Build your own political party

Who'd a thowt it! Stefan Shakespeare in the Observer peddling the hoary old crapola about Big Brother and TV voting and Pop Idol and how that has something to teach us about democracy cockfarmerish shite. I ready my handkerchief as I feel i might need to weep for the future some time soon.

When we did Nation States last year I became a Capitalist Utopia.

anyway yeah.

big government to control britain's finances

universal wage cap somewhere between &50,000 and £100,000 p.a.

government to consist of
2/5 elected representatives from local areas, chosen by consensus vote in mass gatherings
2/5 randomly selected citizens (who have opportunity to reject offer) (choice MUST be random)
1/5 specialist experts, chosen by remainder of government

decisions reached by consensus after organised forums and debates

gov't CAN grant extra funding to citizens who need more for projects that are deemed worthy but they must be deemed worthy by a majority

successful artists granted prestige and possible nomination to hugely powerful arts council, artists in it for the money alone give up and leave the rest of us be

proceeds from successful art exceeding wage-cap go to arts council/3rd-world charity/local gov't depending on artist's choice

successful businesses are allowed a huge pot of money, but no employee is

the power lies with those who choose what to do with the money but they are no richer than most of the rest of us

community ideals - children brought up to mingle across social divides, evening clubs, weekend activities, supervised by adults

unemployed adults remunerated slightly more if they assist in the upbringing of community children

however, gov't to eradicate poverty by supplying benefits to ANYONE below poverty-line

technology to be encouraged

humanist contentment to be prized

there's more iirc but let me think on it

everyone is essentially a nice person that will do their best, if they are only given the OPPORTUNITY

Arts are too important in your manifesto. i feel excluded already from your elitist view of the future.

xpost

None of the above, really. Soz.

we can meet halfway, though

Neutering of neglectful parents.

No vote for convicted criminals.

Public beatings in town square after mass to replace ASBO's.

seriously though- 3-4 paragraphs on 'arts' and one mention of education (giving you the benefit of the doubt that it's covered by 'technology to be encouraged') = crazy society.

You have to remember that

a) you need votes

b) this country has got next to no manufacturing base any more and like all countries is at the mercy of large multinational corporations who can control the supply of cheap imports and jobs

c) wealth = status = still a huge motivator for large swathes of people, rightly or wrongly

d) those who already possess wealth and power are not that into voluntarily letting any of it go

e) the Free Market system looks doomed as natural resources begin to escalate in value/scarcity

oh PUBLIC TRANSPORT to become universal, tough climate laws to outlaw over-use of cars or excess carbon footprints

however, overwhelming reduction in imprisonment - entire mentality shifted away from crime discourse

offenders are tried in courts and if found guilty are either BRANDED (controversial but I think interesting, esp in cases of rape or child abuse) or given COUNSELLING

or, better still, they are SHOWN before MASS GATHERINGS OF ENTIRE LOCAL COMMUNITY and DENOUNCED. then they are given basic poverty remunerations and told to get on with living like a proper citizen.

D-MAC i was writing all that down in the order i'd thought of it - arts are not that imp't - i was just thinking of how people might find themselves earning too much due to public consumption

there's way more

education to be state-funded obv and abilities to be mingled, however, teaching from earliest stages to assume far higher intelligence than it currently does WHILE being a lot more fun and practical

rich folks can bugger off imo this is a socialist state now

oh and this will hopefully apply to europe as a whole at some point - i am very internationalist. it will act as one country, trade-wise.

decisions reached by consensus after organised forums and debates

Okay, no consensus is reached (expansion of nuclear power stations, for instance) - what then? Someone has the casting vote?

no consensus is reached = motion does not go ahead

slow progress is the only way this will work

motions can be re-tabled after new evidence

also fuck a nuclear

or, better still, they are SHOWN before MASS GATHERINGS OF ENTIRE LOCAL COMMUNITY and DENOUNCED. then they are given basic poverty remunerations and told to get on with living like a proper citizen.

So, the only penalty for a professional thief is that the have to stand in front of the class and say that they've done wrong?

Well, that's the point. Already, you are setting yourself up as the ultimate arbiter of decisions - not very socialist now, is it?

i was in a crown court as a career burglar was sentenced. it was clear that there was no way back into society for him. he has been in and out of jail. no jail at all is the answer. give him the poverty benefits, denounce him and expose him, and instruct companies to employ better security personnel

the ultimate arbiter of decisions is parliament consensus! perhaps a majority vote will win certain issues. an overwhelming majority will win all.

technology to be encouraged

steady on!

personal fortunes of criminals to be re-housed with their victims, in cases of irredeemable theft or injury

absolutely uncontrollable criminals to be reluctantly institutionalised

HARRY REDKNAPP in charge of the England team with MATTY TAYLOR captaining the side

ULVER on Page Three of The Sun

o god

holistic approach to bumpaddling academies

tax credits for people who hop to work

or, better still, they are SHOWN before MASS GATHERINGS OF ENTIRE LOCAL COMMUNITY and DENOUNCED

have you ever heard of restorative justice? stems from a similar impulse but more civilised, not like a 500 yr old barbaric throwback.

mine are the crude ramblings of someone who will mouth off now and streamline later, so i will investigate

branding is still very interesting IMO, as i say for rapists and child abusers

they get their own fancy logo?

hang on, restorative justice is basically what i've been advocating

yeah, a big letter R on the forehead and both cheeks

or a big CM

balaclava sales to drop thru the floor

Presumably these are some sort of water-soluble brands that can be wiped off with a soapy flannel if some sort of miscarriage of justice were to occur?

Or you just get a new face on the NHS?

technology will enable branding that can be medically reversed, but only upon acquittal, and only by incorruptible expert personnel like the doctor in face/off but without the whole being coerced by evil faceless nic cage bit

basically it will be a highly complicated but eminently possible, the reverse procedure

the branding will be cosmetic, and be applied under anaesthetic. it will not be done with a red-hot thing

please stop now

what's your big idea for future britain then

you stopping now

let a man dream, also perhaps engage w/ points or leave thread and pretend it is not there

Uh, a dude having CM on his face will not stop him robbing.

he's got the CM for child molestation tho

D-MAC i was writing all that down in the order i'd thought of it - arts are not that imp't

the order stuff occurs to you is important, i think.

however, overwhelming reduction in imprisonment - entire mentality shifted away from crime discourse

offenders are tried in courts and if found guilty are either BRANDED (controversial but I think interesting, esp in cases of rape or child abuse) or given COUNSELLING

or, better still, they are SHOWN before MASS GATHERINGS OF ENTIRE LOCAL COMMUNITY and DENOUNCED. then they are given basic poverty remunerations and told to get on with living like a proper citizen.

you better have a hell of a budget for security, if this isn't satire. because lol vigilantes.

i'd kinda like to explore the idea that victims of a previously convicted and released criminal should be able to pursue the state, or even better the professionals that advocate their release.

I used to know a thief who had the word "bastard" tattooed on his forehead. Did not stop him being a thief. Or getting caught every time.
"Yes, officer, I would recognise him again, he had "bastard" tatooed on his forehead".

TS- The outlook that:

Everyone is fundamentally decent when treated fairly, and that everyone can agree what 'fairly' constitutes.

vs

The society probably isn't gonna suit you all that well the whole time, but there are minimum standards of social behaviour that you will nonetheless observe, under threat of force from society if necessary.

but when the tattoo is applied by the state against their will, and instead of glorifying their crimes merely states them...

d-mac that is an interesting point, and as i say, people who refuse to tidy themselves up will be institutionalised. everyone needs to be given a chance, though.

i'm just trying to work out some principles here, sb if you like

if you offered trotsky the sb option i'll wager he'd have taken it- don't knock it son.

i'm just saying that the branding is a moral deterrent, and a means of bringing justice upon them via discretionary social ostracism in a far more fitting and visceral manner

btw vigilante attacks upon the branded will be treated as any attack upon a citizen - and i did not say that i would eradicate jail completely

however, vigilante culture will not be such a pressing force in peoples' thoughts. there will be more trust in the state. and in each other.

also the order i say things in is the order i remember them in, stop being judgemental

'art' can mean anything which one's skills allow one to create, which is then obtained by others

i'm just saying that the branding is a moral deterrent

can't see that, i really can't. have you ever met a 'pwoppa nawty' person? social ostracism isn't high on the list of things they tend to worryabout (you can argue whether that's caused by learned attitudes from youth onwards in an unfair society or otherwise, maybe). they usually lack the imagination.

Yeah, In my opinion if you want to reduce recidivism you need to address the social conditions that create it because naming and shaming doesn't work v. well on people who don't see their crimes as shameful.

addressing the social conditions is like the FIRST thing i am thinking about here. the whole 'united consensus society w/o poverty and w/ across-the-board social interaction' thing. the above criminal measures are the last resort; i want to create conditions where people just don't consider crime as a way to get ahead

Arguably you wouldn't get the same kinds of crime in yr Utopia, tho, so I would worry about how you build it first.

That's the main problem here I think, you have kind of Utopian ideals which are actually not that dazzling or attractive either. The unbearable difficulty of real politics is to think about how you get from the world as it is to the world as you envision it, without cheating by imagining people suddenly changing the ways they behave or existing centres of power suddenly evaporating for no concrete reason.

i would start with encouraging wholesale the mingling of kids, both with each other, and with adults, from an early age, and across social strata

in a supervised and controlled environment, where they are taught selflessness and consensus

Just abolish the licensing laws and be done with it.

If you enshrined the rules of round-buying in law we'd have a socialist paradise by 2030.

education/upbringing reform and a large randomly-selected faction of governance are the two things i really really believe in, and the things i would push

lol matt, policy to be decided by 'shotgun'

Like crowds, drugs, and love, alcohol can befuddle the most lucid mind. Alcohol turns the concrete wall of isolation into a paper screen which the actors can tear according to their fancy, for it arranges everything on the stage of an intimate theatre. A generous illusion, and thus still more deadly.

Something really struck me while John Major's one-time spin-doctor gave us one of her Public Administration lectures. First she argued against proportional representation using the BNP argument, which is bullshit, because when these bastards are faced down in the arena of parliament, when they are given full representation and found to be unpopular with most all of Britain, that is when they can be buried. But the thing that really hit home was when she argued against random governance 'because really, who would want to be ruled and have decisions made by someone who eats fast-food and watches soap-operas and doesn't care about the workings of government'.

And I thought 'oh shit woman you've nailed it'. Actually, I thought 'what the fuck you Tory cunt' but this was quickly eclipsed by the sudden burning desire for random representation.

Alcohol is dangerous and its cultural impact shd be lessened fwiw

No I was actually advocating deciding monetary policy while in the pub.

arguments for and against what she said, but the glaring one is that people are gonna be disinterested in the workings of governments that think that way about their citizens

but i'm not for random picks for government, while allowing that it's maybe an improvement on the current system.

the xpost conclusion is on point. not even sure she said that bit about the workings of government but it was implied. definitely mentioned soap-operas.

i am not suggesting that it is ALL random, just about 2/5 of it

Someone should let that woman know how the trial-by-jury system works in this country.

this is a woman whose political apotheosis was spin-doctoring john major's 1997 campaign

i.e. the easiest but most complacently futile job in the history of politics

not to stereotype but she was the kind of r->w speech-defected dowdy dark-blonde type that is basically played to perfection by that particularly ineffectual character ("tittytwat!") in the thick of it series 1

How is yr state-sponsored mingling a) going to be enforced, and b) be ensured to be a positive and non-cliquey experience for all concerned so that nobody stands with their mates in the corner, nobody is (intentionally or otherwise) dickish/patronising/diffident to anyone else, no stereotypes are reinforced, all social barriers crumble, etc?

(I speak as someone whose only two social modes around strangers are "patronising" and "diffident", btw, which is why I felt it necessary to underline their inclusion in the rainbow of dickishness as things that could be taken home as evidence of People Like That Are Dicks Like This)

Start young. Very young. Teach tolerance from the word go. Always encourage everyone and tell it like it is. The time is entirely dedicated to socialising with others. Clubs, activities, they can come into play after the first few years. But there should still be universal fora.

I'm not sure what would happen to this country first, revolution or invasion.

invasion, then poppage, obvs

How is yr state-sponsored mingling a) going to be enforced, and b) be ensured to be a positive and non-cliquey experience for all concerned so that nobody stands with their mates in the corner, nobody is (intentionally or otherwise) dickish/patronising/diffident to anyone else, no stereotypes are reinforced, all social barriers crumble, etc?

L0uis you really should visit America. It would be a very eye-opening experience.

Why, is America more like this?

LOL! ... Or read up on American public school systems, or something.

oh wait, america is dick-making

knew this was going to be an LJ revive

xp - from my experience, education with a broad spectrum of class backgrounds and ability levels is a tricky thing to pull off. The cliquishness, etc. is the way it works out socially, and curriculum ends up catering to the lowest common denominator.

my political party involves the legalization of marijuana and the required ownership of "buckingham/nicks"

More than anything, this makes me wonder what LJ's education was like.

http://www.horrornews.net/lists/_top10_mostdisturbingmovies/salo.jpg

(xps) Yeah, I was thinking partly of American studies showing that white kids in a school with almost no non-white kids are actually more likely to have a close non-white friend than at a more evenly mixed school, where cliques form by race and don't get broken out of (which surely applies to more social boundaries than just race)...

...and partly of hearing abt mixed school initiatives in Northern Ireland actually being greeted with suspicion by Catholics as an enforced mixed school is a de facto Protestant school (insert yr own State vs Group Which Is Traditionally Not Much Represented By State dichotomy here)

...and some other anecdotal reflections on Schools' Days Out as a kid etc (also I come from rural smalltown where there aren't many minority groups to turn up for our education anyway)

spelling things out = lame, sorry, but good luck to you, as I fear some innate human instincts are working against you on that point, and will take more than regular tea parties to iron out

good luck to you, as I fear some innate human instincts are working against you on that point, and will take more than regular tea parties to iron out

yeah, that's pretty much how i see it.

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— wife materia (@sa_da_tay) November 7, 2018