Very few traditional conservatives would, I'd imagine, view things like allowing abortion and gay marriage as conservative values.Quote:
Originally Posted by anthonyvop
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Very few traditional conservatives would, I'd imagine, view things like allowing abortion and gay marriage as conservative values.Quote:
Originally Posted by anthonyvop
I have no doubt that there are a few private schools which deliver a far superior education on several levels. The key word in that sentence is "few". I ask the question of who the economy is intended to serve and indeed what the point of nationhood is? If a country is only intended to serve a few people, then that's fine I suppose but I wouldn't really think that such a country is noble.Quote:
Originally Posted by keysersoze
I would also suspect that a privately run mail service would entirely fail to carry mail to places where it was unprofitable to do so; why should it?Quote:
Originally Posted by keysersoze
I'm also convinced that an American state-run telecom would run inefficiently. I've been convinced for a long time that Americans are incapable of running properly funded government.Quote:
Originally Posted by keysersoze
Australia privatised its national telco in 1996. Telstra had plans to build a fibre-optic network across the country delivering services which it thought would be important in the future (which with the benefit of hindsight are now ubiquitous). Once it was privatised, the plans to build the National Fibre Optic Network were abandoned.
Cue 17 years later, Telstra never built the network and Australia went from being ranked 2 in terms of telco service to 21 out of 34 first-world countries (according to the OECD). The National Broadband Network which the Federal Govt announced in 2009 basically fulfills the function which private enterprise failed to do.
These days I don't even claim to lean closer to any specific party or thoughts on politics. Much like many things I just think for myself and don't care what category anyone using stereotypes might put me in.Quote:
Originally Posted by BDunnell
Who would want to be a politician? Being a beacon of hope is not what it's cracked up to be: BBC News - Aung San Suu Kyi: From icon to political player
hmm to have a political inclinations is a strong question as i dnt have much knowledge aout the politics other than just voting for the netaas
but you see ignorance towards politics leads to a very bad situation in a countey economic wisw and ofcorse law-vise for these two things really affect one a lottttt.
a wrongly elected politician or a party can lead to avery good or a BAD country for which we will be the one to suffer
but neways i think all the politicians are corrupt except few but the fews are nt ablreto make much differecnce for the whole cause of cheat or scam the politicians cause
I hd never voted up to the last election as I didn't believe in any of the parties. However, I don't think it's a case of choosing who you want in but rather who you don't so I voted Conservative.
So, rather than saying what Paty I believe in, I'm going to touh on a few areas where I would make changes if I was in Power.
I am a firm beliver in reducing the size of Government and the Public sector. It creates jobs for the sake of it and a class of people that will always vote for a party that guarentees to keep them employed. I like employment but can't see the point of frivioulous employment for the purpose of having a job without actually producing or achieving anything.
So, I would take a huge swipe at the Civil Service, encourage (strongly) people to get off benefits, make the NHS much more fit for purpose instead of it trying to be a cash strapped, mediocre jack of all trades and take a fresh look at the Military. I will probably explain more as the thred develops.
As for social issues, I would take power away from Government to make every decision of our lives. People should have autonamy to run their lives as they want as long as it conforms to social acceptance. For example, we have Town Centres dying because people shun them for large, out of town retail centres. Well, hang on a minute. Why is local government obsessed with charging through the nose to park and enforce a draconian parking policy to penalise people. Much better to have more open parking policy, with little enforcement apart from tradittional traffic wardens penalising people that park illegally (double yellows and blocking roads). This way, it makes sense to visit town centres and if you abuse the Law of the road, youre nicked.
Abortion, smoking, drinking and other drugs; let the individual decide. It's personal choice and if you want to throw your life away by chasing dragons, then it weeds you out of the gene pool.
Keep bans on Guns and holding knives etc and if people are caught, bang them up. No messing about but a minimum 1 year with Hard Labour without any treats (TV, Playstation, Pool etc) for the first half of a sentence to punish them and then if they conform to the regime, they earn the right to a rehabilitation program that includes education, victim awareness and a positive, supported release program to help you back to the community and into a guarenteed job. If you don't conform to the regime, then keep them there until they do. I want prisons to rehabilitate people rather than just get them off the street for a period.
I would also implement a work fair policy to get people off long term benefits. You would get a maximum 6 months on benefit in a 3 year period on full benefits. If you haven't found a job in that time, you would go on a work program for a maximum of 30 hours per week to allow you time to find a job. The work would be in your local area collecting litter, gardening and mowing council land and the elderly. Assisting in Nurseries nder professional guidence to provide cheap childcare for parents wanting to work. Anything that benefits the community they live in and that supports them. I would also drop the 30 hours a week to 15 if they partake in back to work training but people need to contribute if they receive benefits instead of having no value associated with this support. If you don't conform, you lose your benefit.
I have loads of other ideas but I'll let the indignant pull these ideas apart and answer them before elaborating :D
Are you able to cite specific examples? It's all very easy to make such statements, but very often difficult to back them up with genuine cases of people whose jobs are actually worthless — an accusation that's often quite offensive to the individuals concerned.Quote:
Originally Posted by Knock-on
Furthermore, I would far rather retain most of the public sector jobs you deride than the low-paid, often temporary ones the private sector, which has proved itself time and again no more capable of running public services than the public sector, has created in recent times. This has enabled the Government to trumpet the role the private sector is playing towards economic recovery, ignoring the nature of the jobs being created.
How can one define 'social acceptance'? This is a dangerous road down which to go.Quote:
Originally Posted by Knock-on
And why has this happened? Not because of car parking, but because of the free market, in which I assume you believe. This is an essential contradiction in your point of view. If you want a free market coupled with a light touch by local authorities, you're going to have out-of-town shopping centres and a related decline in town centres — and this is before one even considers the changes in shopping habits, again brought about by the free market, that have contributed to the downfall of many long-established high street shops.Quote:
Originally Posted by Knock-on
Much better still to encourage public transport use and end the dependancy many people have on cars.Quote:
Originally Posted by Knock-on
Well, the individual can decide already on abortion, smoking and drinking. On drugs I tend to agree with you about decriminalisation.Quote:
Originally Posted by Knock-on
So do I, but the sort of prison you suggest is not, I believe, the answer. We seem obsessed in the UK with the notion of toughening prisons up, when there is little evidence that this approach pays off. Indeed, examples from overseas suggest quite the reverse.Quote:
Originally Posted by Knock-on
Workfare only benefits the employers, not the employees — it's cheap labour under a different name. Making benefits dependant upon participation in such schemes is not appropriate on those grounds alone, quite apart from all the others. I think we should be focusing on creating the conditions in which proper jobs exist rather than forcing people into menial, low-paid ones. Only then will the problem — if it is a problem; of this, despite the deliberate efforts on the part of sections of the media and certain politicians to demonise those on benefits, I am not convinced — truly be solved for the longer term.Quote:
Originally Posted by Knock-on