5 Stupid Political Parties
I’m not sure whether it’s a measure of apathy in the face of imminent enviro-disaster, a factor of our cat-picture-shrunken attention spans, or the information revolution enabling the viral spread of fringe ideas. But there’s a whole lot of really stupid political parties flourishing today. And I don’t just mean UKIP, the bunch of right-wing loons which may (ulp!) end up holding the balance of power at the UK general election later this year. Here’s five of the stupidest.
Australian Sex Party
The Australian Sex Party hit the headlines lately when Fiona Patten, its only elected representative, called for a Bali boycott on behalf of the Bali Nine, and attempted to intervene with the UN on their behalf. An offshoot of the sex industry lobby group, Eros (of which Patten is CEO), the Sex Party campaigns for all sorts of good, liberal things: euthanasia, marriage equality, decriminalisation of substances, secularisation and anti-discrimination. Yet it is rather handicapped not only by its name, which Patten presumably finds a tad cumbersome when attempting to engage the UN, but the industry backing that underpins its campaign to decriminalise prostitution.
Pirate Party
The Pirate Party began as a single-issue Swedish party, focussed on “copyright reform” and freedom from censorship – aka piracy, a la Pirate Bay. Today, its German branch, which polled at an impressive 13% in the runup to their federal elections only to collapse spectacularly, has an MEP – who is working on copyright reform. Fair enough. Yet in an act that’s likely to exclude most under-35-year-olds from any form of democratic participation, and is clearly prone to, umm, manipulation, they’d like to make policy through online chat rooms.
Grassroots Party
A single issue party, devoted to drug decriminalisation, this Minnesota-based bunch fielded Jack Herer (a cannabis activist who’s had a strain of weed named after him) as a presidential candidate twice over. They’re also extremely het-up about corporations, and the US government treating them like people. Despite being founded in the 1980s, this lot are very much a product of 60s and 70s counter-culture.
Monster Raving Loony Party
The poor old Monster Raving Loony Party, a bunch of self-consciously “wacky”, ageing, white British males are losing out to UKIP, who, they complain, stole not only their political colours but their headline-grabbing stupid policies. It hasn’t really been the same since poor old Screaming Lord Sutch killed himself in 1999.
Prohibition Party
Boy, I’d love to party with these guys, and their key message of: “Character, Hope, Tradition.” And, yes, they are indeed in favour of bringing back the prohibition of alcohol. Founded in 1869, the Prohibition Party has been flogging this dead horse for generations, and overcame vicious infighting to poll just shy of 600 votes for their last presidential candidate. They’re ‘Murican, natch.