|
Speaking of the stupidest moral panics of the month, I found a thing that reminded me of only much much better.  That's how you build interesting worlds without obsessing over an alien child's genitals, and would be fun for adventures targeted to young people too (as well as being the sort of thing that Pratchett would have been all about). I like the anarcho-alchemist goblin communes. e: 208 years ago a large vat of porter owned by Meux's Brewery in London bursts, killing 8 people and demolishing several buildings. Guavanaut fucked around with this message at 23:47 on Oct 12, 2022 |
#
?
Oct 12, 2022 23:44
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 25, 2024 03:20 |
|
|
Halisnacks posted:If Starmer is in power and -
|
|
#
?
Oct 12, 2022 23:45
|
|
|
One could be into the authoritarian, security state part of New Labour project while also wanting a high tax, high investment, redistributive state. Like, the inverse of a Lib Dem I guess.
|
|
#
?
Oct 12, 2022 23:47
|
|
|
Halisnacks posted:I also would prefer if Starmer never became PM, but the idea of Truss winning a general election would be more insufferable IMO. Insufferable or hilarious? Nobody has effectively destroyed the economy as rapidly and effectively as Liz.
|
|
#
?
Oct 12, 2022 23:48
|
|
|
This suggests the existence of a halfling who got his lower ribs removed to suck he own dick. And the existence of a halfling uncle who works at Nintendo
|
|
#
?
Oct 12, 2022 23:50
|
|
|
 Halisnacks posted:Like, the inverse of a Lib Dem I guess.
|
|
#
?
Oct 12, 2022 23:54
|
|
|
Halisnacks posted:One could be into the authoritarian, security state part of New Labour project while also wanting a high tax, high investment, redistributive state. Like, the inverse of a Lib Dem I guess. I don't think keir starmer is secretly stalin in an ill fitting skinsuit.
|
|
#
?
Oct 12, 2022 23:57
|
|
|
forkboy84 posted:Insufferable or hilarious? Nobody has effectively destroyed the economy as rapidly and effectively as Liz. As the Official Threat Brexit Voter© I would be remiss to not say that acceleration being the "worst outcome" is in fact not the worst outcome. Source: my liver
|
|
#
?
Oct 12, 2022 23:57
|
|
|
OwlFancier posted:I don't think keir starmer is secretly stalin in an ill fitting skinsuit. idk Stalin also purged all the worthwhile people and brought the union to a humiliating outcome due to that
|
|
#
?
Oct 12, 2022 23:58
|
|
|
I wouldn’t support the policy programme, but I don’t think: ID cards, CCTV, ASBOs, 90-day detention + the economic elements of Corbyn’s 2017 or 2019 manifestos = Stalinism.
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2022 00:01
|
|
|
Halisnacks posted:I wouldn’t support the policy programme, but I don’t think: ID cards, CCTV, ASBOs, 90-day detention + the economic elements of Corbyn’s 2017 or 2019 manifestos = Stalinism. look at this fool who doesn't think that Corbyn is literally Hitler + Stalin
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2022 00:02
|
|
|
OwlFancier posted:I don't think keir starmer is secretly stalin in an ill fitting skinsuit. Yeah, Stalin didn't despise the poor
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2022 00:06
|
|
|
forkboy84 posted:Yeah, Stalin didn't despise the poor tbf I don't think Starmer does either, he just dislikes the uppity ones and yes the racial connotation is absolutely there
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2022 00:11
|
|
|
Halisnacks posted:If Starmer is in power and - lol if you think centrists are going to look at the collapsing economy and blame it on anything other than not being neoliberal enough
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2022 00:16
|
|
|
Julio Cruz posted:lol if you think centrists are going to look at the collapsing economy and blame it on anything other than not being neoliberal enough *snorting a huge amount of what is perfectly legal and not suspicious flour* what if we means tested the means testers of benefits
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2022 00:19
|
|
|
There are definitely windsock centrists, they were the ones that shifted to or stayed clear of Corbyn. Prescott, thornberry, miliband, Burnham. The thing is that they aren't shifting with the country or the material conditions, they're shifting with the leader. The Westminster bubble is real and the problem with it here is that those politicians can't shift with the country even if they wanted to, they have no idea what it looks like and no contact with it. The people who lied while refusing to follow campaign direction or sabotaged the disciplinary process to make Corbyn look bad or weaponised Brexit to come after him, they won. They're the people setting the tone. They picked starmer and have him on a short leash.
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2022 00:24
|
|
|
Nephthys posted:*Let's be honest, it would probably just cause the cretins in charge to go even further to the right like lemmings. and you think this won't happen if Starmer gets in and then is completely unable to improve things?
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2022 00:25
|
|
|
Starmer is a bit of an empty suit. He's just a bland fuckwit for the usual establishment cunts to wield like a 13-year old reading The Times - he's more grown up than you, can't you see that? Do I think Labour can win the next General Election, even with Starmer in charge? Yes, they can. They're already putting out some actual policies - the ones they've carefully nurtured, like a 13-year old reading five pages of instructions on 'Caring for your cactus'. The problem is that Labour can really only win the next General Election if the Tories go into it with the dregs still in charge. No-one actually thinks that Labour gives a poo poo about the lower 75% of earners, so if the Tories can find someone willing to pretend to go to bat for the poor, Starmer is hosed. The media will jump right back on Team Tory and write up every briefing memo they've received from the Tories about Keith flip-flopping on policy: "He says he supports workers, but he publicly confirmed his opposition to strikes 34 times!!!" etc etc etc And I doubt your regular voter will find the rest of the centre-right of Labour any more palatable. They're all beige cunts and don't even have the votability of being overtly racist, sexist, misogynistic or contemptibly rich.
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2022 00:30
|
|
|
Julio Cruz posted:and you think this won't happen if Starmer gets in and then is completely unable to improve things? I think they'd be less right-wing than the tories who are actively torching the country right now to loot the ashes. If theres a better alternative then I'm all ears. An alternative that isn't just accelerationism and spite that is.
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2022 00:35
|
|
|
Halisnacks posted:I wouldn’t support the policy programme, but I don’t think: ID cards, CCTV, ASBOs, 90-day detention + the economic elements of Corbyn’s 2017 or 2019 manifestos = Stalinism. I'm being flippant, sorry. What I mean is I don't really think starmer has any left wing economic inclinations whatsoever. Like he appears to be actively opposed to it which is why he won't under any circumstance approach nationalizing the catastrophic mess that is the energy sector, and is explicitly looking for market solutions to the problem. Even when they have what I have to imagine is historically low levels of support among the public. A remotely capable leader would use this as an excuse to do something, anything with it, but he hasn't done that, all he's proposed is setting up green energy subsidies through a government body, painted a big union flag on it and told everyone it will solve their bills being high while trading off the idea of nationalized industry while very explicitly not going anywhere near it if you actually look at what they're proposing.
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2022 00:38
|
|
|
Rarity posted:Centrism isn't about veering whichever way the wind is blowing, its about not going any further right than we are right now 
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2022 00:43
|
|
|
The problem with accelerationism is I don't believe that the results in the end, after all the pain, would be worth it. The UK would still exist as a medium player within the global free market structure and major pressure would come from everywhere to re-establish the capitalist order we have now in a slightly different configuration that looks different but isn't. It might be a bit better, eventually, but I'm not convinced that whatever gains could be made by going the collapse-rebuild route would be any greater than incrementalism, and the incrementalism at least has the potential advantage of not causing a complete collapse and hundreds of thousands of deaths. It's easy to get pissed off and defeatist about it but even as bad as things are, they could easily be a lot worse and it wouldn't be a good time. I suppose I think if there is a fundamental shift in global hypercapitalism, it's not going to start in the UK. It's too entrenched and subservient at this point, and the culture just isn't there. I would vote Labour if I was in England and there were no leftist parties around, but maybe even if there were and the tories stood a good chance in that seat. I'm not English though so I have the luxury of being able to vote SNP basically just on the independence issue because that is the one thing that feels like a hopeful future, there would be something new after that, a chance. Maybe I'm being naive because I don't know what it would actually look like, but I imagine something better than this, where Scotland being as tiny and unimportant as it is, would have more latitude to create a happier and more equal society than the UK. roomtone fucked around with this message at 00:50 on Oct 13, 2022 |
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2022 00:48
|
|
|
OwlFancier posted:I'm being flippant, sorry. What I mean is I don't really think starmer has any left wing economic inclinations whatsoever. Like he appears to be actively opposed to it which is why he won't under any circumstance approach nationalizing the catastrophic mess that is the energy sector, and is explicitly looking for market solutions to the problem. Even when they have what I have to imagine is historically low levels of support among the public. A remotely capable leader would use this as an excuse to do something, anything with it, but he hasn't done that, all he's proposed is setting up green energy subsidies through a government body, painted a big union flag on it and told everyone it will solve their bills being high while trading off the idea of nationalized industry while very explicitly not going anywhere near it if you actually look at what they're proposing. I don’t think Starmer is a stealth leftist. But I do think it’s possible that his lack of doing anything bold, including on energy, probably says more about his electoral strategy - be as boring as possible, and let a Tory implosion allow him to sleepwalk into being PM - than it does about his politics. I’m not convinced he really has a politics. The vibe I get from the guy is that he wants to be near or in power. That’s why he served in Corbyn’s shadow cabinet (while a real rightwinger would not have), that’s why he made those pledges to get elected, that’s why he later scrapped them. It’s lovely that the leader of the Labour Party might have no values, but I do think it’s preferable to a true believer in neoliberalism - especially if public opinion continues to shift to the left. Halisnacks fucked around with this message at 01:33 on Oct 13, 2022 |
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2022 01:31
|
|
|
Except he... isn't doing that. Again that policy is clearly trading on perceived radicality, while being an utter damp squib if you look at it in detail. That isn't what you do if you want to appear boring, that's what you do if you want to actually do nothing but still appear interesting enough to vote for. I don't think the takeaway should be that this is somebody who is hiding their flexibility, I think the takeaway should be that this is someone who has for whatever reason, a real aversion to radical change but is trying to thread the needle between outright lying and appeasing the demand for change.
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2022 01:34
|
|
|
The idea that the Labour leadership are windsocks without sincere convictions who can be persuaded to adopt left-wing policy rather falls apart when you look at how deeply, insanely far right their shadow chancellor is (remember her campaigning on removing democratic representation for disabled people, or her recent comments about how Suella Braverman should be deporting refugees into slavery faster?), and when you look at how their supposed concessions to the left have been so carefully calculated to do gently caress-all except funnel more money to shady private companies. They're not clueless, they're deliberately and maliciously mendacious with a very specific ideological bent, and they will not be significantly better than the Tories because they genuinely believe in the same policies and have consistently sought to disenfranchise the electorate rather than change them. Christ on a bike, people, it's been two years. You'd think folks would have noticed by now that they're genuinely fanatical in their hatred of democracy and of any policy right of Osbornomics.
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2022 01:34
|
|
|
Yeah I am genuinely being charitable here because I just generally assume that the world operates on systems and habits more than capital I Ideology, the more cynical interpretation is that starmer is an out and out piece of poo poo in exactly the same vein as the tories. And there's certainly plenty of evidence in his cabinet and history to support that reading.
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2022 01:38
|
|
|
Starmer is a contemptible worm. He sickens me.
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2022 01:43
|
|
|
I’m willing to bet Reeves is a true believer. She is baleful. I honestly just think Starmer wants to be PM. He also would have quite liked being in Cabinet to PM Corbyn. This guy can’t articulate a vision for the loving life of him. I’m just trying to have a shred of optimism that this might be better than if he had. well-articulated neoliberal vision. I actually think the threat of a Labour government is less that Starmer is PM enacting his vision, but that he is PM enacting the vision of Reeves and the rest of the Labour right. Though that is probably what will happen, of course.
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2022 01:47
|
|
|
Diet Crack posted:Hey Gen-Z, go gently caress yourselves.. WTF? That's as bad as the fash stealing the OK sign, a cartoon frog and some other inocuous thing people do that I can't remember but was probably akin to the way some people (including self) say "Cheers!" as "Thank you" in shops etc. We use the thumbs up a LOT at work. We've got outlook and if someone sends an information email or an email that's basically a 'just do it' and doesn't require a response, we use a thumbs up to indicate we've received and noted the contents (we're a very small org so just about everything is cc'd to everyone) rather than perpetuating an email chain. Guavanaut posted:
It was certainly bad when I tried to master third position on the violin which I was bloody useless at but the parentals forced me to take violin lessons at school which required me stepping out of class on a rotating half hour basis every Thursday, and as I had the same teacher for double French & double English on a Thursday he hated my guts and wrote "An indifferent term's work marred by sporadic absence" on my report which had the parentals on my case until I informed them it was their bloody violin lessons they forced me to take which I didn't want to do and hated that was the cause of the absences. Jaeluni Asjil fucked around with this message at 03:35 on Oct 13, 2022 |
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2022 03:28
|
|
|
I'd say I change my mind on almost a daily basis regarding whether or not I vote Labour in the next election. On the one hand: I hate the current iteration so much. They're such pathetic losers, Diet Tory wankers who will implement policies like small business loan relief for 2 years if you're a full time carer who graduated uni in the past 5 years and are under the age of 30. They will be just as craven with the media, just as slimy with donors, and boring for them feels like a reward for their cuntery. And yet. Johnson-style Tories freak me out a bit, because they have fully and completely let the mask slip. It's clear that they've realised, there are no consequences for us, everything is about decorum and nothing is put in writing, so let's just be brazen about our corruption, take every penny we can without caring about running the country into the ground and destroying the environment in the process. Right now, I'm leaning towards holding my nose as tightly as I did when I was first learning to swim, and voting Labour. Starmer is such a chump that I feel there is a slim chance that he can be bullied and focus grouped slightly to the left, whereas with the Tories there's zero chance. I look at America: when Biden was the candidate I was pissed. I thought he was exactly the wrong choice to face Trump, that he'd do nothing progressive, that Harris would exert too strong a law-and-order influence, and that he'd do nothing of note to help anyone but rich donors. But, he seems to have done at least SOME good, especially recently. Seeing that has changed my tune on the current Labour party. I feel like if the Tories can get in and shift right, then maybe just maybe, if Labour gets in they might be bullied into shifting left.
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2022 07:16
|
|
|
is it too soon for you to go back to boris and if it isn't, would it be a step up or down
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2022 07:22
|
|
|
Tijuana Bibliophile posted:is it too soon for you to go back to boris and if it isn't, would it be a step up or down Apparently Truss’s meeting with Tory MPs last night was such a catastrophe that they are now openly discussing bringing Boris back as the only viable option. So yeah it’s definitely on the table.
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2022 07:30
|
|
|
Setting aside the usual "generation polls are almost exclusively PR agency guff to promote something", "the quotes are from Reddit", "this is the Daily Mail", "generations in general are useless most of the time", "who the gently caress named them Zoomers", "remember when Milennials were soft boys ruining the world" etc.... We're in a weird spot where a very small minority of Zoomers are in their 20s and become the vocal quotes in stories mocking the younger generation, but the overwhelming majority are teenagers and younger. Soom Zoomers are still 10 years old. If you ask any group of teenagers their opinion on something, it is and always has been pretty loving stupid. There's probably no short supply of Zoomers in their early 20s who – due to a combination of always available internet, being broke, and spending 2 years indoors due to a global pandemic – aren't as socialised as you'd expect for their age and share some of those weird teenage social views. They'll be fine, probably no different to the generation before in 10 years, apart from being a bit less accepting of nonces (shout out Bloc Party and The Strokes, still ducking that expose) and general bigots.
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2022 07:34
|
|
|
People get sick of right-wing neoliberals in government so they elect liberals who do nothing to actually change the material conditions of people’s lives, they just do it with a nicer facade and less naked corruption. Then they get sick of the liberals so they elect right-wing neoliberals who do nothing to improve the material conditions of people’s lives but are more open about sticking it to [insert scapegoat here]. This is how the politics of the developed world has gone for the last 45 years, and how it will continue to go when Starmer becomes PM. It’s not eternally tenable and eventually (probably sooner rather than later) we’re gonna have to choose between socialism or barbarism and from his actions of the last couple of years I can tell you that there’s no way Starmer plumps for socialism.
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2022 07:35
|
|
|
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2022 07:42
|
|
|
I will never vote for Keith Starmer's 'Labour'.
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2022 07:57
|
|
|
Have some Nick Clegg news... https://gizmodo.com/clegg-meta-executives-identified-in-onlyfans-bribery-su-1849649270
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2022 08:13
|
|
|
You'll never guess which newspaper granted editorial space to Jacob Rees-Mogg. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/oct/13/green-energy-guardian-reader-growth-net-zero-liz-truss-jacob-rees-mogg I’m maligned as a ‘green energy sceptic’. I’m not. Dear Guardian reader, here’s what I think Jacob Rees-Mogg Thu 13 Oct 2022 06.00 BST It is always intriguing to see my own views through the lens of a newspaper refracted away from what I think. Although I am no admirer of Extinction Rebellion, I can assure Guardian readers that I am not a “green energy sceptic”. I am in favour of intelligent net zero in which green energy will play the biggest role. I’m proud to belong to a country that has cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 40% since 1990, while growing the economy by over 70% in that time. It is in this light that we can achieve our commitments to net zero by 2050, as dark satanic mills are replaced by onshore and offshore windfarms. But if the green agenda does not provide economic growth, it will ultimately not have political support and it will be self-defeating. Getting the British people on board with net zero requires us to demonstrate that we can go green in a way that makes them better off, not worse off, that drives growth instead of hindering it and that stimulates investment and innovation rather than driving traditional industries to the brink of ruin. The effect we have had on energy-intensive industries increases carbon emissions as we import more from abroad while destroying high-paid jobs in the United Kingdom. There are ways to make this work which the country is adopting. Consider the Contracts for Difference scheme. This programme has grown to support a bountiful range of renewable energy sources, from onshore wind to offshore, solar power to tidal and from remote island wind to energy production from waste – all while bringing down costs and growing the economy. The drive to produce up to 50GW of offshore wind by 2030 means that this sector alone should grow to support 90,000 jobs. The scheme has successfully overcome demands for upfront capital and settled uncertainties for generators navigating volatile wholesale prices. It has spurred £90bn of investment in renewables since 2012 and contributed to a five-fold increase in electricity generation from renewable sources over the decade. The latest auction round last year secured 93 new contracts for 11GW of renewable generation capacity – enough to power 12m homes. In 2010, renewables accounted for a mere 7% of the UK’s electricity generation. Programmes such as Contracts for Difference mean that renewables now meet about 40% of our needs, reducing our reliance on authoritarian regimes such as Russia and strengthening our domestic energy sector. The war in Ukraine has thrown into sharp relief the need to rapidly increase our domestic energy supply and strengthen our energy security, from all forms of renewables to nuclear and our domestic oil and gas reserves, which are of course significantly greener than shipping liquefied natural gas from overseas. Advertisement That is why our recently announced growth plan will accelerate the delivery of major infrastructure projects including onshore and offshore windfarms. This plan will also boost the UK’s nascent hydrogen industry, which will work in harmony with the renewables and gas sectors alike. The government will also align onshore wind planning policy with other infrastructure to allow it to be deployed more easily in England. We understand the strength of feeling that some people have about the impact of wind turbines in England. The plans will maintain local communities’ ability to contribute to proposals, including developing local partnerships for communities that wish to see new onshore wind infrastructure in return for benefits such as lower energy bills. We are exploring options to support low-cost finance to help householders with the upfront costs of solar installation, permitted development rights to support deployment of more small-scale solar in commercial settings and designing performance standards to further encourage renewables, including solar PV, in new homes and buildings. We also need to focus on another key part of our energy infrastructure, reinforcing the grid so that renewable electricity can be transported to homes and businesses all over the country. Grid connection can often be on the critical path for getting new renewable infrastructure online, which is why I am committed to significantly reducing timelines for building new network infrastructure. But in exchange for the unprecedented support that is being offered to renewable energy companies, they must charge consumers and taxpayers a fair price for the energy they produce. By separating the price of renewable energy from the most expensive form of production, which today is gas, and moving these companies on to Contracts for Difference, the government is providing the renewables sector with long-term stability and a sensible price that is fair to the industry and consumers alike. The energy prices bill, introduced this week, will strengthen energy security and stop Putin holding our energy policy to ransom. It also has the potential to save billions of pounds for British billpayers, without deterring essential investment in low-carbon generation as we progress towards net zero. Given the stakes, it’s important that the public debate on net zero and energy security is robust and lively, but I hope my commitment to making it a reality is clear.
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2022 08:22
|
|
|
Labour in opposition "actually the rent freeze was our idea, and we'd have done it sooner and better." Labour in government. https://twitter.com/WalesPolitics/status/1580258374666850304?t=E3NmX0vnem82uYSSHgyExQ
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2022 08:25
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 25, 2024 03:20 |
|
|
Entitled Zoomers with their dialysis machines and oxygen concentrators need to spend a few hours without electricity.
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2022 08:28
|
|