gordon brown

for those of you outside the uk, who is gordon brown? he is currently the chancellor of the exchequer in the labour government, and expected to succeed tony blair as prime minister of the united kingdom in the near future. he is presenting the budget today, and is therefore under particular scrutiny.

is he really a "stalinist", as stated in the news yesterday? and what does that mean in any case?

if you look at the independent's comment, one might surmise that they are inferring totalitarian behaviour, and using (or, i think, misusing) the term stalinist to indicate the socialist bent of the chancellor. i don't think, however, that they are criticising him for being a socialist, since he is the #2 in the labour party :-) on the other hand, it is a much more evocative term than 'authoritarian', more evil than 'control freak'.

then again, as the independent notes:

"Lord Turnbull said yesterday he had been speaking off the record but in a BBC Radio 4 programme on the civil service under New Labour to be broadcast tomorrow, he says too much power has been developed at the centre of government."

thus, perhaps, the government is being criticised for the corruption of its socialist roots. that, however, is very old news, because this is, of course, new labour.

how much longer will i remain an anachronistic idealist who still hopes that one day we can find a way to make "from each according to her/his ability, to each according to his/her need" a viable social policy? *sigh*