tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296368726978350564.post6164305623884351057..comments2023-04-07T15:39:39.314+01:00Comments on SSP Campsie: Guest Blogger - Kristofer Keane on The Case for a Scottish Left-Green MovementCampsie Scottish Socialist Partyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00340961079697673940noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296368726978350564.post-9489259389185572942010-08-07T00:52:46.473+01:002010-08-07T00:52:46.473+01:00"..the likes of martin bartos ... anti-social..."..the likes of martin bartos ... anti-socialist rightists like him" - wtf ?!?!! I don't know where you get that from 'eco-socialist'! Bit of ill-informed (whoever your source is) bigotry and smearing I'd say. Anyone who has <i>actually had an in depth conversation</i> with me on political ideology will find that I am not an "anti-socialist" even though as someone who supports democracy and human rights I tend to be wary of statists and people who are uncritical of previous (pseudo)socialist experiments. I certainly see problems with some left-sacred cows (and lots of problems with behaviour of some left-factions) but it doesn't make me anti-left or anti-socialist except to the sort of dogmatic ideologue incapable of nuanced conversation - the sort of George-Dubya-Bush-ist "if you're not with us, you're against us" kind of fool. My experience of people who self-label as 'socialist' (which I used to do before I discovered that 'green' better fitted my progressive world view) ranges from lovely passionate articulate thoughtful folk all the way to megaphone waving evangelical egotists who think they own the pavement as well as The Truth and remind me of some self-labeled "Christian" soapbox loudmouths i.e. no guarantee that they are civil, sensible or remotely understand (let alone practise) what they preach however much they froth at the mouth to proclaim it. Those sorts of tosser are present in most progressive parties sadly as well as the trad ones. I can't actually judge if you're one of them (as opposed to just being unfortunately misinformed), but name calling me a "rightist" who "will always give the greens a bad name" certainly pushes me towards that view of you. Is it any wonder that 'the-left' are so rubbish at building lasting coalitions with each other (let alone the electorate/public)? Regards, MartinB P.S. I'm not going to get into a discussion on here, so save yourself the typing; I just thought that I should challenge what is essentially ill informed name calling of me after someone sent me a link. P.P.S. Kris, did you really think through the point of guest-blogging here? why not re-quit the Greens and re-join the SSP if that's where you want to promote your ideas?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296368726978350564.post-77016030280115286642010-08-06T01:01:27.170+01:002010-08-06T01:01:27.170+01:00What on earth has my identity got to do with anyth...What on earth has my identity got to do with anything? For what it's worth, I don't know you; my information was purely based on googling you.<br /><br />Your bio on this article is misleading, and I think that potentially undermines the integrity of this site. Unless you forgot that this very year you left the Greens and joined the LibDems, this was deliberate, as well. I don't think that that is a petty matter.<br /><br />I didn't read your blog about leaving the Greens because you seem to have deleted it (surprisingly enough). However, I was basing my comments on excerpts of it as quoted in Lib Dem Stephen Glenn's blog of 8/2/10: <br /><br />"The Liberal Democrat position on widespread cuts and efficiency savings is far more realistic and appealing to me than some Green Party campaign on preserving spending levels as they are now."<br /><br />This incongruity makes me somewhat doubt your personal motives in this article. And I'm very open-minded about green/red cooperation. Glenn also writes that:<br /><br />"Former Green Student blogger Kristofer Keane has been on a bit of a Political journey himself. he say he started supporting the Scottish Socialist Party, then in the 2007 elections supported the Scottish Nationalist Party, when he went to University he joined the Greens but now has left them to join the Liberal Democrats."<br /><br />And now you have farcically left them to join the Greens again. With all respect, after a quick browse of your various blogs, websites and twitter pages - which seem to show someone more interested in self-promotion than in any leftist political cause - I just hope that come the Autumn, when you will no doubt be looking for a new party to join, it won't be mine.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296368726978350564.post-70175715022139882952010-08-05T14:18:33.686+01:002010-08-05T14:18:33.686+01:00eco-socialist: I've tried to put across that w...eco-socialist: I've tried to put across that we need to get past personal problems between the parties. Both sides of the left-green divide could name individuals they don't like on the other side, but that doesn't exclude the possibility of a broader consensus. I'm sure you find as I do that there are already some individuals within our own parties that we don't personally agree with, but we don't allow this to get in the way of our involvement with our parties.<br /><br />"Anonymous": If you'd read my old blog on that subject, you'd know that my reasons for switching over before the election were three-fold: personal problems with individual Greens that I couldn't avoid; that I knew the Motherwell Lib Dem candidate while the Greens couldn't field one; and that I felt many Green policies were un-implementable. Perhaps if you were to actually reveal your identity we could have a more constructive dialogue, but at this time I'm presuming your intention is just petty bickering.Kristofer Keanehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11134422616153941386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296368726978350564.post-78372787707743562082010-08-05T02:36:15.765+01:002010-08-05T02:36:15.765+01:00"A Scottish Green Party activist since 2007.&..."A Scottish Green Party activist since 2007." <br />So this is a different Kristofer Keane to the one who left the Green Party and joined the LibDems before the 2010 election on the grounds that the Green Party's fiscal policies were TOO LEFT WING?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296368726978350564.post-40272613061734551662010-08-01T00:43:13.137+01:002010-08-01T00:43:13.137+01:00There's some good points in this article, but ...There's some good points in this article, but the likes of martin bartos are exactly why a lot of us don't think of the greens as part of the left. anti-socialist rightists like him will always give the greens a bad name.eco-socialisthttp://www.ssy.org.uknoreply@blogger.com