Communist criticism of the Liberal Democrats

[Module]

Communists, what are your criticisms of the Liberal Democrats (UK)? What would you say to a Lib Dem supporter to convince them their views are wrong?
I'm not posting this because I want to convince a Lib Dem supporter that their views are wrong.
But yes, what are you criticisms of the Liberal Democrats? Their policies, their perspective, whatever.

[RGacky3]

I'd say some Democrats have it right, Senator Sanders is one, he's one the right track, the problem is, they just want to treat the cancer, not wipe it out, that being said, I'd say a lot of progressives in the US, if exposed to anarcho-syndicalism of actual socialism in a fair manner, would probably support it without being criticised.

As far as politicions however? Most of them are in the Corporate profit and only give lip service to their constituents, the proof is in the puding, most of their constituents wanted the public option, before that most wanted single payer, where are those?

[Dimentio]

I'd say some Democrats have it right, Senator Sanders is one, he's one the right track, the problem is, they just want to treat the cancer, not wipe it out, that being said, I'd say a lot of progressives in the US, if exposed to anarcho-syndicalism of actual socialism in a fair manner, would probably support it without being criticised.

As far as politicions however? Most of them are in the Corporate profit and only give lip service to their constituents, the proof is in the puding, most of their constituents wanted the public option, before that most wanted single payer, where are those?

Think she meant the Liberal Democratic Party in the United Kingdom...

[The Idler]

How can you solve unemployment in a better way than socialism?
How can you solve imperialism in a better way than socialism?
If freedom and democracy are good, why isn't complete freedom and democracy that anarchists advocate even better?
Why do you consider relationships between businesses and consumer the same as relationships between citizens and the state?
Why propose amending the existing system when you can build a new system?

[RGacky3]

Think she meant the Liberal Democratic Party in the United Kingdom...

My bad, no comment.

[Zanthorus]

They're bourgeois reformists whose main support from what I can tell comes from middle-class progressives. Clegg is apparently going to be issuing "savage cuts" to public services. They believe in capitalism and representative democracy (More like elective aristocracy amirite?).

Not much to like from my perspective.

[Demogorgon]

How do you attack the views of someone who hasn't got any? Perhaps that is unfair as individual members certainly have genuinely held views, but the party as a whole has a weathervane in place of principles.

Their only consistent point has been making the constitution more democratic (particularly proportional representation), but they are even compromising on that now.

If you want a good example of them though, look at what they say on the doorstep. The Lib Dems are generally credited with having very good local campaigning, they go from door to door, listen to individual concerns and present supposed solutions that they think will appeal to the individual voter. But these often have nothing to do with party policy and will quite possibly contradict what they have said to the person next door.

There was a famous case when in some local campaign they found a proposed policy had quite a lot of support at one end of a street and little at the other end. So they printed up two versions of their leaflet, one opposing the policy and one supporting it and distributed them to the appropriate houses.

[scarletghoul]

They will not abolish capitalism. Anyone who understands capitalism will know that thats reason enough to not support them.

Also, even from the view of a happy 'middle class' participant in the bourgeois electoral system like module, they suck. This is because the reason most of their views might seem 'fair' or less evil compared to the other parties is because they have no chance of getting into power, so they are secure to make policies and statements largely composed of opportunism without having to think too much about the consequences outside the arena of public opinion. If they found themselves in a situation where they could or did get in power, they would most certainly have to adapt their policies accordingly.

In other words they are 1. capitalist and 2. never gonna get in power with the same policies that make you attracted to them as a nice kind moderate party

woolly populism of the most bourgeois kind

[Dimentio]

How do you attack the views of someone who hasn't got any? Perhaps that is unfair as individual members certainly have genuinely held views, but the party as a whole has a weathervane in place of principles.

Their only consistent point has been making the constitution more democratic (particularly proportional representation), but they are even compromising on that now.

If you want a good example of them though, look at what they say on the doorstep. The Lib Dems are generally credited with having very good local campaigning, they go from door to door, listen to individual concerns and present supposed solutions that they think will appeal to the individual voter. But these often have nothing to do with party policy and will quite possibly contradict what they have said to the person next door.

There was a famous case when in some local campaign they found a proposed policy had quite a lot of support at one end of a street and little at the other end. So they printed up two versions of their leaflet, one opposing the policy and one supporting it and distributed them to the appropriate houses.

Alright, that is actually scary...

[The Idler]

They're progressive and more left-wing and progressive than New Labour. They hold power in many ways, European, local etc. They have more members than any left party other than Labour. Instead of the SWP calling for a vote for Labour they should perhaps call for a vote for the Lib Dems without illusions.

[Module]

There was a famous case when in some local campaign they found a proposed policy had quite a lot of support at one end of a street and little at the other end. So they printed up two versions of their leaflet, one opposing the policy and one supporting it and distributed them to the appropriate houses.Source?

the reason most of their views might seem 'fair' or less evil compared to the other parties is because they have no chance of getting into power ... If they found themselves in a situation where they could or did get in power, they would most certainly have to adapt their policies accordingly.Surely you could say the same for practically any party except Labour and Conservative.

[Zanthorus]

Surely you could say the same for practically any party except Labour and Conservative.

Not really. The reason a lot of parties aren't in power is simply because they have a set of principles that they're willing to work towards instead of trying to appeal to as many people as possible. If they ever managed to get into power it would be because of mass approval of their ideas which would provide a base for them to act out their policies.

[Demogorgon]

Source?

Watch Question Time. It comes up regularly as the standby for whenever another panelist needs to embarrass whoever is representing the Lib Dems.

Mind you if you read the leaflets they stick through the door and talk to their candidates you will see it happening yourself. It isn't usually as blatant as the example I gave, but it is part of their door to door campaigning strategy to work out what people want to hear and tell them that even if it means saying totally different things to people living right next to each other.

[graffic]

Yeah they are a mixed party. You can have centre-left LibDems and right-wing LibDems. It's a broad church and the leader of the party has to keep everyone happy.

I can see why some communists dislike liberals even more than conservatives. At least conservatives know where they stand. The social democrat types actually believe that capitalism is wrong but they come up with wafty excuses as to why change or an alternative is not right.

[Module]

Well I've watched Question Time a few times, and I've never heard it. I'm Googling it and I can't see anything.