Nonsense.

I’m no expert - it’s just that the (UK) liberal party merged with a left of centre party, the SDP (Social Democratic Party) and were briefly called the SDLP; before rebranding to the Liberal Democrats. They are still left of centre.

I think a lot of the liberal views towards capitalism can only be seen through the context of trying to humanise the inherent framework of capitalism. I think you’re correct that they never looked beyond existing within capitalism and therefore perhaps ultimately paid a price for that.

Thanks for the weekend wishes, same to you.

Again, no. I was talking about John Locke and David Lloyd George type characters - to suggest that the last Liberal party prime minister of the UK was to the right of the political spectrum was an interesting take I’d never heard before.

No. I’m not talking from a US perspective. I’m talking from a political perspective. Liberalism is a moral and political philosophy - that is available in more than one flavour. Many things liberalism stands for are incompatible with right wing governments. Conservatism is far right? No, fascism is far right and there is an enormous difference between being conservative and being a fascist. Right and left are both part of a spectrum and run the whole gamut from dipping your toe in the water to being fully submerged. It’s disingenuous to suggest otherwise.

No. Liberalism is against most things that the right wing of the political spectrum explicitly stands for. Liberalism exists as a counter argument to conservatism. As I mentioned earlier US political language has twisted and distorted what these words really mean.

Just remember that the first person to say the world went around the sun got downvoted into oblivion… but it is factually accurate and a giant leap towards out current understanding of the physical realm. I’m happy for people to disagree with my views. Fuck, I probably disagreed with half of them, thirty years ago.

I find the limited political knowledge a far bigger concern. The US has taken perfectly acceptable words and butchered them: liberal, libertarian, conservative, left, fascist, socialist etc mean different things inside the US to what they mean everywhere else. I reckon US political language hasn’t butchered itself - there’s a plan in there somewhere.

Oh, for sure. I’d pick an unknown Cava over an unknown Champagne any day of the week. The thing is that humans have this inbuilt competitive thing - coffee, tea, wines, tobacco, potatoes, ganja, cheese, etc etc all have the same mythos around them. The experts want to class one particular product “best in class”. To the casual enjoyer it can often all taste/look pretty much the same. Also “industry best” does not have to equate with personal favourite. They can be two different things.

Champagne is just a region where sparkling white wine is made grown right?

Some regions just have the right mix of climate, soil, sun, temperature, precipitation etc that gives the product its cachet.

I’m gonna make a slight modification if you don’t mind:

Sadire - something at first confused for satire but is actually just sad and raises your ire.

Can we invent the word “sadire”?

It’s when you think something is satire at first glance but then change your mind and become sad…

Circumcision, fgm, the so-called husband stitch… wtf, people? If you’ve got genitals you’re happy with it seems a challenge just to keep them intact against the lunatics who want to chop and stitch. What is wrong with humans?

That’s really tickled me…

Nice to see humour still exists out there. I can’t believe how all these (apparently) politically literate people (I think predominantly they’re Yanks) throw around these words: fascist, Tankies, liberal, libertarian, conservative etc with little precision. It’s a pity as all it does is stifle interactions - and no one will find common ground. Good way to keep the serfs under the cosh if they’re all bickering amongst themselves.

What I’m saying is that whilst actual Tankies did, and still do, exist you do not have to be one to be called one. It’s now become a catch-all slur applied well outside of its original target.

You genuinely have never heard it used in a pejorative way against any red? I never said all commies were tankies. I explained the words etymology and then its subsequent broad (mis)application in current online parlance. Hope you’re not reading theory with those comprehension skills, comrade.

Tankies were originally members of the Communist Party of Great Britain who were in favour of Soviet tanks mowing down first Hungarian and secondly Czechoslovakian ( as they were then ) protesters. These days it’s used as a pejorative towards anyone who has a good thing to say about communism / socialism etc.