Opinion time:
The United States has exported, using their control of media, a false understanding of the political spectrum on the vast majority of the population. This can be easily summarized as the left wing (what they call democrats) and the right wing (what they call republicans.) The common understanding is that the right wing appeals to family values, traditions, deregulating markets and maintaining things more or less as they currently are. The left wing is in favor of ending war, reforming drug laws, democratic implementations of socialist policies, and equal rights for the gay and transgender communities.
( I will note to avoid claims of 'conspiracy theory' that there is not likely a unified campaign to do this, but an ad-hoc one that has naturally formed over generations. The memes are very much alive and dangerous though.)
Neither of these approximations (which I believe a large majority of people hold to be self-evident and true depictions) is accurate to the current state of affairs in the United States. The democrats are a corrupt centre-right party controlled by Wall Street and multinationals. The republicans are a corrupt radical-corporatist party controlled by Wall Street and multinationals. There is a lot of profit to be made by making people fight over which Wall Street party to vote for, increasing apathy, and decreasing the plausibility of 3rd tier candidates (inevitably being smeared as leftist utopians or what-have-you) holding positions and bringing about effective change.
I want to be a centrist, but I do not want to be finding the golden mean between red wall street and blue wall street. I want to have pragmatic implementation strategies for the best ideas of the constituents, whichever ideology they subscribe to.
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Concentration of media ownership
https://en.wikipedia.org/
George Orwell, "Politics and the English Language," 1946
http://www.mtholyoke.edu/
The Century of The Self (Bernays Documentary)
http://archive.org/
Concentration Of Media Ownership In Canada: Bell Astral Deal Raises Concerns Among Consumer Advocates
http://
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Today, it has come up again, that there is some concern that the Pirate Party of Canada is not going to be able to toe the rhetorical line exported here from the United States effectively enough to hold on to both left-wing and right-wing voters. This is a matter of strategy that we should take somewhat seriously. There has been a history of infighting on this very subject, and I'd like to centralize the discussion on this thread.
I'll say I find this meta-discussion extremely frustrating because most people's understanding of the left/right divide is unequal, inaccurate, and tainted from continual exposure to biased media. The vast majority of all political ideas *ever* are considered "left wing." Net neutrality, intellectual property reform, respect for civil liberties (important parts of the international pirate platform) could all be easily slandered as "left wing" - and that's another thing that bugs me, that being accused of being a leftist is a type of insult, a type of attack, a type of de-legitimization. It's a conflation with drum-beating hippies, even though alleged leftists come in all types. Is Noam Chomsky a leftist? Is Rick Falkvinge a leftist for advocating unconditional income? Is Obama a leftist just because he supports gay marriage, even though he signed the NDAA, targeted drone strikes on US civillians, and has waged a war on whistleblowers?
There is no consistency to this left/right dichotomy rhetoric. I am convinced it is a tool used to divide and conquer by moneyed interests in the United States. Election 2012 in the US is going to be about gay marriage, despite there being an incredible amount of issues to be covered in the United States that get little or no TV airtime. For example, the Dodd-frank legislation's ineffectiveness at fixing Wall Street's corruption. The citizen's united ruling that said corporations can give unlimited political donations, and so on. The world is on fire, but the right/left dichotomy is used to assure we continue to talk about trivial social issues while the real issues of corruption, media bias and consolodation, limited access to information and education, and so on are swept aside.
When you look at history- civil rights, equality for women, equality for minorities, the 40 hour work week, overtime, vacation pay, and so on- are all causes that have improved our society that could be called leftist. Are 'rightists' in favor of keeping these progressive ideas because they are already established, or is true conservatism moving back? There is no consistant idea of how a rightist should react to these ideas. It would be classless to imply that all rightists want to bring back slavery, but somehow, due to media programming that we are all subject to, it's completely ok to imply that all leftists want to play bongo drums and drop acid all day.
This inequality particularly bugs me because it benefits the right-wing, which is where the corporate powers do some of their dirtiest work in the United States.
I am not a 'leftist.' I despise the term because of it's connotations. I consider myself a type of progressive centrist with a strong anti-news bias streak.
Progressive because I would like to move forward as a society for the better.
Centrist because I believe that there are multiple viewpoints to consider and consolidate when writing policy.
And Anti-News Bias because I hate the false dichotomies trumpeted by the US news media designed to divide and conquer, build apathy, and rake in huge profits.
Now that I am done ranting,
How can the Pirate Party of Canada remain bloc-neutral as we expand our platform? What areas of policy should we avoid? Should we be afraid of appearing too right-wing?
Personably i dislike the term Progressive as many people like call themselves. i consider myself progressive. i self-identify as Libertarian and a society that has as many civil AND economic freedoms as possible is a society i would like to live in. i think the problem is the fact that the "right" to many people is synonymous with "conservative" this is frankly not the case. their are 2 major factions in the "conservative" parties of both Canada and the USA. in The USA this is the split between the Tea Party types and the rest of the republicans. ( the tea party movement Imo is not a perfect movement as it is still conservative in many ways) in Canada it is the Split between the Conservatives and the Capitalists/Libertarians. (the Capitalists used to be in the Liberal Party up until the Liberal Party abandoned them in the Trudeau Years, kinda the shift from Classical liberalism [Libertarianism] and the avant of Neo-Liberalism) personably i believe this abandonment of the Liberal party of the true capitalists is why the conservative party is doing well today. (liberal Party moving increasingly "left" with Martin, Dion and Iggnatiff) so the Conservative party is the only party that was left that somewhat supports classical liberalism.
This Section of the conservative party i believe is rather large, and most card carrying conservatives i have ever met ( so yes personal Bias) would consider themselves to be in this faction. I believe this faction is the largest part of Canadian society that is currently looking for some party to vote for. they are tired of the Social Conservatism and Tyranny in the conservative party. they are tired of MPs having no say, they are tired of civil liberties getting destroyed by big business. they are tired of business monopolies ( remember capitalism means NO monopolies no matter who runs them) however these are the same people who hate taxes and restrictions on their businesses.
I believe the Pirate Party is in the very right place to Gain this segment of Canadian population. this segment who identify as right ( due to both the media in the USA and from things like the Political Compass (http://www.politicalcompass.org/index) who identify these people as both economically and Sociably Free.
The problem i have with any party is both ( copied from the Political compass commentary on the EU "in the western member states, however, the progressive abolition of economic restrictions seems generally to correspond to the extent of curbs on certain civil liberties. The most obvious example is the UK. But in other states, such as Denmark and the Netherlands, extremely liberal traditions in certain social policies have somewhat eroded as neoliberal economics have expanded" this does not make any since to me personably a party that is both free Economically and Sociably is the best. yes in Canada, UK apparently and the USA our liberties ( the things the Libertarians/ classical liberals who populate the conservative party value) are being eroded.
This is why i still Use the "left right Spectrum" as it is used by people to self identify where they are. The best Poli Sci Professor i ever had even used it (the political compass mostly) for his students so they can self identify using a proper system not a media influenced one.
To answer your questions.
To Remain Bloc-Neutral i think we should Appeal to the Libertarians, and Social Libertarians. essentially Moderate in any dealings with economics ie Taxes ( If new taxes, make them revenue neutral, ( ie if carbon tax, add it right at pump like GST, not at manufacturer AND cut income taxes)) and i think we should stay OUT of provincial Jurisdiction. ( Favoring Abandoning tax room so provinces can tax for themselves within provincial jurisdiction) ie in Education and health Care we should encourage national programs that are run by the provinces NOT the federal government ( maybe add funding to help them out but make the provinces take the majority of these costs)
I Think we need to watch the parts of the Pirate Party International goals that are non compatible with a Canadian Federal Party such as the goals of education and whatnot. and stick to areas of Federal Jurisdiction and encourage the Formation of Provincial Pirate Parties to cover the Pirate Party International Goals in Provincial Jurisdiction. Frankly we need a comprehensive platform and we need to talk about health care and education. but we need to talk to these things from a perspective where we respect and encourage the provinces rights and we only change these on the basis where federally we can change it ( such as copyright reform and how it helps schools and educational institutions) anything not federal we need to steer clear of.
I think we need to fear being too far right OR left. ( in the Political Compass Scale) we need to bring in Civil and Social Libertarians and Classical Liberal/Libertarian Capitalists. we will not succeed as a Bloc-Neutral Party without both these groups within our ranks.
I Made a Political Compass Chart where i think the Pirate Party should be In Canada ( without hard numbers and all that stuff. but i hope its close (I took the Other Parties from the Electopons 2011 Political Compass Map) )
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_liberalism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoliberalism
I think a lot of the uselessness of putting yourself on the political spectrum lies with key areas having switched around.
When the idea of a political left and a political right were coming into being interference in the economy was a right-wing idea while letting the markets decide was a leftist idea. Fast forward and its the opposite (except for a small exception I will get to). Similiarly political nationalism was for many years a leftist idea. Fast forward and it is the right that uses nationalist appeals the most.
Within Canada this has manifested as the Conservatives being the party of protectionism for a long time. Nation-building projects were also their purview.
A further problem with the political spectrum in my view is that the 'triumph of liberalism' of the 19th century has schewed it towards one ideology. Liberalism is so dominant that most conservative parties are just right-wing liberals (the Republican party falls into this category). This means that ideologies pushed aside by liberalism (toryism) or arose in opposition to it (socialism) are being described by a measure designed for different shades of liberalism.
This is evident in Conservative Party history. The Conservative has always had a tory element to it (hence the protectionist and national projects) which made it different from the Liberal Party. Tory ideology also tended to pull the party left. R.B. Bennett's New Deal, the party's shift left in the 1997 election, the continued moderation of eastern Canadian conservatives are all results of this.
In short the left/right divide is flawed for a lot of reasons.
I agree with a lot of what you guys had to say on these issues, when I have more time I`ll probably rant more, but I appreciate you guys sharing your viewpoints, as two people who have expressed concern about where we fit on the left-right spectrum in the past. :)
Yup, I think I'd agree with most of that. I'd also add that there are new political issues that weren't even considered when the terms were created (eg. the environment). I'm not saying people didn't care about it 100 years ago, but it wasn't framed in a political fashion the way it is now. It's gotten lumped into a left wing idea because the type of people who are in favour of protecting the environment also tend to be the people who are in favour of social services. I've heard some good arguments from more conservative people that the environment should be an issue of the right (by trying to use the market to solve the problem).
Tyler: The four point political spectrum is a definite improvement over the left/right divide, but I still don't like to focus on it. The main problem is that it ignores all the reasons behind where you fall on it. I think the reason why you value privacy laws or a free market are integral to what your real beliefs are. When we remove that from the equation you end up not being able to tell the difference between an anrachist and a libertarian.
The important thing isn't being central or centre-right or centre-left, it's just being Pirates. We should form our policies on what we think is right regardless of where it lands on the spectrum. Use logic and evidence to figure out what's best for Canadians (and the world, we shouldn't let nation state's convince us that it's okay to dissregard other humans because of where they were born on some imaginary line).
hmmm i agree but i think thing like the enviroment are also issues of the right. look at your local fish and game assoceations (in my opinion) mot of these people are conervative and oher right wing supporters. however they are alo at the forfront of conervation and enviromental conserns.
Oh i agree that the reasons are important. i jut think that once we become more populer Media is going to try and "Brand" us. and i think if they brand us Left. we will not get the conservative voters that may like Pirate Ideals, and simmilarly if they brand us Right we will not get Leftest voters. That Being said however i agree that being pirates and fighting for Freedom and Liberty and the right of people is the most important.
I think the pirate party has no problem sitting flat dead in the centre. I think both sides of the spectrum - left and right, have some good ideas. So why not have the pirate party sit dead in the centre, in order to benefit from both ideologies. Not only does it frame in the party in a sense that it is "block-neutral" but also allowws the party to be viewed as more "moderate". This would avoid the inevitable comments of the pirate being too radical, either right or left. Therefore, as a centrist party, the pirate party is able to grab ideologies from both sides of the spectrum, while also being slightly more moderate in its approach and not get deemed radicals. Just an opinion, but I think it's a good idea for the pirate party to head in that direction.