Is Corbyn a far left politician?

[Solomon1]

I can't remember...

 

...........

[Quik]

you need to ask? his personal views on most things should give an inkling

 

The poll is about the voters views on whether he is or not, vote away

[dangerousedd]

oh well probably a good job he wont be the labour leader at the next election since he's one of the regressive left and I wouldn't vote labour with him in charge.

[Anna B]

Corbyn is left of centre, but he is not a Marxist, Trotskyite, hardliner, or anything else extreme. In fact he is trying his best, in the face of unbelievable opposition, to represent the ordinary people of this country; are they all Marxists? Or Trotskyites? Of course not. They simply want to be listened to, and have someone with their best interests in mind, rather than the interests of the big Corporations and banks, or the self serving party officials.

 

He might of course blow the lid on their little games, croneyism and deals, and ruffle a few establishment feathers in the process, which is why they are so desperate to blacken his name and get rid of him.

 

Remember what they did to the other thorn in their side, the Lib Dems after they'd loyally served there usefulness...? They were another decent group of people who allowed themselves to be manipulated by the Tories and paid the price by being sunk without trace.

 

With the demise of the Lib Dems, there are a lot of moderate voters out there (I'm one of them,) who now have nowhere to go. That is the battle ground. They are traditionally in the centre or centre left, they believe in fairness, but would not want to go to the extremes of the far left. -So what do the Tories / establishment do? They try and make Corbyn look unelectable by putting it about by every means possible, that he's a rabid Marxist! Simples!

 

Most people are not that interested. They're too busy to do much more than read the headlines. The headlines invariably try to make Corbyn look like a raving Leftie.

He is not.

The media are very powerful on this game. As Malcolm X said, "The Media is the most powerful entity on Earth. They have the power to make the Guilty innocent, and the innocent Guilty, and that's power. Because they control the minds of the masses."

[unbeliever]

I've voted on the poll. I'm constantly complaining about right/left terminology, but I'm assuming that "far left" in this context means he wants a much bigger role for government, involving much higher taxes and nationalisation, and/or that he's an extreme pacifist.

 

Corbyn is left of centre, but he is not a Marxist, Trotskyite, hardliner, or anything else extreme. In fact he is trying his best, in the face of unbelievable opposition, to represent the ordinary people of this country; are they all Marxists? Or Trotskyites? Of course not. They simply want to be listened to, and have someone with their best interests in mind, rather than the interests of the big Corporations and banks, or the self serving party officials.

 

He might of course blow the lid on their little games, croneyism and deals, and ruffle a few establishment feathers in the process, which is why they are so desperate to blacken his name and get rid of him.

 

Remember what they did to the other thorn in their side, the Lib Dems after they'd loyally served there usefulness...? They were another decent group of people who allowed themselves to be manipulated by the Tories and paid the price by being sunk without trace.

 

With the demise of the Lib Dems, there are a lot of moderate voters out there (I'm one of them,) who now have nowhere to go. That is the battle ground. They are traditionally in the centre or centre left, they believe in fairness, but would not want to go to the extremes of the far left. -So what do the Tories / establishment do? They try and make Corbyn look unelectable by putting it about by every means possible, that he's a rabid Marxist! Simples!

 

Most people are not that interested. They're too busy to do much more than read the headlines. The headlines invariably try to make Corbyn look like a raving Leftie.

He is not.

The media are very powerful on this game. As Malcolm X said, "The Media is the most powerful entity on Earth. They have the power to make the Guilty innocent, and the innocent Guilty, and that's power. Because they control the minds of the masses."

 

I don't believe he does represent the interests of the "ordinary people".

I don't know if he thinks he does. He might think so. He's rather deluded if he does.

It's clear that the "donkey with a red rosette" crowd are keen on him, but they're not the "ordinary people". Or are they?

Is it circular? Are the "ordinary people" defined as the people who support Corbyn?

 

Perhaps Anna, you could explain what a Corbyn premiership would change and how that would be a good thing.

There have been plenty of opinions posted on here about what others think he would change that would be harmful.

 

Also. The Lib Dems were they're own undoing. Initially in government they decided to grow up. They supported what needed doing and asserted themselves as statesmen to help sort the country out. I was impressed and responded by becoming a member.

Then it all went wrong. They lost their bottle and spent much of their last year in government and especially the election campaign running away from what they'd done. They took responsibility for nothing and were therefore able to take credit for nothing.

Those such as myself who would have supported them for statesmanship didn't. Those who wanted more socialism had long since given up on them anyway. The rise of UKIP and the SNP did the rest.

It's not the fault of the Conservatives that many of those who abandoned the Lib Dems voted for them. They destroyed themselves.

Edited January 10, 2016 by unbeliever

[unbeliever]

There seems to be a kind of populist right-wing tabloid attempt to reclassify the likes of Hitler as hard left.

 

It's nonsense. Trust me, no academics are taking it seriously.

 

That's because "far right" is defined as such by such academics.

He was certainly a radical socialist (the clue is in the name). Most definitely a fan of big government. Not a huge fan of trade unions though.

[I1L2T3]

By Greek standards we'd all be raving capitalists.

By US standards we'd all be radical communists.

This is a about the UK. A nation's politics reflect its culture, traditions and circumstances.

 

Our rail infrastructure is already in state hands. The issue is over train operators.

 

There's a world of difference between non-proliferation and unilateral disarmament.

 

The French are at least as keen on military interventions as us.

 

It's very true it's about the UK and our shift to the right (cemented by Blairism) is what allows people to portray Corbyn as some kind of hard-left nutjob when the truth is he is very centrist by European standards.

 

This country has lost its way. Most people don't realise it yet or are only just starting to wake up to the reality. If you got kids be very worried for them.

[cassity]

He was certainly a radical socialist (the clue is in the name). Most definitely a fan of big government.

 

Most definitely a fan of HIS big government.

 

Not a huge fan of trade unions though.

 

Nor ethnicity, gender, sexuality, democracy et etc etc....

[unbeliever]

It's very true it's about the UK and our shift to the right (cemented by Blairism) is what allows people to portray Corbyn as some kind of hard-left nutjob when the truth is he is very centrist by European standards.

 

This country has lost its way. Most people don't realise it yet or are only just starting to wake up to the reality. If you got kids be very worried for them.

 

As far as the role of the state goes. It depends how you look at it.

Our welfare system is generous by European and international standards. In Germany and I think most of Europe, the able have to earn welfare.

The state almost completely controls healthcare here. Not elsewhere in Europe.

In France and elsewhere, large chunks of road network are in private hands. Not here.

 

We want government, but not in exactly the same places. There's no big disagreement on the size of the state, just the role.

Now when Corbyn comes along and advocates taking more things under the control of the state, without putting anything back... That's a big increase in the total role, reach and power of the state.

 

If somebody comes along and says that whilst guaranteeing universal healthcare, the system will be privatised (people of means will need to get insurance); but taxes will remain at current levels and the money spent on say nationalising public transport. Then that would be a different matter.

I'm not saying I would support it, but that would be a shift in the role of the state rather than an expansion of it.

 

You've not addressed my other 3 points:

Our rail infrastructure is already in state hands. The issue is over train operators.

There's a world of difference between non-proliferation and unilateral disarmament.

The French are at least as keen on military interventions as us.

Edited January 10, 2016 by unbeliever

[Vaati]

Several comments have been removed for either: off-topic, sniping, baiting or quoting others that were doing this.

 

Rather than troll etc. Either vote in the poll or don't. There isn't a need to de-rail the thread any further than what it was.

 

Any continuation and people are likely to find themselves suspended.