Quite a phenomenal campaign ad from the Greens down in England.

@petealexharris yeah, "politicians are being controlled by the civil service" is a fucking take
It's like UK politicians have somehow managed to convince everyone that they're the ones with their hands tied, rather than the ones sitting on them.
@EF @LaChasseuse

@LaChasseuse It's a great ad, and a well-argued point, but the problem is that many parties already run on this and none of them do anything but stuff more money into the 1%. We had a supposedly "progressive" government for four years in Germany. Not a green one, yes, but one where the social-democratic party who also always runs on "small people, workers, unions, economic justice" stuff was the biggest part, and it was just more shafting for workers. Now under a conservative government that AGAIN has the social-democratic party in it (as the junior partner this time) it's of course more shafting (and berating people, endlessly). The real problem is that people who would actually change things are not available for election. They don't get to run. The apparatus of the parties filters them out, because all parties, regardless of what their programs say, know that once they come into government, they will be told the same old thing: "Look, we're glad you're here, but if we don't like your policies we'll take so much capital out of your economy that it will collapse. So watch it!" And there we go again.

@Sfwmson The hippies got usurped by the disco/yuppie culture. That's really the time point when every normal person started getting poorer as money was funnelled upwards.

@grammasaurus @OhWeh

@axoln

Shut up and go fuck yourself.

*block*

@phf @LaChasseuse To be fair, the German "social-democratic" party hasn't actually been social-democratic in a long time. Paired with a capitalist-right party, we got the expected results.

@phf @LaChasseuse To be fair, the German "social-democratic" party hasn't actually been social-democratic in a long time. Paired with a capitalist-right party, we got the expected results.

@Tattie @EF @LaChasseuse
100% this.

Yeah, for example Tory/UKIP politicians promising leaving the EU would result in things that were legally, practically and even logically impossible was a big part of the Brexit catastrophe, and the civil service weren't forcing them to do that. They were screaming into a pillow because they aren't allowed to oppose government policy politically no matter how stupid and doomed it is.

@LaChasseuse It's a great ad, and a well-argued point, but the problem is that many parties already run on this and none of them do anything but stuff more money into the 1%. We had a supposedly "progressive" government for four years in Germany. Not a green one, yes, but one where the social-democratic party who also always runs on "small people, workers, unions, economic justice" stuff was the biggest part, and it was just more shafting for workers. Now under a conservative government that AGAIN has the social-democratic party in it (as the junior partner this time) it's of course more shafting (and berating people, endlessly). The real problem is that people who would actually change things are not available for election. They don't get to run. The apparatus of the parties filters them out, because all parties, regardless of what their programs say, know that once they come into government, they will be told the same old thing: "Look, we're glad you're here, but if we don't like your policies we'll take so much capital out of your economy that it will collapse. So watch it!" And there we go again.

@melgu That's not wrong, but it also doesn't stop them from talking the talk that's also in this ad in the course of every election campaign they run.

@EF @LaChasseuse
I know people who work in the civil service, and all I can say is that is not what's happening as far as they can tell.

But even if it was, instead of Labour you could vote for a party with progressive policy goals, who would have the civil service implement them, just as previous governments have done with disastrously regressive policies.

I don't think anyone praising this video is planning to vote Labour.

@petealexharris @EF @LaChasseuse I also know a few civil servants, and no, they’re not a grey power behind the throne.

The problem is more subtle; when all the official & unofficial training says ‘find a way to work in partnership with the private sector”, & the private sector is full of friendly people looking to give help and experience and make you look good for the minister, you’ve been captured. And your ideas & the minister’s ideas are the same, because they’re thinking for both of you.

@phf The Scottish Greens went into a kind of coalition with the Scottish National Party (centre left, social dem) during a minority gov't situation, and really used the leverage that gave them to push the edges of where the SNP would normally go. So now we have country-wide free bus travel for people 22 and under, rent controls and a few other good things that wouldn't have happened otherwise.
They walk the walk, they don't just talk the talk.

@megatronicthronbanks @LaChasseuse perhaps not BREXIT as sold but BREXIT as 'negotiated' by those who were anti it for sure.

Quite a phenomenal campaign ad from the Greens down in England. Strong. I firmly believe that any political party not running this same message will fail.

@LaChasseuse I am always happy to learn that my depressing predictions about the world are not always true. (Although free bus travel is a far cry from taxing the rich in the way they deserve. I am joking!)

Quite a phenomenal campaign ad from the Greens down in England. Strong. I firmly believe that any political party not running this same message will fail.

@LaChasseuse It sounds like Spanberger's as well. She just became governor of Virginia on Saturday

@LaChasseuse I used to think that it's easy for minor parties to make claims. They don't have the experienced MPs or the economics to implement those changes. Now, it seems the major, old guard parties don't know what they're doing either. Is that because I'm getting older and more cynical? Or are they really getting worse?

Either way, I'm willing to try something new.

Quite a phenomenal campaign ad from the Greens down in England. Strong. I firmly believe that any political party not running this same message will fail.