Surprised none of our lefties mentioned this.

[darmstadt]

If in 1946 you had turned around and said that in 50 years we will have a centralized European parliament who have a say in British affairs and it is a good idea you would have been hung from a lamppost and pitchforked.

Those people knew what they were fighting for.

I don't think so somehow

[Old Greg]

I agree, it will be a factor, as every nation houses some racists.

For it to be a significant factor, however, significant numbers must hold those views and you would still be implying those attributes apply to a large section, if not all of the English electorate.

So, are you saying it was a significant factor, or merely some useless throwaway comment, used to try and impress your colleagues?

Significant factor for a significant section. Otherwise underestimation would not be a problem.

[vwdan]

If in 1946 you had turned around and said that in 50 years we will have a centralized European parliament who have a say in British affairs and it is a good idea you would have been hung from a lamppost and pitchforked.

Those people knew what they were fighting for.

I dunno - I reckon my Polish grandfather who never saw a single person of his family again, and spent the war chasing the Fascists around various parts of Europe with the rest of his tank crew would have favoured the prospect of peace. But I don't know, because I don't claim to speak for him and he never spoke of the war.

[JohntheBike]

Lefties and Nazis

Can any one tell me the difference between Stalin and Hitler? They both had a good try at exterminating those they didn't like.

[NotAllThere]

Can any one tell me the difference between Stalin and Hitler? They both had a good try at exterminating those they didn't like.

Hitler targeted certain people groups for murder. Stalin did to an extent, but largely his mass murder was quota driven - e,g, 10% of the people are traitors, so 10% of the people go to the camps. 20% of the doctors are traitors, so 20% of them go to the camps.

If you were aryan and kept your head down, you'd probably be alright under Hitler. Under Stalin, no-one was safe from extremely arbitrary detention, torture, death, the gulag.

[JohntheBike]

Stalin and Hitler

Hitler targeted certain people groups for murder. Stalin did to an extent, but largely his mass murder was quota driven - e,g, 10% of the people are traitors, so 10% of the people go to the camps. 20% of the doctors are traitors, so 20% of them go to the camps.

If you were aryan and kept your head down, you'd probably be alright under Hitler. Under Stalin, no-one was safe from extremely arbitrary detention, torture, death, the gulag.

so not a lot of difference between left and right then?

[WTFH]

so not a lot of difference between left and right then?

When you get to the extremes, no. Which kinda makes you think about what the OP is really saying.

[JohntheBike]

Left or right

When you get to the extremes, no. Which kinda makes you think about what the OP is really saying.

which brings me to the conclusion that there are only two states, extreme and not extreme. I guess most individuals will have some extreme views which might not be classed as right or left.

[NotAllThere]

so not a lot of difference between left and right then?

It depends what you means by "left and right". Consider politicalcompass.org's graph here:


Hitler's economic policies were neither right nor left wing. Stalin's were definitely left - planned economy and all that.

[OwlHoot]

It depends what you means by "left and right". Consider politicalcompass.org's graph here:


Hitler's economic policies were neither right nor left wing. Stalin's were definitely left - planned economy and all that.

What an absolutely ridiculous diagram. Thatcher is way too far up, and should be next to Friedman.