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« on: 2007-02-04 13:28:30 »
I actually agree to most of what you say. Aleks, from the social perspective you're definitely right, I couldn't agree more. There was a lot of pathos in your little address, which shows you are one of those few people not giving in to the "system" and not despairing til agony. The problem is: We'd need more of those. It's a pity that all the good guys are against the "system", instead of trying to improve it from within - which is still possible, contrary to your views. The problem about your criticism is that you don't really offer an alternative. I know about your anarcho-syndicalist views and I appreciate them, but when we talked about it you had to submit it isn't feasible on a larger scale. Thanks to Anna for bringing Hobbes into play...
Be that as it may, you simply don't have the right to call everyone else "cowards". That's why I got so annoyed.
As you know, I have also been politically active, and I also have the feeling it's hard to change things, but from where do you take the arrogance to say that whoever doesn't agree to your somewhat extreme opinion is a "coward"? There are certain illiberal tendencies hovering around this word that I must reject being a democrate - and I expect you might want to refrain from them as well.
By the way, this matter IS largely political. Not all the problems DrNI listed are directly subject of politics, but they are all influenced by it to a very high degree. The problem is: I simply don't want to give up. It s simple to say "oh,the system is shit anyway, I don't want to be bothered by it any more, I'll just wait for the next revolution and THEN I'm going to be active". That's just the easy way out. I know this does not apply to you, Aleks, but it is a little schizophreniac at best to gladly take the liberties the "system" provides (such as being allowed to express your opinion, even being against the "system as a whole" (which doesn't really exist)) just to be bluntly "against it". Oh, the system is so bad, we simply don't have any influence, so we might just as well give up. No. There never was a system without political elites ruling it (there were better elites than nowadays, I know), so "democracy" as you define it simply doesn't exist. The same for communism and any other ideology (even neoliberalism meets its problems once it has to recognize hat people have feelings and don't act rationally ). I know about the advantages of the current "system", and that's why I have problems with anyone who wants to discard it as a whole.
Summary:
My problem: People are either (remember "there are two kinds of people" ? *g*)
"against the system as a whole" --> Aleks and the politically engaged part of the tuition fee critics
just another disgusting interest group --> the other part of the tuition fee critics
My consequences as a democrat still largely in favour of the system although against tuition fees: I pay.
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There'd probably be exactly two people evaluating it positively. 
