Most of you don't know it but I used to be a firm believer in the movement back in the day. I believed as Marconi did when he introduced the radio (Yes I know Tesla managed to get it to work before he did, no I'm not interested in whatever you think Tesla invented) that open dialogue would make mankind better people more open minded and less hateful. And then Hitler and Stalin used it for the exact opposite, well we're not there yes, hopefully we will never get there with misuse of the internet. But the thing is while I still believe in an open and free internet as a propagator of enlightenment and reason, I long ago lost faith in the Pirate party movement and it's simplistic anti authority solutions (I'm simply too old to be a angry young man).
But because of my former interest in the party I kept them in my facebook feed, I have over the times commented on some of their posts telling them they need a vision beyond being a discontent party. Well they did no better in the last two elections than in any of the previous, and now today their party leadership announced that they resigned.
(These are all in swedish but international readers may want to translate using chrome)
Here's a press release by Party Leader Anna Troberg.
Here's her letter of farewell to her supporters.
Here's a press release by Party Leader Anna Troberg.
Here's her letter of farewell to her supporters.
Now assuming that you have read these I'll discuss the issues I have had with the Pirate Party and the issues they seem to have had in their party.
When I talk politics I like not to define it as one dimensional left right axis, I prefer to view it as a three dimensional cartesian space. Defined by three axises. The first one is obvious, it's the left right axis, from conservative on the right to socialist on the left.
The second axis is progressive versus reactionary, no reactionary is not conservative.
The last axis is globalisation, versus isolationism and merchantilism. (Enlightenment to me is in the progressive centre-left globalisation corner)
Now the pirate party long ago decided upon where it is on the progressive reactionary axis. It's progressive, it wants to tear down the old order and always struggles against authority. But it has issues on where it is on the other two axises. It has avoided touching the globalisation issue (and the related europification) with a ten foot pole, it has also failed to define it's position on the left right axis, making sudden leaps between liberalism, libertarianism and borderline socialism. And while this has managed to help them get discontents from both sides of the left right spectrum it has also led to strong opposition inside the party when the party decided to expand it's issues.
The whole gamer gate thing seems to have upset that balance further, with the leftists in the party moving strongly against the opinions of gamergate seeing it as the hand of the patriarchal authority that according to the party's anti authority creed needed opposing, but the libertarians in the party saw that opposition to be authority of the cultural socialism that needed opposing. That is ever the problem with anti authority messages indignation and righteous rage. With we and them thinking. Because authority isn't a united them, not is those without it united we.
And that's where the party fails to live up to it's potential, it needs to make these choices, now I think they should go for the liberal path, education, knowledge and freedom of through, even when that means we have to suffer such lowlives as those who use the so called gamer gate to propagate sexism. That is the price we pay for freedom, but being a liberal and a progressivist I am a firm believer that the voices of reason will eventually win out.
But perhaps even more because the leftist party already pushes the integrity line in the left flank so they're not really needed there while the political centre needs an influx of new thoughts.
I also wan to raise my voice in opposition of the idea that questions of gender struggle and ethnic and cultural diversity are leftist ones. They are not, they are progressive ones, and while the nature of how they are handled on the left right and centre may differ the end goal does not. In fact the idea of gender equality came from a liberal concept of egalitarianism, one of the fundamental pillars of liberalism.
Well change is at hand in the pirate party, new leaders will have to be chosen, I hope those are strong visionaries that can lead us back on the path of progress, and better living through technology, but I find if rather more likely that the pirate party will descend into gamer gate hell and lose it's progressivism in favour of taking the reactionary idea to preserve the status quo.
The last axis is globalisation, versus isolationism and merchantilism. (Enlightenment to me is in the progressive centre-left globalisation corner)
Now the pirate party long ago decided upon where it is on the progressive reactionary axis. It's progressive, it wants to tear down the old order and always struggles against authority. But it has issues on where it is on the other two axises. It has avoided touching the globalisation issue (and the related europification) with a ten foot pole, it has also failed to define it's position on the left right axis, making sudden leaps between liberalism, libertarianism and borderline socialism. And while this has managed to help them get discontents from both sides of the left right spectrum it has also led to strong opposition inside the party when the party decided to expand it's issues.
The whole gamer gate thing seems to have upset that balance further, with the leftists in the party moving strongly against the opinions of gamergate seeing it as the hand of the patriarchal authority that according to the party's anti authority creed needed opposing, but the libertarians in the party saw that opposition to be authority of the cultural socialism that needed opposing. That is ever the problem with anti authority messages indignation and righteous rage. With we and them thinking. Because authority isn't a united them, not is those without it united we.
And that's where the party fails to live up to it's potential, it needs to make these choices, now I think they should go for the liberal path, education, knowledge and freedom of through, even when that means we have to suffer such lowlives as those who use the so called gamer gate to propagate sexism. That is the price we pay for freedom, but being a liberal and a progressivist I am a firm believer that the voices of reason will eventually win out.
But perhaps even more because the leftist party already pushes the integrity line in the left flank so they're not really needed there while the political centre needs an influx of new thoughts.
I also wan to raise my voice in opposition of the idea that questions of gender struggle and ethnic and cultural diversity are leftist ones. They are not, they are progressive ones, and while the nature of how they are handled on the left right and centre may differ the end goal does not. In fact the idea of gender equality came from a liberal concept of egalitarianism, one of the fundamental pillars of liberalism.
Well change is at hand in the pirate party, new leaders will have to be chosen, I hope those are strong visionaries that can lead us back on the path of progress, and better living through technology, but I find if rather more likely that the pirate party will descend into gamer gate hell and lose it's progressivism in favour of taking the reactionary idea to preserve the status quo.
Well enough ranting for now, until next time.
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