Daniel Hannan compares American and British/European politics

[Nakura Chambers]

I'm watching these now and they're incredibly interesting. Daniel Hannan is a British MEP for the Conservative Party and a long-time libertarian. In the videos he discusses the importance of open primaries in the United States, how political institutions shape culture and how America shouldn't follow the road to welfare-statehood that many European countries currently have. I'm interested in what you guys think?

[Mihalik]

Daniel Hannan is a joke. He is a slightly more eloquent British equivalent of Ted Cruz and ilk. He lives in a imaginary fictional world of his own, disconnected from reality pandering to the Eurosceptic faction of UK politics. Not to mention he has a disturbing hard on for the U.S.

The only thing in which he makes sense is the call for an electoral reform.

[Flutterguy]

Open primaries don't make sense when the primaries are designed to choose that party's candidate for the election.

[Nakura Chambers]

Open primaries don't make sense when the primaries are designed to choose that party's candidate for the election.

Why wouldn't they make sense? It allows the voters of each party choose who they want their candidate to be.

[Bakis]

Open primaries don't make sense when the primaries are designed to choose that party's candidate for the election.

You could swap primaries for primates and it would still make sense

[Kalis]

I'm watching these now and they're incredibly interesting. Daniel Hannan is a British MEP for the Conservative Party and a long-time libertarian. In the videos he discusses the importance of open primaries in the United States, how political institutions shape culture and how America shouldn't follow the road to welfare-statehood that many European countries currently have. I'm interested in what you guys think?

You have a strange fascination for British politicians, and I'm at a complete loss to understand why. Libertarianism isn't a thing in Britain, and any politician that described themself as such would be greeted by blank stares.

US politics and UK politics are utterly different; barring the more zealot card holding party members (and it's doubtful that you would ever meet any of them as all parties combined only have about 400,000 members, of which most are moderates), we generally vote for those whom we find slightly less repulsive than their opposite number, whereas you seem to actually like some of yours - Boris Johnson excepted, though that may be more for him than his policy views.

Hannan is just another Tory Euro-sceptic, eloquent but a decidely minor figure in UK politics.

[Austilias]

Weird that "Euro-Sceptic" is being used as an insult/slur when it is a completely viable, and reasonable, position to take.

Haven't heard of the guy before however, so will watch the videos and get back to you OP.

[Wells]

Man at CPAC says CPAC stuff. More at 11.

[Kalis]

You could swap primaries for primates and it would still make sense

We had one for Prime Minister - we didn't elect him, Tony Blair dumped him on us to make himself look better.

Gordon Brown...the man who could make vast quantities of gold disappear.

[Deleted]

Who is this guy OP is talking about?

[Kraenen]

his ideas aren't new or interesting or viable

[Noomz]

I'm sorry but I ain't gonna watch an hour of this guy talking about this that seem really whack.
What's the short version of it?

[Nakura Chambers]

You have a strange fascination for British politicians, and I'm at a complete loss to understand why. Libertarianism isn't a thing in Britain, and any politician that described themself as such would be greeted by blank stares.

US politics and UK politics are utterly different; barring the more zealot card holding party members (and it's doubtful that you would ever meet any of them as all parties combined only have about 400,000 members, of which most are moderates), we generally vote for those whom we find slightly less repulsive than their opposite number, whereas you seem to actually like some of yours - Boris Johnson excepted, though that may be more for him than his policy views.

Hannan is just another Tory Euro-sceptic, eloquent but a decidely minor figure in UK politics.

I never said that libertarians were a majority in Britain, or even close to it. Though Nigel Farage, a British classical liberal, is generally considered the most admired politician in Britain. I'm not a libertarian, nor do I claim to be, but a lot of what Daniel Hannan and Nigel Farage say resonate with me. I can't say that I'm particularly anti-EU, but I do understand the concerns that many Europeans have with the European Union.

You claim that classical liberal principles are almost non-existent in Britain, yet the UK Independence Party represents between 20% and 30% of the British population. While certainly many people are drawn to the UK Independence Party due to it's anti-EU stance, many of those people are being exposed to classical liberalism and in some cases even American-style libertarianism, for the first time. Not to mention these classical liberal views have attracted many young activists to the party and ideology.

[Kalis]

Who is this guy OP is talking about?

A columnist for the Torygraph and Nigel Farage-lite.

[Nakura Chambers]

A columnist for the Torygraph and Nigel Farage-lite.

He's also a Member of the European Parliament for South East England.

[Deleted]

A columnist for the Torygraph and Nigel Farage-lite.

Oh good, for a minute I thought he was important.

[Austilias]

A columnist for the Torygraph and Nigel Farage-lite.

Let's not get into British newspaper biases. For ever slur against the Daily Mail and Telegraph, there are an equal number of slurs against the New Statesman and Guardian.

[Deleted]

He's also a Member of the European Parliament for Southeast England.

So he has less political power than I do.

[Nakura Chambers]

So he has less political power than I do.

What sort of political power might you hold?

[Deleted]

What sort of political power might you hold?

A lot more than the guy you linked, I live in the SE of England and have never heard of him, shows how famous he is.