Since the Donald Trump thread has got masses of posts I thought I would copy-cat with one of my own...
What is the appeal of Jeremy Corbyn?
For those who don't know: he is a scruffy looking 66-year-old member of the Labour party hard left, he has no-experience in political office except his 32 years in parliament, his policies involve finding many many billions in extra taxes (from somewhere or other) to spend on just about anything you could think of, except defence and nuclear weapons. He would really rather like to quit NATO, and the EU, and get rid of the monarchy, but it's likely that none of these will be actual party policy (maybe the NATO one...)
All of his ideas are far from the political consensus advanced by the "serious people" in big UK political parties and respectable newspapers.
That's probably why he's just won the Labour party leadership election with 250,000 votes (60% of the total) beating 3 other candidates.
Myself, although I am a leftist, and young, and political and nerdy, (allegedly his core demographic) I don't find him really appealing. Or rather I think I understand his appeal, because to me it seems like the same as Nigel Farage, Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump...
To me Jeremy Corbyn seems to have won people over by going out there and fearlessly telling his electorate exactly the kind of thing they want to hear. He doesn't seem ambitious (he was pushed into the race by his friends in an "it's your turn" fashion without expectation of winning.) He's a familiar social type - the beardy North London lefty with a bicycle and a vegetable patch - that people either find charming or unbearable. After years of centrist compromise politics people are in a mood for "principles, no matter if we win or loose..."
The problem I have with this kind of thing is that it makes 20% of the public love you, but completely alienates most of the remaining 80%. I don't really want a politician who will tell me what I want to hear - I want someone who will tell me a workable plan that will serve the interests of a majority of the country, that doesn't involve outright attack on the interests of rest. What I fear is that increasing inequality and cultural divergence has made building an election winning consensus for my kind of social justice - the kind where you shift 3% of GDP from private to public consumption - impossible (for the next decade at least.)
What do people think?
Is the meaning of Jeremy Corbyn as fascinating to think about as the meaning of Donald Trump? Is his win inspiring for supporters of outsider candidates in other countries and other parties? Or is he just sui generis, or sadly irrelevant?
The Appeal of Jeremy Corbyn
What is the appeal of Jeremy Corbyn?
For those who don't know: he is a scruffy looking 66-year-old member of the Labour party hard left, he has no-experience in political office except his 32 years in parliament, his policies involve finding many many billions in extra taxes (from somewhere or other) to spend on just about anything you could think of, except defence and nuclear weapons. He would really rather like to quit NATO, and the EU, and get rid of the monarchy, but it's likely that none of these will be actual party policy (maybe the NATO one...)
All of his ideas are far from the political consensus advanced by the "serious people" in big UK political parties and respectable newspapers.
That's probably why he's just won the Labour party leadership election with 250,000 votes (60% of the total) beating 3 other candidates.
Myself, although I am a leftist, and young, and political and nerdy, (allegedly his core demographic) I don't find him really appealing. Or rather I think I understand his appeal, because to me it seems like the same as Nigel Farage, Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump...
To me Jeremy Corbyn seems to have won people over by going out there and fearlessly telling his electorate exactly the kind of thing they want to hear. He doesn't seem ambitious (he was pushed into the race by his friends in an "it's your turn" fashion without expectation of winning.) He's a familiar social type - the beardy North London lefty with a bicycle and a vegetable patch - that people either find charming or unbearable. After years of centrist compromise politics people are in a mood for "principles, no matter if we win or loose..."
The problem I have with this kind of thing is that it makes 20% of the public love you, but completely alienates most of the remaining 80%. I don't really want a politician who will tell me what I want to hear - I want someone who will tell me a workable plan that will serve the interests of a majority of the country, that doesn't involve outright attack on the interests of rest. What I fear is that increasing inequality and cultural divergence has made building an election winning consensus for my kind of social justice - the kind where you shift 3% of GDP from private to public consumption - impossible (for the next decade at least.)
What do people think?
Is the meaning of Jeremy Corbyn as fascinating to think about as the meaning of Donald Trump? Is his win inspiring for supporters of outsider candidates in other countries and other parties? Or is he just sui generis, or sadly irrelevant?
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