ISSUE 3 of Nation – the Newsletter of Nations without States – appeared just prior to the EU Referendum held towards the end of last month. It campaigned for a Leave vote on the grounds of ‘National, Political and Economic Self-Determination.’

As we know, the vast majority of Britons – 52% or nearly 17 ½ million people – voted to get out of the EU – although this popular expression of democracy is currently under attack from elitist bigots, haters and the intolerant.

This review of Nation was written – from a National Liberal perspective – by Liam Clarke. It was also written before the EU Referendum. Liam has reviewed several NLP publications before. He is a free thinker and, as can be seen below, presents a highly original (and certainly non-conformist!) point of view..

Left: Anti-democracy march held by supporters of the Remain campaign. These protestors don’t seem to know the fundamental difference between Europe and the EU. Europe is a Continent whereas the EU is a political entity – effectively a Superstate or Empire in waiting. Right: Issue 3 of Nations provides an alternative vision for the nations and peoples of Europe.

I DON’T KNOW about the reader, but I’m certainly exasperated by the constant bickering between the Leave and Remain campaign in the run up to June 23rd.  As a National Liberal it is my belief that the European Union is not justified, but I believe loving Europe is more than justified! National Liberals must not be silent on this issue, and nowhere in this issue of Nation is there an anti-European message.  Indeed, it promotes real freedom, real belief and real free speech.

THREE MONTHS AGO we reproduced an article – http://nationalliberal.org/disability-a-voice-for-change – by West Midlands based Simon Stevens. It was originally published a year ago by the well-known online publication the Huffington Post.

In the interest of sparking further debate relating to disability issues, we now reproduce an earlier article (from May of last year) which looks at how the media portrays disabled folks. Mr. Stevens concentrates on TV – probably the most powerful media of all – and notes that whilst disabled people feature here, their impairment is used as symbolism for traits like helplessness and vengeance. ‘They reinforce the notion disability is either something to pity, or a reason to dislike the world and take revenge, especially in terms of being a supervillain.’

This suggests that elements of the media are working to their own agenda when they should really be making a true and accurate record of the events of the day. However, this media distortion isn’t just limited to those with disabilities. It’s also when it comes to reporting or portraying political parties – especially groups like ourselves who go way beyond the traditional ‘left/right’ divide.

With this in mind, one of the key aims of the National Liberal Party is to build the infrastructure of an alternative mass media of news, information and entertainment. We feel that this is the only way that any ‘alternative’ group will get their voice heard. And to build this alternative media we need to recruit hundreds of dedicated activists who will help us build a powerful, organisationally sound and fanatically determined movement that can challenge the establishment media.

Please note that there is no official link between the National Liberal Party and Simon Stevens. Thus, it should not be taken that Simon endorses the NLP or that we unconditionally support everything that he writes. Please take time out to check his website www.simonstevens.com You can also follow him on Twitter: www.twitter.com/simonstevens74

As usual, we’d appreciate any feedback on this article. When it appears on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/52739504313/ leave your thoughts in the comments section.

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From disability issues to politics the TV controls the minds of many people.

Just Having More Disabled People on TV Is Not Enough

FOR AS LONG as I can remember, one of the complaints from all corners I have heard is that there is not enough disabled people on television. While this can often feel the case, the reality is television has always included and portrayed people with a range of impairments, it is however just not in the way we may like.

Television and literature is full of disabled characters, although we may not obviously relate to them as disabled people, and includes people like Captain Hook, Tiny Tim, Ironside, many James Bond villains and the list goes on.  The problem with these characters is that their impairment is used as symbolism for traits like helplessness and vengeance.  They reinforce the notion disability is either something to pity, or a reason to dislike the world and take revenge, especially in terms of being a supervillain.

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FORMER LABOUR MP Tony Benn died in 2014 aged 89.  Whilst the National Liberal Party didn’t agree with everything he said or did, we view him as a ‘point of reference.’  By this we mean that he said some interesting things and provided many useful observations.

The above video is a case in point (click on the pic to take you to the video).  Here, Tony Benn (shortly before his death) emotionally explains how the EU is undemocratic – whereby all the key positions are appointed – and has effectively become a tool of the ‘bankers and multinational corporations.’ He also notes that the EU is ‘building an Empire.’

We agree with his analysis.  For the NLP, the acid test for any form of international co-operation has to be an adherence to the principles of self-determination and democracy. And this adherence to self-determination and democracy comes way before any form of economic consideration.

Therefore, any nation and its people must be allowed to govern – without any outside interference – in accordance with their own traditions, customs and way of life.  In addition, officials (and in particular, politicians) must be both elected and directly accountable to the electorate.

With this in mind we find that the EU is sadly lacking.  We feel that the EU sees itself as a Superstate – or an ‘Empire’ as Tony Benn calls it.  This is completely incompatible with self-determination and democracy – both in theory and practice.  As Tony Benn notes towards the end of the video ‘they want us to be part of that Empire and I don’t want that.’

For the record, the National Liberal Party has no problem with other any European nation or people.  Indeed, we are very proud to be Europeans.  However, Europe and the EU are completely different entities – and we have real problems with the EU.

That’s why, on 23^rd June we’re asking for all Britons and nations within the UK to vote to Leave the EU!

• MANY PEOPLE believe that the forthcoming EU Referendum effectively boils down to the elites (consisting of big business, the banks, multinational corporations and their tame politicians) verses the people.  With this in mind, we’d urge all those who oppose the EU to support these three Facebook sites which champion the rights and interests of ordinary working families:

British Workers Against The EU https://www.facebook.com/britishworkersagainsteu/?fref=nf

EU Referendum – In Or Out? https://www.facebook.com/groups/1691709351061421/

Global Markets Free Nations https://www.facebook.com/globalmarketsfreenations/?fref=ts

American distributists have produced this leaflet which opposes both capitalism and socialism. It proposed a distributist economy based on ‘family-owned and cooperative businesses.’

‘Distributism is a political philosophy based on the contention that a just and sustainable social order can only exist in which the ownership of property and the means of production, distribution and exchange are widespread.’

AS FAR as we’re aware, the National Liberal Party is the only political party in Britain which advocates Distributism. Everyone appears to be wedded to the false ‘left/right’ status quo. Therefore, it’s up to National Liberals to make the electorate aware that our distributist alternative exists – and it’s an alternative that goes way beyond the tired old ideas of both capitalism and socialism.

We believe that capitalism and socialism are simply different sides of the same coin. As one of our recent articles – http://nationalliberal.org/

distributism-beyond-capitalism-socialism – noted:

Capitalism ‘upholds private ownership of the means of production but concentrates it in the hands of the few, thus leaving the greater portion of the population with no choice but to sell the only thing that they own, their labour, in exchange for the means of subsistence.’

On the other hand, socialism (or its impatient twin, communism) ‘rejects private ownership of productive property in favour of collective ownership, whether this collective ownership be entrusted to the State or to a series of smaller community bodies.’

Distributism on the other hand supports ‘the institution of private ownership, but insists that this ownership must be generally apportioned so that as many people as possible may enjoy their own share in the productive property of the nation.’

As distributists we cannot really understand why so many people believe that capitalism and socialism are polar opposites. At the end of the day people end up working for a private boss – capitalism – or some form of party boss – socialism.

In short, distributism provides a way of opposing both the tyranny of the marketplace (capitalism) and the tyranny of the state (socialism) by promoting a society of owners.  Capitalism allows the concentration of ownership in the hands of a few.  Socialism tries to deny any form of private ownership. Distributism aims to create a community of free men and women.

• CHECK out the National Liberals Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/52739504313/?fref=nf