Ed Miliband accused of 'socialism'

[BrilloPad]

The more Ed says he is going to control the more and more he will have to control.

This is why centrally managed enterprises and states fail in the end.

And so does democracy in the end. People vote for an easy life that's unsustainable.

[doodab]

And so does democracy in the end. People vote for an easy life that's unsustainable.

This is a problem. The political classes might be able to persuade some people to agree to radical medicine that would actually benefit everyone but the majority refuse to take it until it's watered down to the point of uselessness.

OTOH the Swiss system seems to have worked very well for a very long time. Perhaps what we need is a better form of democracy where people are more engaged. I think if they were more engaged they would be more inclined to educate themselves properly on the issues they were dealing with and so might be more inclined to vote for the "right thing".

[BrilloPad]

This is a problem. The political classes might be able to persuade some people to agree to radical medicine that would actually benefit everyone but the majority refuse to take it until it's watered down to the point of uselessness.

OTOH the Swiss system seems to have worked very well for a very long time. Perhaps what we need is a better form of democracy where people are more engaged. I think if they were more engaged they would be more inclined to educate themselves properly on the issues they were dealing with and so might be more inclined to vote for the "right thing".

Most in the UK think the right thing is cheap beer and a flat screen TV to watch the football on. Which they get.

Though I would rather live anywhere than Switzerland. Its soooooo boring.

[doodab]

Though I would rather live anywhere than Switzerland. Its soooooo boring.

If you like the outdoors (snowboarding, mountain biking etc) it can be pretty exciting. They do go to bed a bit early though.

[BrilloPad]

If you like the outdoors (snowboarding, mountain biking etc) it can be pretty exciting. They do go to bed a bit early though.

If you like eating cats its not bad either I suppose. And that directory of who owns which numberplate is quite good - so if you see a bird you fancy driving round you can pop round to her place later.

[tomtomagain]

And so does democracy in the end. People vote for an easy life that's unsustainable.

I don't agree with you. Democracies provide the space to challenge the status-quo and to make changes.

They are noisy and messy and take time to get to the right solution, but what other system would you rather have?

[d000hg]

I hardly see discussing the idea of de-privatising certain services as being especially controversial. Neither privatising everything nor having the state run everything are good ideas so you'd expect the line to be constantly moving depending who is in power and how society is leaning at any given time.

[DodgyAgent]

I hardly see discussing the idea of de-privatising certain services as being especially controversial. Neither privatising everything nor having the state run everything are good ideas so you'd expect the line to be constantly moving depending who is in power and how society is leaning at any given time.

You pull out the best dynamics of both ideologies and then work them into a manageable solution. Unfortunately most people see handling of former state and now private monopolies as political symbolism.

[d000hg]

As a firm capitalist, which things do you think should be run by the state out of interest DA? I assume you would agree some services don't really fit a capitalist model?

[vetran]

As a firm capitalist, which things do you think should be run by the state out of interest DA? I assume you would agree some services don't really fit a capitalist model?

I think lots of services should be effectively regulated by Government. Not sure there isn't a place for privatising many services in part or whole but we should ride them hard!