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CountScrofula · 41-45, M
Burnley123 · 41-45, M
@CountScrofula What do you make of the NDP divisions on that oil pipeline? I know its probably old news now.
CountScrofula · 41-45, M
@Burnley123 There's an election in Alberta right now. This is very much current news.
The Alberta NDP have basically gone full Blairite and betrayed pretty much any roots they had. I'm disgusted with the party, their craven embrace of the oil industry, and a lot of the shitty stuff they've done that too inside-baseball to bother with. The only real climate change measure they've come up with is a carbon tax, which is a conservative "let the free market" decide idea which pisses people off with limited environmental impact. Unhappy.
The federal NDP have a mildly better environmental stance but they're milquetoast and useless. They had a huge surge in 2011 but collapsed in the next election and exist as a kind of meagre social consciousness. There's no real ties to true left ideas or labour.
The Alberta NDP have basically gone full Blairite and betrayed pretty much any roots they had. I'm disgusted with the party, their craven embrace of the oil industry, and a lot of the shitty stuff they've done that too inside-baseball to bother with. The only real climate change measure they've come up with is a carbon tax, which is a conservative "let the free market" decide idea which pisses people off with limited environmental impact. Unhappy.
The federal NDP have a mildly better environmental stance but they're milquetoast and useless. They had a huge surge in 2011 but collapsed in the next election and exist as a kind of meagre social consciousness. There's no real ties to true left ideas or labour.
Burnley123 · 41-45, M
@CountScrofula I read Klein's book This Changes Everything and I'm sure you have. I gather that the Leap manifesto has been adopted in theory but not in practice. I read a bit about the NDP leader and he reminded me of Ed Miliband. Someone on the soft left and out of his depth who tries to be all things to all people but ends up alienating everyone. Its a shame.
One of the problems the left has everywhere is that we absolutely need the unions but a lot of big unions have jobs tied up in shitty industries. The conservative end of the Labour movement then frames it as aloof hipster radicals acting against the working class. Okay, but if the planet is fucked, that is bad for the working class too (said sipping on my latte and reading the Guardian).
We have to replace these industries with eco-friendly ones. It's not even a choice.
One of the problems the left has everywhere is that we absolutely need the unions but a lot of big unions have jobs tied up in shitty industries. The conservative end of the Labour movement then frames it as aloof hipster radicals acting against the working class. Okay, but if the planet is fucked, that is bad for the working class too (said sipping on my latte and reading the Guardian).
We have to replace these industries with eco-friendly ones. It's not even a choice.