Lee Barnes, the BNP's legal beagle, appears to be off the medication again. You can always tell - he tends to go off his rocker quickly and dramatically and write the most appalling tosh on his blog. And yes, it's inclined to be worse than the usual rubbish he writes. Difficult to believe, I know.
On this occasion, the ever-entertaining Barnes is telling the BNP how it can amend the party's constitution to get around the anti-racist legislation that is forcing it, thanks to the Equality and Human Rights Commission, to become open to people of any colour or origin - like anyone with a brain would want to join that bunch of golly-burners anyway.
Having realised that it would cost a fortune to fight the current case, Nick Griffin has thrown the question of whether to change the rules or fight in court open to the membership of the party for discussion. It's a meaningless debate because the party has no option, though for Griffin there is one very clear and personal reason why he would prefer capitulation. He doesn't want the members to fight because that will involve interminable fund-raising and any funds that are raised should go into his pocket, or possibly into the pocket of Griffin's chum, Jim Dowson, not be frivolously spent on barristers for a case the BNP is destined to lose.
The further - and far more interesting question - is HOW the BNP's constitution is to be changed to make allowance for the fact that it could have people joining who are not exactly welcome, and who would be far from welcome at many meetings/events. And it is this latter problem that the lunatic Barnes has, he believes, solved...
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comrade don't equate fash with people with mental health problems
05.09.2009 11:38
joe
the article is saying fascists are a subset of the mentally ill, not equal to it
05.09.2009 13:19
If you think fascists aren't mentally ill in some way, that implies fascism is a perfectly rational belief that perfectly sane people can legitimately have.
Fascism is authoritarianism, and as a fully-qualified cod psychologist I would suggest its adherents have some kind of sociopathy or psychosis where they think they are above everyone else.
anon
I agree fascism
05.09.2009 14:39
Fascism can appeal to religious & national fundamentalists & some "true believers" who may have not learnt or been taught how to deal with developmental disorders like autism& aspergers which sometimes can encourage intense black & white thinking unless the person is introduced into a more intergrated viewpoint.
The dangers seem to manifest when fascists gather & organise for takeovers, final solutions& "purity", therefore its a good idea to keep them seperate & encourage a different viewpoint, their ideology should be viewed as distatefully as violent paedophilia.
You could argue other totalitarian ideologies when taken to the extreme are as bad like Marxism where the vangaurd of proletarian dictatorship & dialectic materialism are always right & Capitalism where market forces & corporations are always right.
Thats why many anarchists believe in universalism & politically direct democracy by referendums & consensus with delegates from the regional to planetary level, with what could be described as grand coalitions rather than bickering & warmaking party politics.There is no excuse for totalitarianism during "a crisis in democracy", as described by fascists, capitalists like Brezinski or marxist dictators.
Better democracies have been strived for since ancient Greek times where in Athens wealth was not allowed to influence the successful city democracy, in more modern international times various people have tried to help achieve it from Bakunin in his slightly rigid "revolutionary catechism" to Naom Chomsky.
@
Mental illness
06.09.2009 15:53
Pete
Surely mentally ill just means you aren't thinking straight?
06.09.2009 16:17
Otherwise you could say that psychopathic mass murderers aren't mentally ill, they just have a different opinion on ethics to most people.
What kind of things would you class as genuine mental illness? Are megalomania and narcissism mental illnesses?
This disagreement just comes down to definitions really.
anon