Mouseland

Cat and Mouse Capitalism.

The video below was shown at the Committee for a Workers' International Summer School 2009 as an introduction the discussion on Europe in crisis and the fight for new mass workers parties.

It was produced by the Canadian New Democratic Party (NDP) and is based on a speech by Tommy Douglas, one of the founders of the NDP. The speech and accompanying cartoon gives an amusing illustration of the political situation both then and today, with competing capitalist parties vying for government, all of which represent the interests of the fat cat capitalists.

Unfortunately - and ironically - in the modern day the NDP is itself engaged in capitalist coalitionism and fails to put forward a clear working class alternative.

The CWI stands for the creation of new mass parties, based on the struggles of workers and youth and opposed to the cat and mouse capitalist system.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• CWI
• Socialism
• Socialist Party
• Anticapitalism

[ProperTidy]

Read the blurb Einstein. The whole point is that the NDP betrayed Tommy Douglas' legacy, stopped representing ordinary working class people, and became just like every other party - pro-capitalist, pro-big business, pro-ruling class and anti-working class. So I wouldn't disagree with your rant at all. Also, I'm not a Canadian and I'm not NDP. I just recognise a great speech when I hear it.

[HalifaxHercules]

The Mouseland analogy is actually a political allegory as the black cats and white cats draw parallelisms to Canada's traditional cadre parties including Conservatives and Liberals in it for power and not the people, and the mice formed mass party parelling the ND.

In Canadian politics, what it means is if people are unhappy with Tories, they vote Liberal, but unhappy with Liberal, vote Tories, and the cycle goes on.

They don't realize that there's a third choice, the NDP.

[HalifaxHercules]

@simontimon2 Not all NDP Governments have ended in failure.

Saskatchewan and Manitoba operated under numerous NDP Governments, and done very well.

Nova Scotia now has an NDP Government, and they are doing a great job managing the province. The main reason is that Nova Scotia's NDP is more of a "3rd way" or centrist party than their traditional NDP counterparts in Ontario, BC, Saskatchewan, or Manitoba.

[simontimon2]

f ck you new New Democratic you ran british columbia into the ground and created 10% unemployment.

your justs a bunch of cats dressed as mice.