WHO do the political parties represent

Clearly an occupational hazard bearing the name daphne whatever.

That's fine! Know your enemy...and all that!

Jolly good! I hope you've reported posters who have been nasty to me in the past!

petra, Doing Latin doesn't help with making sense of the world (or much else for that matter).

(Would hate to go behind anyone's back)

I also have reported daphnebroon and daphnedill re their nastiness towards another poster.

Just saying.

daphneedill Any links on the Monster Raving Loony party ? As someone who never took Latin or economics I think this party is one that I could relate to.

Some people do reveal a lot about themselves and I have wondered if the likes of Trump's henchmen ever run a Google search and come up with our not very flattering comments - seriously.
It is not beyond the realms of credibility that someone has "got a little list, and there'll none of them be missed." So your "Spooks" may not be as far fetched as you thought!

It has also been known for comments, personal details etc on GN to be logged or even passed on to a third party . Ask Phoenix ???

Just hope there's nobody working undercover on GN! Be very afraid if people want your personal details .

Serious question! Does anybody know anybody who's ever voted for the Monster Raving Loony Party? I feel I've never taken it seriously enough.

Oops "omitting/taking the "p"!!
Apologies daphnedill

dahnedill I am confident Grace will see them off with her customary vigilance

I asked that question too
how do you define dumbed down" then? Fewer long words? Simplified soundbites? Tabloid headlines?
(I would feel insulted if that was all anybody thought I was capable of understanding)

And got the answer
probably yes to all of the above. If it is dumbed down, many more people can understand, not just the more able

Have you taken a look outside your house recently, Daphne?

PS. I have visions of us all wandering around like Lowry characters with the big, bad politicians pulling the strings and throwing a few crumbs from their tables. Maybe that wasn't what obie meant.

GCHQ!!!!!!

I must take a trip to Specsavers. I read GCHQ instead of GNHQ and wondered what DaphneBroom had done to merit a visit from the spooks!

Maybe obieone could explain exactly what she means by dumbed down politics to avoid misunderstanding.

Sun 14-Aug-16 13:40:47
Who was your post directed at Obieone?

I have been thinking a little more about your idea of dumbing down political information and it really is the saddest thing I have heard for some time. You appear to be saying you are happy to be ignorant in this area. At one time slaves were kept as ignorant as possible, then we didn't educated the servants or, indeed, the women. I really had thought we had got passed that particular view on the world. Which part of society would you apply this too? Obviously we do not all believe politicians are greater beings with whom the knowledge must reside, and some of us would like to be informed rather than ignorant in these area so what do you do with the upstarts who insist on knowing? Or have I got the wrong end of the stick entirely?

GNHQ assure me that they have been in touch with you.

I leave it all with them.

Add comment | Report | Private message obieone Sun 14-Aug-16 06:57:23
I have sent a report to gransnet. And about DaphneBroon too

Oh dear. Not a "favourable report "either I take it ?
I take it you mean you have reported a post. Can you tell me which one? Perhaps I didn't quite make myself clear.

Don't know where that "who website" came from, sorry! Maybe the penalties of posting in Waitrose cafe juggling a latte and a croissant.
Memo to self, "pay attention"!!

(Toute nation a le gouvernement qu'elle mérite.)
"Every nation gets the government it deserves"
Joseph Comte LeMaistre
This quote frequently misattributed to de Tocqueville and Abraham Lincoln among others, for me highlights our own responsibility to take some responsibility for who website for. Cross referencing with atticus's healthy living opinions (other thread) we can't just bumble along with our heads down and then moan when things go pearshaped. I won't pretend I necessarily follow the fine detail in a Budget speech, but it is possible to read the facts in a reputable newspaper the following day and learn how it affects the man in the street.
During the Referendum campaign a lot of tosh lies and misleading gobbledygook was spouted by both sides. If people took that at face value, they risked being misled, but when some of us praised a very clear and concise exposition on YouTube by a professor of International Law , we were pooh poohed by those who could "not be bothered to waste 20minutes" on hearing the facts.
I cannot think of many(any?) politicians I would trust unquestioningly with my money, my life, my family's future and we have had enough lessons from history (Germany in the 30's) and in other parts of the world today (the Trump campaign) to know that knowledge is power, and " dumbing down" is likely to lead to oversimplification, bias, or misrepresentation. It is too important for that.

I agree daphne , for some strange reason labour politicians must not be wealthy . I liked Sir John Mortimers reply when called a champagne socialist - I like champagne , as a socialist I want it for all

The roots of capitalism go back much further than Thatcher. It was first defined and described in the mid nineteenth century (by Marx and others), but it was already in operation for centuries before then. It's about private ownership of the means of production and making a profit. Before the industrial revolution, many people were what we would now call self-employed and scraped together enough money for subsistence.

Conservatism was (and still is, to an extent) about conserving the 'status quo', because it benefited the rulers not to initiate change. In the nineteenth century, the Whigs (Liberals) opposed the Tories, but they were still capitalists, although they wanted the of capitalism to be allocated differently.

I don't have a problem with Labour politicians and supporters becoming wealthy, IF they earn and deserve their wealth (not sure they do, but that's another matter). I find it a bit strange that people think that Labour supporters aren't allowed to be aspirational.

I think there was always a difference between Conservatism and Capitalism. It was during and after the Thatcher rule that one began to be interchangeable with the other imo varian

If the Tory party represents the wealthy, then that does not explain the overwhelming number of Labour politicians who are extremely wealthy indeed either before, during or since they were in power, the number who accept peerages, consort with wealthy friends etc, those like the present leader who comes from a wealthy family but whose parents were Labour activists but espoused conservative values eg grammar schools, etc.

If the Tory party represents the wealthy they would never be in power; in the main i think they represent the aspirational and those who believe that we need a sound economy to provide the services that the whole country needs.
Whether or not that is what they get is a moot point.