giving credibility to a view that is perverse and is wrong. Could it encourage others to commit similar acts? You're condoning when you should be unequivocally condemning criminal acts, yes."
"As Mayor I'll make sure we don't inadvertently give the signal that it somehow leads to good results. You can't do that [particularly dangerous in London, hit by IRA and Islamist terrorists]."
Sadiq Khan, Labour candidate for London Mayor
"At a time of mass income and wealth inequality throughout the world, I am delighted to see that the British Labour Party has elected Jeremy Corbyn as its new leader."
"We need leadership in every country in the world which tells the billionaire class that they cannot have it all."
Bernie Sanders, U.S. Democratic presidential candidate
The lunatic fringe has new acceptability. It was but a hop and a skip from the audacity of candidate Barack Obama in 2008 achieving a world first as the first mixed-race President of the United States and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate without ever having achieved anything to account for that honour. Since his inauguration as American President, Mr. Obama has led the United States into a long period of partisan dysfunction in Congress, and his actions have soured world opinion on American inaction.
His pursuit of 'peace' and 'stability' at any cost, including the cost of conflict and instability resulting from his administration's inaction on the world stage has set the roller coaster of radical left transition on its way. The younger generation in North America and in Europe has become enthralled with the prospect of activist socialism, which no longer carries the reputation of communist taint. "Those battles [of the Cold War] are now two or three decades old. For young people, this is barely known history", commented Richard Wolff, an economics professor at the University of Massachusetts.
"After years of Republicans complaining about Barack Obama being a 'socialist', Saunders is making clear just how moderate the incumbent administration is", wrote Rutgers University historian David Greenberg on Politico. But there is backlash in Britain that was immediate on Mr. Corbyn's accession to head Labour when eight Labour MPs declined to serve in Corbyn's shadow cabinet. His deputy leader, Tom Watson, distanced himself from proposals for a NATO withdrawal and nuclear disarmament.
Britain's dismal engagement with farming out national utilities to the private for-profit sector appears to have motivated a Corbyn promise to nationalization energy and rail companies. Peter Mandelson has declared that the party of New Labour faces "the fight of its life to remain a viable party of government." But there isn't condemnation from all quarters; Mr. Corbyn's win earned him congratulations from the left-wing governments of Argentina and Greece.
The socialist anthem The Red Flag has now made its boisterous and joyful reappearance under Mr. Corbyn's Labour flag: "Though cowards flinch and traitors sneer, we'll keep the red flag flying here!" So, is he a cranky old politico with some quite strange ideas, or is he not? He finds common cause with Iran in Holocaust denial. Though claiming he has some distant genealogical Jewish ancestry, he is no friend of Israel.
In fact, his revolutionary fervour turns him instead to Hamas and Hezbollah whom he counts among his 'friends'. Their explicit genocidal intentions haven't been a deterrent to his high regard for the two terrorist groups. Difficult to account for the kind of errant lack of attention to details that led to this man's elevation as head of a British party that has seen far, far better days.
Labels: Britain, Crisis Politics, Political Realities
posted by Pieface @ Monday, September 21, 2015
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