Great wisdom and guidance from an intellectual humanitarian. It's time for Scotland to forge its own socially motivated future and ditch the likes of Labor, which as Tariq outlines has sold its soul to big business and its own clandestine career opportunists. Please share this everyone and get talking to your community about the clear benefits of independence.
Although Tariq made many good points, I was disappointed during most of the video in thinking that he wasn't going to mention the fact that Scotland has A DEMOCRATIC ELECTORAL SYSTEM (i.e. a form of proportional representation for the Scottish parliament). However, he finally mentioned it about three minutes from the end, which is great since the audience would be more likely to remember it. This to me is key, since I am a socialist (as indeed Tariq is) and to me whether Scottish independence is a good thing is primarily based on whether it makes a very democratic form of socialism easier to achieve. [In my view, such socialism needs to have a government elected by PR, though workers in an industry or service (as well as users, borrowers/savers in banks, etc.) should have a say in how it is run, rather than nationalised companies having the same boards as when they were privatised, or having all members appointed by the government.] The fact that the Scottish Parliament uses a form of PR, in contrast to Westminster where a small proportional of seats are marginals where voting makes any difference, and people tend to vote tactically due to the winner takes all (FPTP) electoral system, makes socialism much easier to achieve in Scotland than the UK as a whole (with socialism or moves in that direction quickly spreading across Europe and the world). I do think that extraparliamentary activities such as strike waves (including general strikes) and direct action play important roles too, and the far left party Syriza's leading role in them were a big reason why they came top in the May Euro elections in Greece. A broad socialist party like Left Unity (that I'm a member of) would only really stand much of a chance of leading a struggle for socialism in the UK as a whole if an even more severe economic crisis than the 2007-8 credit crunch took place (which would hit Scotland too anyway), and it is better not to put all our eggs in one basket...
The 'Chinese capitalism' he talks about is actually closer to socialism, which is advocated by the RIC, than capitalism. What he's talking about is the control of the economy by the state, which is a left-wing/socialist idea and in complete opposition to free-market, capitalist ideals. I mean, the clue is in the fact that China is a socialist country. But indeed he's right when he says that main stream politicians will not oppose this merging of state and business. In any case, be careful what you wish for, socialists.
Great wisdom and guidance from an intellectual humanitarian. It's time for Scotland to forge its own socially motivated future and ditch the likes of Labor, which as Tariq outlines has sold its soul to big business and its own clandestine career opportunists. Please share this everyone and get talking to your community about the clear benefits of independence.
This convinced me to vote yes.
Great video, thanks for the upload.
Great Speaker> it was an awaking listening to Tariq Ali.
Thanks for uploading this video, greatly appreciated :D
So so glad I accidently found this Lecture.
Cheers for the upload.
Brilliant! I'll share it!
Vote Yes!
grateful for the upload!
Good luck!! from India
very informative lecture by mr ali
nothings worth winning without a fight
Although Tariq made many good points, I was disappointed during most of the video in thinking that he wasn't going to mention the fact that Scotland has A DEMOCRATIC ELECTORAL SYSTEM (i.e. a form of proportional representation for the Scottish parliament). However, he finally mentioned it about three minutes from the end, which is great since the audience would be more likely to remember it.
This to me is key, since I am a socialist (as indeed Tariq is) and to me whether Scottish independence is a good thing is primarily based on whether it makes a very democratic form of socialism easier to achieve. [In my view, such socialism needs to have a government elected by PR, though workers in an industry or service (as well as users, borrowers/savers in banks, etc.) should have a say in how it is run, rather than nationalised companies having the same boards as when they were privatised, or having all members appointed by the government.]
The fact that the Scottish Parliament uses a form of PR, in contrast to Westminster where a small proportional of seats are marginals where voting makes any difference, and people tend to vote tactically due to the winner takes all (FPTP) electoral system, makes socialism much easier to achieve in Scotland than the UK as a whole (with socialism or moves in that direction quickly spreading across Europe and the world).
I do think that extraparliamentary activities such as strike waves (including general strikes) and direct action play important roles too, and the far left party Syriza's leading role in them were a big reason why they came top in the May Euro elections in Greece. A broad socialist party like Left Unity (that I'm a member of) would only really stand much of a chance of leading a struggle for socialism in the UK as a whole if an even more severe economic crisis than the 2007-8 credit crunch took place (which would hit Scotland too anyway), and it is better not to put all our eggs in one basket...
Brilliant.. be good to see Tariq on some debates and question time, or this week, love to watch him tie Andrew Neil up in knots.
The 'Chinese capitalism' he talks about is actually closer to socialism, which is advocated by the RIC, than capitalism. What he's talking about is the control of the economy by the state, which is a left-wing/socialist idea and in complete opposition to free-market, capitalist ideals. I mean, the clue is in the fact that China is a socialist country. But indeed he's right when he says that main stream politicians will not oppose this merging of state and business. In any case, be careful what you wish for, socialists.
Works for the Culture ;)
China is a capitalist country, even if it says it is socialist - careful not to be confused by words, CP.
A spokesman for a failed ideology.