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At least be on their side, eh?
No matter what they change the preamble to or whatever the NDP calls itself we will always be labeled socialists by big business and the Torys. When we run from it like you are suggesting it gives validation to their scare tactics.
I tell you one thing, if the NDP wins and the business community ISNT freaking out then there is something to be worried about.
You'd think that at least some worrying should have commenced by now though, with the recent status improvements.
Does anyone have links to the actual preamble and the proposed replacement?
Ha!
I think I can say without fear of contradiction that folks here on the LNS are seeing signs of capitalism's failure everywhere. The latest occurred in early spring of this year when the Newfoundland company that owns the fish plant in La Tabatiere decided not to open the plant this year, throwing roughly 100 folks out of work in what is a seasonal industry. The Mayor - who used to be the Liberal candidate here, and a good friend of mine - has been scrambling since then for job opportunities in the region, and some make-work programs funded by gov't have been found, but clearly these are not a long range solution. That same Newfoundland company shut down the fish plant here - forcing Kegaska workers to leave this community and head out west to the oil sands, or up north to work as construction labourers or at fishing camps as guides. A few were hired on here to unload the fishing boats onto a 'collector boat' which sends all the crab to Natashquan where it is all loaded onto huge refrigerated tractor trailers for processing in Montreal, Japan, and points south - all this processing of crab used to be done here on the coast - now I think there's only one crab processing plant on the entire Lower North Shore. With the closing of the fish plants, I estimate that well over 200 good paying (seasonal) jobs supplemented by UIC on the LNS have been lost, so it's no wonder that the LNS is going down in population as folks look for jobs elsewhere.
ETA: it really pisses me off that local crab is sent to Montreal and Japan for processing - we did that here, and communities prospered.
Check out the Kady O'Malley link in the opening post above. She gives links to the existing preamble, the proposed change that was tabled at the convention, and the mutilated version of the constitution that the NDP is presenting at present.
I suppose it all depends on what sort of banner one is willing to stand under come hell or highwater, the Cherry-O'Leary's be damned.
Socialism yesterday and socialism tomorrow, but never socialism today.
Apparently with some strains of modern socialism, that old fashioned noble sentiment, where one is never called upon to contemplate the merits of imperial bombing against the citizens of other countries, constitutes an embarrassing anachronism that has no place within today's progressive momentum. The rest of us are left to wonder whether they've grounded their particular version of socialism with background research from the correct Marx.
Even moreso. In Saskatchewan and Manitoba, the NDP provincial governments have been pretty accomodating to the business community and yet the right wing press continues to make them out to be tax-and-spend socialists. In the last few years of the Calvert government, if you read the press, you would have had the impression that the Bolsheviks were about to take over Douglas Park any day.
If you want a party that is market-friendly and still believes in a strong social safety net isn't that what Liberals are?
What defines the NDP is its anti-capitalist stance. It is not something to be afraid of as we can see there is a quite a wave of anti-capitalist sentiment.
Also, socialism is an ideology ahead of its time, eventually the world will catch up with it.
And you think a social democratic government that doesn't stand for nationalization has a chance of taking on capitalism in this country and the world?
I disagree. I think real fascism would be easier to fight against then the inverted variety we have now. True fascism is obviously a problem, what we have is not obvious to most people. And as long as you keep advocating moderation of anti-capitalist sentiment you are feeding the inverted totalitarianism.
You keep worrying about your pension and the powers that be know they got you by the balls.
Tell that to all the people of my generation who don't even have a prospect for a pension and you want me to worry about you and your pension.
I blame the baby boomers. Oh, wait, I am one.
A new explanation for your name I see.
I've decided to come clean.
Sorry I don't drink.
Good news! The preamble has miraculously re-appeared:
http://xfer.ndp.ca/2011/2011-constitution/2011-11-CONSTITUTION-ENG.pdf
All right! Thank you whoever is in charge of that!
The word "socialism" may be back in the preamble, but it's not really a part of the party itself.
Bump
Since this topic came up in NDP-15 I thought I should bump this thread up.