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Iceland, a land of Vikings, braces for a Pirate Party takeover

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Re: Iceland, a land of Vikings, braces for a Pirate Party takeover

#21

Post by adventured »

beardog wrote: post #18
tananaev wrote: post #4

It's nice to see that libertarian ideas are winning at least in some counties when in most of the world governments get more and more control over people's lives.

The pirate party is actually pretty socialist.

Half the libertarian position is typically about being very socially liberal (privacy, freedom of speech, religious freedom, marriage equality (via removal of the state from that equation), drug decriminalization/legalization, et al). The pirate party tends toward socially liberal based on what I've read over the years. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Re: Iceland, a land of Vikings, braces for a Pirate Party takeover

#22

Post by icebraining »

beardog wrote: post #18
tananaev wrote: post #4

It's nice to see that libertarian ideas are winning at least in some counties when in most of the world governments get more and more control over people's lives.

The pirate party is actually pretty socialist.

Libertarian has different meanings: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libertarian_socialism

Re: Iceland, a land of Vikings, braces for a Pirate Party takeover

#23

Post by throwaway13337 »

jaza wrote: post #8

Could Iceland become the first country in the world to adopt Bitcoin (or an alternative crypto) as its national currency? If the Pirate Party wins, this could be one of the numerous cool experiments in government to take place.

Interestingly, control over it's own currency is why Iceland has managed to come out of it's recession so quickly compared to other European countries.

It may not be a death sentence, but as eurozone countries are now realizing, giving up that control is a major downer.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/06/17/the-m...

Re: Iceland, a land of Vikings, braces for a Pirate Party takeover

#24

Post by DocTomoe »

StanislavPetrov wrote: post #6
thomasville wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hope he goes there and there then they run another poll which determines he should be extradited to the US to be held accountable for his actions.

The people of Iceland are intelligent, as evidenced by their jailing of bankers and election of the Pirate Party, so would not hand him over. If small-minded people cared 1% as much about holding their own government accountable as they did whistleblowers, imagine how much better society would be?

You are mistaking "in accordance with my personal preferences and political views" with intelligence.

Re: Iceland, a land of Vikings, braces for a Pirate Party takeover

#25

Post by aedron »

This kind of change could only happen in Europe, due to the multi-party system. In America, as has so often been proven, the system is rigged to prevent alternatives to the established parties.

I honestly believe this proves the superiority of this system, over the American one. The great advantage of democracy is that it provides an avenue for peaceful change, or, if you are more cynical, the appearance of such. This acts as a vent when the people are fed up to their neck with the powers that be - they don't have to storm the palaces and chop off heads but can engage in political activity. Unless the political system in the U.S. changes, how long before Americans will have to resort to this?

Re: Iceland, a land of Vikings, braces for a Pirate Party takeover

#26

Post by belorn »

poshli wrote: post #12
ajmurmann wrote: post #2

It has offered Edward Snowden a new place to call home. I love Iceland. I truly do. My wife and I visited twice last year. I think it would be a wonderful place to live. Given a choice between Russia and Iceland I would pick Iceland without hesitation (although I have to admit that I have never been to Russia). However, I do not believe that they would be able to protect Snowden from the CIA. I hope Snowden sees this…

The PP is a fringe radical party that if they somehow become the majority party in Iceland, they're not going to retain it for very long. I would not recommend that famous dissidents like Snowden move there immediately. I like visiting Iceland too, the few Icelanders I know can't wait to move though. The winter weather and high price of everything is a bit of a drag. I am not an expert on Iceland but I have read that…

PP is a new party, but is it fringe and radical? Using social-liberal political philosophy[1] to focus on issues arriving from the digital Revolution[2], it seem like a very similar party to the green party but with a different focal point.

We still have political parties today that focus on questions that arrived from by the industrial revolution. Unless we want to just delegate the digital revolution as a minor footnote in society, it might be time to view the changes in society as a reason to look at government and ask if it too should change.

1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_liberalism

2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Revolution

Re: Iceland, a land of Vikings, braces for a Pirate Party takeover

#27

Post by grosun »

aedron wrote: post #25

This kind of change could only happen in Europe, due to the multi-party system. In America, as has so often been proven, the system is rigged to prevent alternatives to the established parties. I honestly believe this proves the superiority of this system, over the American one. The great advantage of democracy is that it provides an avenue for peaceful change, or, if you are more cynical, the appearance of such. Thi…

Definitely agreed re. the inflexibility of the US system, but "Europe" contains a multiplicity of different parliamentary systems.

The UK for instance is sadly almost as stuck in a bipartisan world as the US, which makes change a slow and painful process (or quick and painful wrt this year's referendum!)

Re: Iceland, a land of Vikings, braces for a Pirate Party takeover

#28

Post by Finbarr »

grosun wrote: post #27
aedron wrote: post #25

This kind of change could only happen in Europe, due to the multi-party system. In America, as has so often been proven, the system is rigged to prevent alternatives to the established parties. I honestly believe this proves the superiority of this system, over the American one. The great advantage of democracy is that it provides an avenue for peaceful change, or, if you are more cynical, the appearance of such. Thi…

Definitely agreed re. the inflexibility of the US system, but "Europe" contains a multiplicity of different parliamentary systems. The UK for instance is sadly almost as stuck in a bipartisan world as the US, which makes change a slow and painful process (or quick and painful wrt this year's referendum!)

That's true for the Westminster elections but Scotland has a proportional representation system for its devolved parliament.

Re: Iceland, a land of Vikings, braces for a Pirate Party takeover

#29

Post by [deleted] »

aedron wrote: post #25

This kind of change could only happen in Europe, due to the multi-party system. In America, as has so often been proven, the system is rigged to prevent alternatives to the established parties. I honestly believe this proves the superiority of this system, over the American one. The great advantage of democracy is that it provides an avenue for peaceful change, or, if you are more cynical, the appearance of such. Thi…

[deleted]

Re: Iceland, a land of Vikings, braces for a Pirate Party takeover

#30

Post by xenobioticants »

grosun wrote: post #27
aedron wrote: post #25

This kind of change could only happen in Europe, due to the multi-party system. In America, as has so often been proven, the system is rigged to prevent alternatives to the established parties. I honestly believe this proves the superiority of this system, over the American one. The great advantage of democracy is that it provides an avenue for peaceful change, or, if you are more cynical, the appearance of such. Thi…

Definitely agreed re. the inflexibility of the US system, but "Europe" contains a multiplicity of different parliamentary systems. The UK for instance is sadly almost as stuck in a bipartisan world as the US, which makes change a slow and painful process (or quick and painful wrt this year's referendum!)

Yes, but most of the mainland countries have multi-party systems. Hell, the parliament of the Netherlands at one point consisted of 16(!) parties.
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