(no subject)

[hathycol]

I am having so much fun with Doctor Who. It's just quietly dawned on me that fandom is more fun with other people, which is why Battlestar Galactica has got its hands into me on an intellectual level rather than "WHEEEEEEEE! FANDOM!" On a serious note, Doctor Who is one of four programs currently on air/active I would seriously consider cancelling a social engagement for. (BSG, Dead Like Me and worryingly No Angels are the others.)

Oh, shit. I have a party on Saturday. I don't think I can wait that long! *wails* I wonder if I can get a lift with everyone later on? Because oh my god, that line. "I could save the Earth but lose you!"

*cries*

I promised a coherant post before. LIES ALL LIES.

This is a rather silly and pointless post. I've done nothing this evening but update my MP3 player by going through my parents CDs. This has resulted in the odd Eurythmics track and also Moby. How amazing is Moby? Not evem my usual type of music, but I've recently fallen in love with 'Higher' but the earlier albums freaking well ROCK.

Anyway. My bus driver this afternoon was polite as I spent it going back with Politics!Simon who is always good for a laugh, and then we all had a thoroughly fabulous argument with Matt about paying taxes. That's always good for a laugh, actually, but Jess and I completely won through naught but logical argument. This proves that being a Tory is downright silly, as it can always be logically argued out with proof. It's good fun.

See, here's my viewpoint on it. I am a leech upon society. I freely accept this. I am a student. For nearly 14 years now, £3,000 a year (on average) has been paid for my education in every school I have been. A lot more will be spent whilst I am in university to fund my loan, any subsidies I may or not recieve, and the vast majority of the £7,000 required for this education. My birth, accidents and other medical attention has resulted in the NHS paying an awful lot. My dentistry, which is extensive and admittingly painful, also costs a lot. I also recieve free eye examinations and glasses. My parents recieved (and still recieve until I leave full time education/home) child maintainence.

OH MY GOD I AM A BENEFIT SCROUNGER. So is bloody well EVERYONE.

See, all this crap about benefits? It's just that. We all leech of the state, and in return we pay taxes. We may not like it, but we need to do so. IT's all absolute bollocks, this obsession with paying less taxes and still expecting a stellar... well... everything. We need taxes. We do not need them lowered. I fully back taxing rich people more, although I do have to agree with a point from the Monster Raving Loony Party -

"Income taxes were begun to fund the Napoleonic wars. We agree that Napoleon is a potential threat, but we also feel that Napoleon has been sufficently warned off now, and it's time to change the tax."

I believe in yes, higher taxes to try and fund a better country. Fear my leftie self.

I have no idea where that came from. Vote Green, basically.

... and now I am going to go and do my ironing.

~Hathy_Col~

Comments

[shipperkitten.livejournal.com]

And when there's no green candidate in the area? Vote Lib Dem! :P

Getting into some nasty debates at the moment in the lunch hall...

Friend: "ALL consultants will be voting Conservative."
Me: "Uh, right - my dad is voting Lib Dem!"

I told her I'd rather have another round of Labour rule than Conservatives fucking up the country again. Hahaha!

Important things to me are staying very much in Europe and the environment and not being George Bush's lapdog having stupid wars that cost us billions (yes I know I'm doing aeronautical engineering and will probably have to design very bad-for-the-environment things in the future but I'll try to make them environmentally friendly!!)... the Lib Dems and the Green party offer this I think. The Lib Dems are the only party to have the environment in all 11 of their chapters (or whatever the manifesto is made up of, is it like anyone reads all of it anyway?) as, rather surprisingly, the green party don't. I don't think we have a Green candidate here, so my choice has been made for me. :)

And the Greens aer very anti fox hunting, which I don't like about them

[hathy-col.livejournal.com]

Being a history student and a Mad Crazy Socialist has left me in a very nasty place where the ib Dems go. I can't trust them, because this little voice in my head is actually reasonably telling me that in the nineteenth century, the Liberals were all in favour of destroying the working class, and the Tories pushed through the workers reforms... then I get confused and want to call them the Whigs... then my head go 'splode. It's all very confusing. :S

See, Labour's problem in Tony Blair. It is so impossible to have a reasonable debate about Labour that doesn't end up in "Yeah, but Tony Blair's a liar!" For god's sake, read a paper. A broadsheet paper. Tony's out in the first three months or I'm not worth my political salt. It so annoys me when people are like that. Yes, Tony Blair is a liar. Tony Blair is NOT Labour. He is the leader. There is a difference.

Engineers will be vital in designing safer, more environmental stuff. Who else is going to make me environmentally friendly aeroplanes when I'm PM, eh? I'm relying on you.

I've read the Labour manifesto (64 pages. SWEET LORD SAVE ME NOW) the Tory manifesto (it's vague and has Muicahel Howard striking a vaguely homoerotic pose at the beginning) the Lib Dem manifesto (well-meaning, but... erm...) the Monster Raving Loony manifesto which worryingly seems more sensible. On my reading list next is the Greens, closely followed by the BNP and UKIP. I'm reading them in order of studying, except the Loony one, which I read as it's circulating college due to the fact that the polls suggest the mock election winner will be Baron Hugh PAstie Scoffer of Hampsons. I wish I was making this up. The Green PArty are trying to get a btter image - one of "Look! It's not just the environment! We like people too!" and the Lib Dems are being very clever and trying to woo people away from a Green vote.

In conclusion, I am still confuzzled over what party if no Green. My heart says Labour, my head says Lib Dem. Hmmm...

[me-and.livejournal.com]

The BNP's one is f*cking scary. I've not actually read the manifesto, but their website has a section entitled "our beliefs" (or something like that). They say under the heading "Environment" that they want to increase taxes on things that pollute, so that the polluter pays the full cost of the clean up. Fair enough - good economic principle of externalities. Unless you read the previous paragraph, on transport, where they say they want to lower fuel taxes.

[me-and.livejournal.com]

I think any party will tell you that they have changed since C19. I think the Lib Dems now are just a teensy bit different to the Liberals then.

Vote Lib Dem! Not least because there isn't a Green candidate in my area, but also as there's no chance of Greens getting into power in most constituancies. If there was a Green standing who had a reasonable chance, I'd vote for them, but otherwise It'd be a wasted vote which would give the Tories (boo, hiss) or Labour more power.

[hathy-col.livejournal.com]

Yes, but the fact is that in the 1970s, the Democrat part of Lib Dems came away from the Labour party because they felt that the Labour party was too socialist.

Basically? They're New Labour. It's all very complex political philosophy, and I just think that it doesn't WORK.

[me-and.livejournal.com]

Yet the Lib Dems are considerably more left wing than Labour...

[hathy-col.livejournal.com]

No, they sound left wing. There is a difference. They are, in fact, completely centerist.

[me-and.livejournal.com]

Okay. The Political Compass on the UK 2005 election (http://www.digitalronin.f2s.com/politicalcompass/extremeright.php). Economically, the Lib Dems are right wing, but not so much as Labour or the Conservatives. Socially, however, they're the only one of the three main parties to be classed as left wing.

You can probably debate the accuracy and bias in the graphs, but they seem reasonable enough.

[sevenhelz.livejournal.com]

my heart has never said labour. if you must vote not-green, please let it be lib dem! pretty pretty please with cake on top? you know you luuuuv de cake! (it'll be non-fattening too... honest)

woo leftie.
xxx

[helenllama.livejournal.com]

I think the people called benefit scroungers are those who

Are on Disability Living Aloowance/Incapacity Benefit but have no real reasone to claim
Those who get benefits for children with disabilitys and can work but don't
Those who refuse to get a job.

It doesn't refer to tax credits etc, or those who really do need the benefits.

If there is a time when I am really ready for a job, then I will work, if I need to claim Incapacity after Uni, I will claim it until I can work, if I can work I will work

Helen.

[hathy-col.livejournal.com]

The fact is, though, people cannot claim to Hate All Benefits I Have Never Taken A Benefit in my life (I'm looking at you Mr Howard). It's a really big problem I have, because it just seems narrow-minded to me. What's so wrong with giving an asylum seeker £10 a week (and that is all they get if they are a single male) if you're paying a rich, married mother £50 a week for the child she can easily bring up herself?