Re: <nettime> How right wing are the Pirates?

[Alex Foti <alex.foti@gmail.com>]

Thanks Felix for posing this timely question. After 3 months on the
international list of pirate parties my idea is that there are
significant national variations among parties even on ideological
issues concerning immaterial property and individual freedoms, but
taht the swedish pirate party (the leader) is somewhat centerleft as
shown by their joining the green group in the European parliament.
Like the greens 20 years ago they think beyond left and right can
boost their electoral fortunes. I think it's right to say that pirate
party's constituency can be seen as ranging from free-market
libertarian to civil rights liberals to cyberanarchists. The
leadership is certainly liberal and entrepreneurial (bourgeois) but it
seems to me that voters are on average to the left of the party
leadership. Also police aggressions like the one in berlin during the
pirate party demo (reactions on the list ranged from the enraged to
the minimizers) could polarize pirates in a more antigovernmental
stance. I also think many voters for the pirates would have not cast
the ballot otherwise. It's a strong political trend in europe and
we're just at the beginning, i think: down with copyright!

pirates ahoy: but purple (sweden), orange (germany) or black (finland)?

best ciaos,

lx





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