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Today, I was given leaflets from a whole bunch of people at the Birmingham University Guild Elections.
2 of them were for position of "Anti-Fascism and Anti-Racism Officer".

They explained to me that the BNP were becoming more and more popular in Birmingham, and that, therefore, we should be doing whatever we can to make sure that they don't get voted in and to stamp them out wherever we find them.
The logic for doing so is that it is wrong for people to have racist thoughts.
Fair enough, you might say - infact, my Social Upbringing makes me inclined to join you, but...

Aren't they missing the point there?

Democrasy exists so that everyone's interests can be represented, and everyone's voices can be heard.
And yet, if your voice wants to speak about something that is deemed Socially wrong, apparently you aren't allowed to have one.

Freedom of speach; so long as what you say is strictly controlled.

I can't help but think that just dennouncing everyone who has anything close to a negative view about imigration or other cultures or... whatever, is not the best way of dealing with the problem.
If, for a moment, we entertained the thought that perhaps these people are not just evil to the core, but actually have real concerns or misunderstandings, surely they would not feel pressured into joining such extremist parties in the first place?

The way I see it, misunderstanding leads to fear, fear leads to hate, and hate... is what people don't like about the BNP.
So, then, if only everyone were to welcome people to speak up about whatever troubles them, surely we could sort it out there and then?

Suddenly, within a very short space of time, a huge number of people from all sorts of different places have come to this country with very different ideals and cultures and what-have-you to the previous norms.
Surely it's inevitable that different ethnic groups would feel uneasy about eachother if we make it heresy for them to ADMIT that they feel uneasy?

Am I not right when I say that only when everyone is ready to listen to everyone else, then and only then can we really move forwards?

Discuss;
is what I'm saying social heresy for good reason?
Is the BNP and everyone who has ever had concerns with people from a different culture 100% without redemption, and that the best way to deal with them is to destroy them altogether?
Even if everyone was willing to listen and have an understanding about everyone else... would there really be a peace between us all at last?

Hmmm...
As with most political parties I agree with some of their policies and disagree with others.



I agree because I believe the UK is overpopulated with humans (much more so than France where most of the immigrants come through on the way here) and this is destroying the environment. Where I live, more and more housing estates are being built across the countryside - immigration contributes to population increase which means more houses are needed. Result: the environment looses out.



I agree, positve discrimination is patronising and unfair. People should be offered jobs due to their qualifications, skills and experience not to fill up a quota of ethnic minority workers (or female/disabled workers for that matter either)



I totally, 100% agree with all of this.



I agree with this because I think it is important for the UK to be more self-reliant. In a more sustainable society we would not be importing what we could make or grow ourselves because of the Carbon emissions/'food miles' involved in transport.




Yeah I totally agree. Organic = no pesticides/GM = so much better for wildlife.




I agree.



I agree.



I agree.



Yes I totally agree. Better public transport = more people using it instead of driving = reduced Carbon emissions.



But this I disagree with. >.<



I disagree with this. I am opposed to capital punishment.



I disagree. Fishing is nasty and decimates the sea life. mad But I s'pose really it doesn't matter a great deal to the fish or dolphins whether they are being dragged out of the sea and killed by British or foreign fishermen. >.<



I have sympathy with the IRA's cause, although not all of their tactics (ie. not the bombings and assasinations which kill people). You can lock people up but you can't destroy a cause or ideal.



I don't think the Irish would want that. That kind of policy is just the thing which would gain the IRA a new generation of supporters. XD



I disagree - money could be better spent elsewhere.



I'm not sure about this. I prefer the idea of having a strong, environmentally-minded central Government which makes the decisions.
I'm a bit down on the idea of community power due to experiences campaigning locally to get renewable energy generation in the area.
People from the local communties here selfishly care more about the view from their windows and their house price than about tackling Climate Change. >.<

I think it's all too easy to just call the BNP racist and ignore them.
But people elect them into local Govenment.
They have 53 councillors.
They are also the first (I think) UK political party to take on the issue of Peak Oil, they beat the Green Party to it at any rate: http://www.bnp.org.uk/peakoil/index.htm
The areas where the BNP get elected are usually the areas where multiculturalism doesn't seem to be working, (urban segregated and ghetto-like communitues, high crime rates, mutural distust and both muslim and anti-muslim extremism/racism spring to mind)
I think people should be engaged with and listened to, rather than just dismissed as a 'racist' or 'facist'. Politicians from the main parties should start being willing to discus issues such as immigration and stop being afraid of being seen as 'politically incorrect'.

Personally, I wouldn't vote for the BNP though.

The old class system has pretty much broken down and the boundaries have blurred from what I can see.
How is immigration running the economy? *is confused*
I know it makes money for some unscrupulous employers who exploit illegal immigrants for 'cash in hand' cheap labour, not to mention the human traffickers.
Personally, I think the environment is far more important than the economy anyway, but there are enough people already living in the UK to provide a workforce. There are also a fair few unemployed people so it's not a question of us needing immigrants to fill jobs.

The consequence of us not stopping our population increase in this country is that we lose further massive areas of countryside for housing.



"Positive" discrimination is still discrimination and it's wrong; In fact, the term itself is an oxymoron.
I think there should be legislation banning all discrimination in employment (both the negative and the so called 'positive' kind). After all, it's in an employer's interest to employ the best candidate for the job.
I have heard that is is both patronising and insulting for the person concerned to be selected for a job for a completly irrelevant reason.
How do you think someone must feel to know they've been given a job just because they're black/female/old/gay/disabled or whatever and not because they're the most skilled or qualified candidate. confused

The answer to the problem of discrimination (whether it be racism, sexism or homophobia) can never be more discrimination.
Legislation promoting equality and fairness is the answer.

I haven't seen V for Vendetta...



There are many sound environmental, political and economic reasons for withdrawing from the EU. I haven't heard any sound reasons for staying a member of the EU, which is steadily taking away our political powers (as we head towards becoming a single federal state) while costing us loads each year. :/

You like metric, fine - it's your opinion. biggrin
I hate it. I have always measured my height in feet, my weight in stone, distances in inches, feet, yards and miles, the weight of food in pounds and ounces, and the volume of drinks in pints. It's easy - It has worked for centuries. There was no need to change a system that worked, against the will of the people.


I wouldn't find it hard to believe that many of the BNP's members are racist but I have no evidence for this other than what I hear/read about them in the media.
I couldn't see much that I would count as racist on their website.



Most political parties which have come into power have changed and let down their supporters. Look at what happened to New Labour. When Tony Blair was elected he was swept into number 10 on a wave of public support. But if you look at how many of his pre-election pledges and promises he actually kept... Now he is very unpopular and there is a real chance that the Consevatives will beat Labour at the next General Election.

As I said, I wouldn't vote for the BNP, I was very tempted to support UKIP until I found some Climate Change denial article on ther website.
I have been a member of the Green Party, but I'm a bit dissillusioned with them now because they support abortion, positve discrimination, worker's strikes and other things which I disagree with. They are all in all rather too bogged down with being socialist and left wing which I see as the anthopocentric politics of mass selfishness.
To be really forward thinking, I believe we have to leave behind the old left/right linear political thinking and move beyond outdated ideas like socialism/facism/communism/liberalism/femminism etc. It's just not relevant these days when we are facing Climate Change and human caused environmental meltdown on an unprecidented scale.

I can't fight! I'm semi-retarded! eek