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It bothers me quite a lot that all across the world, the masses are showing unified discontent with liberal governments and friendly acceptance to fascism or fascism-light.
Canada, France, US, UK. All places that are notable opponents of the people who are good with seizing the reins of Western social media and bending it to the opinions that they'd prefer that people hold about their liberal governments.
dons tinfoil hat
I think it's all Russian propaganda hard at work. It just seems too systematic. You can almost predict what the next talking point/rhetoric is going to be. I've had several occasions where I've seen a comment online that really seems out there or needlessly inflammatory, and then watched that comment slowly get adopted and spread to the right, only to become the drum they bang for the next 6 months. It also all seemed to start 2015ish, which somewhat lines up with the Crimean invasion.
I think you are right. Unfortunately knowing what's going on is not going to help us. The propaganda worked and people are truly turning hard right and pro-Russia. Something that would have sounded insane during the cold war. Often the same topics: "tax money wasted on corrupt Ukraine", "against woke agenda", "LGBTQ gender insanity", "immigrants are criminals". I tried to talk to people, but any information that contradicts what they now think is "fake". There are still parts of the puzzle I don't get. What turned Trump and Elon to Putin? What might Putin possibly have on Trump that could damage him? Trump can truly shoot someone in the street and people would be ok with it, like he said so himself. Elon has all the money in the world and can buy who he wants. Is it a cooperation that benefits them all? That destabilizing the West helps Putin is obvious, I suspect that what Elon and Trump get out of it is just making money and enjoying power. Where this all will end. I hope less bad than I fear. Prepare for the worst though.
Fascist rhetoric does not require Russian propaganda to spread. If you feel this way because right-wing talking points and Russia tend to line up, that's because Russia's government is terribly right-wing and has been for decades. But correlation is not causation. Blaming Russia for its own fascist trending is perfectly correct; blaming the country for everyone's fascism problems is ridiculous.
Personally, I really dislike thinking like this. Blaming Russia for everything distracts us from problems our own countries made all on their own. It's an overly-simplistic answer to a complicated and wide-reaching set of problems, and prevents us from properly thinking about those issues.
There is definitely Russian propaganda, not that this is the only factor.
You're probably right, and I tried to acknowledge that my thinking was flawed by the donning of the tinfoil hat. You make some great points; i just abhor coincide, and pick at it like a dried scab. This sometimes leads me to the 'put everything in this square hole' approach (cue nerdy girl melting down).
The truth is probably somewhere in the middle: Russians meddling (and others) a bit when opportunities arise, because a right wing or destabilized west benefits them, with fascist groups emboldened as a result. There's probably more to it and this is a '4 am phone check response' and I'm going back to bed.
It’s largely reactionary. The world has seen a lot of progression in the last couple decades, but a lot of people aren’t feeling any benefits. In fact, many feel worse off because they see progressive policies as unfair to them. It’s always been a pendulum… My worry is that the pendulum seems to be swinging further to each side than we’ve seen in a long while. It’s really starting to feel like widespread unrest will give way to widespread uprising.
In Canada I don't think the majority really understand much at all about government. In my opinion, it seems like a chunk of the population just vote to spite the existing party and on feelings alone. Federally, the Canadian government has just flip-flopped every 2 or 3 terms back and forth.
The irony is that's likely a massive oversimplification on my part. But I think people are extremely ignorant. Hell I feel ignorant myself, and I would say I understand more than a lot of people.
Feel free to do something about it, Luigi.
Somehow I don't think taking to the streets and escalating the political violence between the people with all the money and power, and the rest of us, is going to lead us to the bright future I would like to imagine.
There's a reason the American Revolution wasn't organized along the lines of assassinating Tory leaders at random, and hoping that would do it. Freedom of association, protest, organization, and the press are guaranteed for a reason, and freedom to take shots at the leaders you don't like is not, also for a reason.
Then I guess we should get used to the way things are…
The better conclusion is that we have to organize against fascism. We can't depend on the odd Luigi to achieve anything alone. The value of actions like his is as a catalyst to working class solidarity and organized resistance.
Which will never happen. I wish it would. The only solution is the removal of billionaires and corporations who value profit over human lives.
Kill a billionaire, another takes his place. You have to make systemic change in order to actually remove billionaires from the equation. That requires a lot more than a bullet. Organizing will always be more effective.
Yes, I do agree that the real problem is systemic. The system rewards people for shitty things. Greed is a sickness.
But… at the moment the people at the top think “I can do whatever I want, and nothing will happen to me!” This part needs to change.
So, I am suggesting that, in addition to organizing and changing the system, we make a statement that says, “if you kill people for profit, you’re going to get shot,” among other fun phrases. The existing crop of billionaires need to wake up and worry if this is going to be the day they die. They need that real fear with them as they go make plans that impact people.
It worked for the French, more or less. We need to trim the fat.
Counter-offer: Vermont, New York, and some other states would make a fine addition to our current roster of provinces.
Minnesota is basically southern Canada already.
Take Washington and Oregon, maybe CA, too.
CASCADIA NOW!
Give Canada some ear flaps!!
Did you see what they did to Cascadia? Did you? I was there, almost crashed
Sure. I think we could make room for an 11th province.
4th territory.
As said elsewhere...
Pray that Trump doesn't discover the vindictiveness of Canadiands when our backs are against the wall.
There's an old saying:
Beware the quiet man
https://quotelyfe.com/beware-the-quiet-man-quote-explanation/
Last time the US invaded Canada the White House was promoted to a bonfire. And this was before they found out their favourite hobby is finding loopholes in international treaties regarding war crimes.
I don't trust our own right wingers not to be bought.