I know we're not supposed to get political but...

[SinbadEV]

Apparently "The Pirate Party of Canada" is actually a real thing and will be running candidates in the next federal election.

http://www.pirateparty.ca/

187px-Signet.svg.png (11.79 KiB) Viewed 2837 times

I can't say I intend to "jump ship" from my current political affiliation, but I felt it was worth sharing.

Apparently this fellow is my candidate:
http://mikebleskie.com/

[Jools]

There is a pirate party in Sweden as well, it even got 2 people elected to the European Parliament.

[HectorMeyer]

They got 2 percent in Germanys last federal election in 2009. This is enough to make the big parties aware that there is voter potential that is not to be missed. This, combined with the unexpectedly high resistance against a new internet blocking law (against childporn), now lead to a very interesting political climate which favors internet liberalization. The internet blocking law actually got completely scrapped a few days ago.

In that way, the Pirate Party really can have a positive influence. If their radical ideas regarding copyright are feasible, or if it is good that they are basically a single issue party is a different question..

[SinbadEV]

There is a pirate party in Sweden as well, it even got 2 people elected to the European Parliament.

Oddball parties are my favourite part of the Parliamentary system... unfortunately this system also gives the conservative parties a unfair advantage due to the fragmentation of the "informed" vote by liberals, wackjobs, single issue parties and liberal wackjobs while the "unimformed" always vote for the incumbents.

[Machete234]

I voted for them too and I dont really care about the big parties and the left wing parties should check out how many people vote for the pirates and then implement these topics in their agenda.

Only in my province I always vote for the social democrats so my education stays free.

[Gota]

ta hell with copyright laws maties yar gar.

[hoijui]

looks like the swedish pirate party was the first one, and it is spreading:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirate_Par ... ernational

[TradeMark]

Am i the only one who feels disturbed by the name "pirate" in their party?

PIRATE. A sea robber, who, to enrich himself by subtlety or open force, setteth upon merchants and others trading by sea, despoiling them of their loading, and sometimes bereaving them of life and, sinking their ships ...

I mean seriously... they try to act like they have some great idea of making the world better, but their whole name is based upon destroying the others and taking what they want instead of working for it. ?? wtf? seriously?

[SinbadEV]

Am i the only one who feels disturbed by the name "pirate" in their party?

PIRATE. A sea robber, who, to enrich himself by subtlety or open force, setteth upon merchants and others trading by sea, despoiling them of their loading, and sometimes bereaving them of life and, sinking their ships ...

I mean seriously... they try to act like they have some great idea of making the world better, but their whole name is based upon destroying the others and taking what they want instead of working for it. ?? wtf? seriously?

I know rite!?

I think it's a matter of uniting under a recognizable label... meant ironically to imply "People call this stuff piracy but if we fixed the flaws in the system it would be legitimate activity"... and "The Copyright, Privacy and Patent Reform, Network Neutrality and Accountable Open Government Party of Canada" doesn't really roll of the tongue.

[hoijui]

pirate originates from greek, and means something like "to take (form others)".
they want to take back privacy from the state, the profit from the big companies, and give it to individuals with ideas and the people who use them, the want to take free speech and access to all info from big companies and the state.
the old pirates stole money from the big empires, which they plundered out of 3rd world countries them-selfs. why would spain have more right to own inca gold then some pirate? the empire uses the gold to finance wars, and plunder more gold out of the 3rd world, while the pirate buys a house, some 'hoes, food and stuff.

something else:
why the russian pirate party was not officially accepted as a party:
http://www.pirateparty.ch/Russia_fears_Pirates
in short: being a pirate -> you are stealing stuff from others -> this is illegal -> you get incarcerated -> people in prison are not allowed to be members of a party -> the pirate-party is illegal
OBVIOUS!

both of these incidents make one thing clear:
the name is chosen wisely, as people too stupid to even understand why the party calls its-selfs like that, will not bother them from inside.
it is a similar trick like blues-man used, for example, when they were singing about them getting abused by their mean women.

[TheMightyOne]

The internet blocking law actually got completely scrapped a few days ago.

Link?

[TradeMark]

both of these incidents make one thing clear:
the name is chosen wisely, as people too stupid to even understand why the party calls its-selfs like that, will not bother them from inside.
it is a similar trick like blues-man used, for example, when they were singing about them getting abused by their mean women.

...I wouldnt call it "wisely" if it makes 90% of audience feel against it just because the name reflects negative stuff. Its like naming the green party as "kill earth" because thats so supah wisely chosen tricky name that nobody understands!

[MidKnight]

It keeps potential voters out and it keeps stupid people out.

The question is, which is more valuable to you?

[TradeMark]

It keeps potential voters out and it keeps stupid people out.

it keeps everyone out? yeah supah smart.

[SpikedHelmet]

I'm so over it. Never voted before, never will. I'm interested to see if we can break a new record for lowest voter turnout in Canadian history.

[Gota]

Canada is so easy to live in nobody gives a shit about politics?
Sounds good.

[MidKnight]

It keeps potential voters out and it keeps stupid people out.

it keeps everyone out? yeah supah smart.

I'm so over it. Never voted before, never will. I'm interested to see if we can break a new record for lowest voter turnout in Canadian history.

I once saw an interesting clip about a famous economist's views on (not) voting.
It's quite interesting. I'll link you if I ever manage to find it.

[HectorMeyer]

The internet blocking law actually got completely scrapped a few days ago.

Link?

http://www.thelocal.de/national/20110406-34219.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zugangserschwerungsgesetz
The English wikipedia entry for the law seems outdated btw. The German wikipedia entry is much more comprehensive.

[SwiftSpear]

I really doubt the pirate party will be running a candidate in my area, but I'll vote for them if they are.

[dimm]

Its not really representative if it doesn't represent oddbals. I would definitely like to try the parliamentary system.