Comments for Green Christian

Comment on Who will be the next Green Party leader? by Roy Sandison

Roy Sandison — Fri, 18 May 2012 00:26:13 +0000

Derek Wall – the last Male Principle Speaker of the party. Derek is absolutely loved by Green Left (the ecosocialist wing of the party), though he has relatively little support outside that group. I very much doubt he has much chance of winning but if he does, expect a stronger alignment between the Greens and leftist anti-cuts protest groups.

Stephen, In fact Derek narrowly lost the vote for Chair of the party last year by 54 votes and was elected in at number 3 on the euro list for the South East this year , so actually seems to have a fair bit of support and ‘love’ from more than Green Left members in our party.

Comment on Who will be the next Green Party leader? by A few comments spotted elsewhere « Green Party Elections 2012

A few comments spotted elsewhere « Green Party Elections 2012 — Thu, 17 May 2012 11:28:26 +0000

[...] Green Christian asks, what is a leader for? [...]

Comment on Who should pay tax? by Dealing with Boom and Bust – Green Christian

Dealing with Boom and Bust – Green Christian — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 10:21:48 +0000

[...] such a situation would require vastly higher tax rates to ensure the debt is repaid (even though he believes that lower tax rates bring in more revenue). He also worries that printing more money means that you are increasing the size of the economy [...]

Comment on Euthanasia by Healthcare: Right or luxury? – Green Christian

Healthcare: Right or luxury? – Green Christian — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 11:20:27 +0000

[...] have to let them die (the complete opposite of what Grudem established when covering the topic of Euthanasia) or somebody has to provide healthcare for [...]

Comment on Does the Bible Teach Democracy? by Should we have Pensions? – Green Christian

Should we have Pensions? – Green Christian — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 11:27:26 +0000

[...] right in saying that, for some politicians, it is a matter of political survival, but since Grudem believes Democracy to be the best form of government, that shouldn’t be a problem. But ignoring the question of how popular anything is, nobody [...]

Comment on Who should pay tax? by Death and Taxes – Green Christian

Death and Taxes – Green Christian — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 16:29:41 +0000

[...] He also says that such taxes are a disincentive to entrepreneurship, because business owners will not work as hard if they can’t pass as much of their wealth to their families or the charity of their choice. He argues that large corporations benefit, as they often buy businesses that have to be sold off in order to pay the tax. He cites simulations run by the Tax Foundation (a right-wing think-tank) which showed that it has roughly the same effect as doubling the rate of income tax (which Grudem believes would reduce the size of the economy). [...]

Comment on Who should pay tax? by Taxes: Who should pay what? – Green Christian

Taxes: Who should pay what? – Green Christian — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 11:17:33 +0000

[...] Politics According to the BIble by looking at the issue of taxes. Last time, we looked at some wider questions about the tax system, today we’re looking at the balance of tax between rich and poor, and between people and [...]

Comment on Power vs Principle? by Anthony Smith

Anthony Smith — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 02:22:45 +0000

Great – I’ll look forward to it!

Comment on Power vs Principle? by Stephen Gray

Stephen Gray — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 16:59:22 +0000

When I eventually finish the Grudem series, I’m planning a series going through the party’s philosophical basis in a bit of detail, and I’d expect that to be an issue that comes up – either in the series, or as an add-on.

I think most of our policy platform is to the left of the big three parties, but given that all three have drifted a long way to the right over the last three decades or so, there’s an awful lot of political space there – most of which used to be considered the centre ground.

Comment on Power vs Principle? by Anthony Smith

Anthony Smith — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 12:26:55 +0000

Thanks for this, Stephen. There’s been a fair bit of discussion in my local party too around the time of the conference.

I would say the B&H party did put principles above power. The principles are to use whatever influence they have to try to do what they believe is best for the people in B&H. They stuck to those principles 100%, it seems, by voting for the amended budget, rather than handing over the administration to the Conservative and/or Labour parties, which seemed to be the only alternative. In contrast, if all they were interested in was having *total* power – the free rein to do whatever they want – they would have stood down.

Unless you’re in a majority, compromise is inevitable. And unless we’re prepared to embrace that, we’d better refuse categorically to enter a coalition or run a minority administration.

Incidentally, I’d be interested to read a post discussing to what extent the Green Party is a left-wing party, both in terms of the England & Wales party, and in terms of how much Green principles tend towards left-wing principles. I find myself thoroughly supportive of the Green principles, but if I was coerced (reluctantly) to place myself somewhere on the left-right spectrum, I think I’d probably lean slightly towards the right. Not sure if I’m being inconsistent in that! For another time