United Commonwealth Society

[Yorky]

Why was the name changed from FCS to UCS in the first place? (Are there links anyone can point me to where this was discussed? Probably not, due to the change of forum...)

I do think United Commonwealth Society is somewhat misleading: I don't believe it's a general goal of the society to unite the Commonwealth, is it? I also think changing the C to mean CANZUK is too restrictive, however.

I'd like a broader name that could be inclusive of all Anglo-Saxon, English speaking, Westminster governed, people: but I can't think of anything that sounds neither too British, too wishy-washy, racist, or Anglo-Israeli...

[Kevin]

I think that the aim of the Commonwealth was to be something more substantive than just to be a collection of ex-members of the British Empire. The Commonwealth was supposed to represent a commitment to the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy, the English common law system which protects individual rights and freedoms, a generally free enterprise economy and free trade. The CANZUK countries (and the British Overseas Territories) do represent that commitment. It is unfortunate that many Commonwealth countries do not. Therefore I don't think that there is anything misleading about the name. The problem is that many Commonwealth countries do not comply with these requirements

However that issue aside, I do think that there are far more important issues facing us as a group. I think that we need to focus our attention on getting our message across to the general public, increasing membership, encouraging general levels of activity rather than another debate about name change.

[Yorky]

Amen to that brother.

[DHLawrence]

I'm not sure what the reason for the name change was (it was before my time), but I think that United gives a better sense of what we're about than Federated. Federated only really implies one end--a federation of the big four dominions (and any others deemed appropriate as circumstances warrant)--while United is a little more open and flexible. It could mean anything from stronger trade ties to a Nordic Council style union to a more meaningful Commonwealth overall. We can support any pro-Commonwealth measure with no trouble.

[Nick]

DHL is quite correct. The name change was to imply a wider and more flexible remit than just federation.

[DHLawrence]

Nick! You're back from the dead!

[PatQ]

I must say It does need to be specific. Is it some of the Commonwealth or all of the Commonwealth ?

[DHLawrence]

That's currently up for debate among our members. Some want it to be only the four countries illustrated in my logo, some would like it extended to all the Realms, and others would welcome other Commonwealth nations based on specific criteria. Right now we're mainly interested in the CANZUK countries, and once they're on board we'll move from there.