Comments by "80s Music" (@eightiesmusic1984) on "How the Left Destroyed Itself (w/ Yanis Varoufakis)" video.

@segovia5758 I appreciate your fair and reasoned answer. I am in the UK so cannot claim first hand knowledge of the situation in Greece. I wrongly assumed your response was coming from the right as there is a bias towards this in many of the comments on You Tube. I will endeavour to read more about Greek politics as I ought to know far more. I have always found Varoufakis accurate in his analyis of world politics, including the UK. He writes in The Guardian sometimes. I am a lifelong socialist but here the left has been purged by the neoliberals in charge of the Labour Party, which means there is no prospect of the necessary reversal of Thatcherism to correct the fault lines in UK society and the errors of successive governments since 1979 on so many levels. Most voters are obsessed with immigration and there is a lot of ugly racism openly expressed in the country which is deeply concerning. It is in danger of turning even more to the right as working people put their faith in the very policies that have ruined their lives believing that more of the wrong medicine is the solution. I do not think there is any way of reasoning with people any longer, especially in the post truth age of lies and misinformation fuelled by extremists like Trump and the pernicious role of social media in shaping what passes for debate. I wish you well.
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Rubbish. He is excellent. Which party in Greece do you support? Don't be shy in explaining where you are on the political spectrum.
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@ukbloke28 The Attlee government of 1945-51 reversed the interwar consensus of balanced budgets, austerity and the small state. It set the template for the post war Keynesian consensus that saw capitalism regulated in order to reduce inequality. The left has made a huge error in repudiating Keynes as Callaghan did and Carter as US President. Thatcherism's sole purpose was to transfer wealth to the rich by reversing the post war consensus. It worked beyond anything its advocates could have thought possible in the decades when they were pushing for lower taxes for the rich, the shrunken state, public spending cuts, breaking the power of the unions to deliver wage increases and privatisation of natural monopolies. Reversal of Thatcherism would take time as it has held sway for forty six years but it could be done with the political will. Labour under Starmer has no meaningful solutions to Britain's problems and without a vision or bold agenda it can only preside over managed decline. The left has been purged even though its ideas offer the road map out of the crisis. The red Tories are more interested in factional war against the left than co-opting or absorbing its ideas into government policy in a once in a generation opportunity to effect significant change. It could even adopt the ideas of the left and present them as its own but instead is intent on continuing the acceptance of the Thatcherite consensus of the Blair era. After all Thatcher described 'new' Labour has her greatest achievement because it meant the end of socalism. Neoliberalism has failed because it does not work for the majority but then it was never intended to. Reduction of income inequality by redistributing wealth through progressive taxation of income, assets and land, together with capital investment in partnership with the private sector funded by deficit financing is the key to boosting a sclerotic economy. Instead Labour is committed to balanced budgets at all costs just like it was in the interwar years when so much damage was caused that could only be reversed by adopting Keynesian stimulus. The effects of the war made such a settlement necessary and possible. Similarly, the impact of nearly half a century of Thatcherism where the majority have seen living standards fall and the scarring consequences of ever widening inequality demand bold solutions. This is not about visions of a socialist society as per the debate on the left in the past- a regulated capitalism would suffice as the antidote to Thatcherism.
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@ My reply has been deleted.
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@segovia5758 Thanks. Not surprising with You Tube whatever the reason. It happens to a lot of people. The amount of appalling far right wing comments on the channel that are allowed is unbelievable. By this I mean racist comments that even if reported are often still allowed. I have posted my reply below which might work.
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The Attlee government of 1945-51 reversed the interwar consensus of balanced budgets, austerity and the small state. It set the template for the post war Keynesian consensus that saw capitalism regulated in order to reduce inequality. The left has made a huge error in repudiating Keynes as Callaghan did and Carter as US President. Thatcherism's sole purpose was to transfer wealth to the rich by reversing the post war consensus. It worked beyond anything its advocates could have thought possible in the decades when they were pushing for lower taxes for the rich, the shrunken state, public spending cuts, breaking the power of the unions to deliver wage increases and privatisation of natural monopolies. Reversal of Thatcherism would take time as it has held sway for forty six years but it could be done with the political will. Labour under Starmer has no meaningful solutions to Britain's problems and without a vision or bold agenda it can only preside over managed decline. The left has been purged even though its ideas offer the road map out of the crisis. The red Tories are more interested in factional war against the left than co-opting or absorbing its ideas into government policy in a once in a generation opportunity to effect significant change. It could even adopt the ideas of the left and present them as its own but instead is intent on continuing the acceptance of the Thatcherite consensus of the Blair era. After all Thatcher described 'new' Labour has her greatest achievement because it meant the end of socalism. Neoliberalism has failed because it does not work for the majority but then it was never intended to. Reduction of income inequality by redistributing wealth through progressive taxation of income, assets and land, together with capital investment in partnership with the private sector funded by deficit financing is the key to boosting a sclerotic economy. Instead Labour is committed to balanced budgets at all costs just like it was in the interwar years when so much damage was caused that could only be reversed by adopting Keynesian stimulus. The effects of the war made such a settlement necessary and possible. Similarly, the impact of nearly half a century of Thatcherism where the majority have seen living standards fall and the scarring consequences of ever widening inequality demands bold solutions. This is not about visions of a socialist society as per the debate on the left in the past- a regulated capitalism would suffice as the antidote to Thatcherism.
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