Directions

canker

originally posted by ColinM
It's probably not true to say that anyone is right-wing or left-wing, or middle of the road, because people's views and opinions don't necessarily have to all fit into one consistent idealogy.

I have always considered myself very liberal and a left-wing supporter. However I have realised that I support as many right-wing ideas as I do left-wing ones. This has led to me being called a hypocrite, which I must say seems an acurate description in some instances.

Are political parties restraining themselves by being either left or right, or must you pick one and run with it? Is there actuallly a left/right divide in irish politics? (the socialists claim to be the only left wing party in mainstream irish politics). And finally is there a party for me, a hypocritical party?

bloggs

I think you should support the party that you feel supports most of your issues. Whether they be left wing or right wing. Thing is, in this country we do have extreme left and, then we have moderate left, and we also have moderates. But we don't have a conservative party in Ireland, something that we lack in comparison to other countries. You may disagree, but i don't regard FG as such.

I agree with you point that most parties are fighting for middle of the road, as this appears to be where most of the voters are. The thing is not everyone bothers to vote, so if they didn't i think we would see more fringe parties getting elected.

Note that if you want to setup a party isn't not as easy as one might think. You first all you need 300 people to sign a register for your party in one constituency, this might be ok for the likes of FF/FG/Labour who have huge followings but getting people to take time off work, to sign up for you, between the times of 1am and 3pm isn't exactly plain sailing.

bonkey

Originally posted by canker
This has led to me being called a hypocrite, which I must say seems an acurate description in some instances.

How so? Do some of your beliefs contradict each other? If not, how are they hypocritical.

Even if they appear to be in opposition/contradiction, I see nothing hypocritical about having a mix of socialist and capitalist ideas....as long as you can define where the line is drawn.

For example - "pure" capitalists still place limits on capitalism. If they didn't, for example, things like the Universal Declaration of Human Rights would have no place in the world, as nothing would be more important than the making of profit.

So, is it hypocritical to say that you support both "pure" Capitalism and the UDoHR? I don't believe so....because you can clearly (or reasonably clearly) define where the limitations on one are imposed in order to satisfy the other.

Going one step fuirther, you can then say what limits you believe should be placed on Capitalism.....and that you then support it within those limits. Some people may argue that your limits are idealistic, or that they can never come about...but these are generally the same people who believe in something equally as idealistic and unlikely and who refuse to accept the same criticism of their beliefs, so you can ignore them

jc

canker

I dont always agree with the hypocrite tag, for example it really annoys me when people take an idea of mine and apply it to a different situation and say 'why then dont we just do this?' I dont believe it is hypocritical to take a certian action in one instance and not to take it in another similar one.

One perticular subject where i was justiably called a hypocrite, I feel, was when asked wheter or not I 'agree' with abortion, to which my answer was no. It was pointed out to me then that I had said that I would vote yes in any abortion referendum to legalise it. I would still say no, and I would still vote yes. Is this wrong?

This is not really what my post is about, perhaps hypocritical is the wrong word. My beliefs are mixed, containing both right and left wing ideals. Is there any party with similar thinking, or do they need to be defined as either left or right to succed? And what are the political parties in Ireland? Labour and the greens call themself left, but their policies point more to the right. As do ff and fg.

bloggs

Originally posted by canker

This is not really what my post is about, perhaps hypocritical is the wrong word. My beliefs are mixed, containing both right and left wing ideals. Is there any party with similar thinking, or do they need to be defined as either left or right to succed? And what are the political parties in Ireland? Labour and the greens call themself left, but their policies point more to the right. As do ff and fg.

there isn't as far as i know. I think most moderate parties would have both left wing and right wing views. But moderate parties usually don't have the radical thinking that the majority of people want (perhaps im wrong here). In the 80s the Tory party in Britain did so well, as because they pointed their policies towards the individual along with Regan in the US, this was very popular, as it appeared the people were given a free hand, but the very poor suffered as a result.