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by pmalynin 3602 days ago
"One of Europe’s most radical political parties" I find the language a bit off putting. It puts the Pirate Party along "Golden Dawn", other various extremist groups etc. that all get grouped under "radical political parties."

The choice of language describing a liberal, democratic party seems Orwellian.

2 comments

Radical for many decades meant revolutionary (as opposed to reactionary)/anarchist/green/counterculture/etc. It's where calling something 'rad' as a compliment came from. A wide category in which the pirate party firmly fits. Anything sufficiently outside the mainstream business-as-usual. It wouldn't be inappropriate to refer to the Sanders campaign in the US as 'radical'. I don't think it's Orwellian at all -- I think assuming 'radical' == fascist is eyebrow-raising and missing historical context.
As "radical" as the Greens in many countries...