Off Topic Trumpy pumpy.

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Been thinking about this so much in the last couple of days, partly because my own political alignment seems to be all over the place like a geiger counter on acid, and partly because my wife just gave birth to my second child and I am not sleeping so well, so have had lots of time to mull this over......

Let me start by telling you a little about my political background (or lack thereof, until a couple of years ago).
My mums family is full of UKIP supporters, and my dad was a sweetheart, one of the kindest men you would ever meet. He was also a supporter of the BNP.
Now straight away that has ****ed with some of your brainwaves "BNP?, kindest man you will ever meet?....barrgggghhhh".
I was deeply disappointed when I found this out about my father, he was definitely not racist, at least not to my knowledge, he had black and Greek friends, he ran a pub and I never saw him refuse entry to anyone, look down on anyone or be horrible to anybody in that way....so naturally my thought process was something akin to yours right now reading this....."Da fuq?!"
At this point, this was my early 20's, I couldn't have given a rats ass about politics. Blair, Brown etc, these were all just people on my TV. Nothing they said or did ever had any effect on me.......I was nothing to them and they were nothing to me.....

Then something changed.
My first daughter was born. Around this time I started to become alarmed with the amount of footage released on the internet of US cops shooting and killing unarmed minorities, and through investigation of these incidents I found a Youtube channel called "The Young Turks".
https://www.youtube.com/user/TheYoungTurks

Essentially a left wing, progressive Internet news network, covering global issues from the liberal perspective.
And I was sucked in.....I bought it wholesale. I argued with family members over all kinds of ****. Pensions, racism, socialist issues, Social, financial and gender equality.
I felt righteous. And I felt angry when I saw what I perceived as injustice, wherever I may find it. And I took to doing what they do on the Young Turks and in fact what a lot of left wing libs do these days......I attacked the Right Wing. After all, they were Right Wing....they must all be Pro Gun, Anti Abortion, homophobic and against Gender Equality etc.
If there is anything the last 6 months has taught me it's this....The Left can be worse.
They come from a place of goodness, and of well meaning, but then in their zeal to promote equality, some of them can border of fascism.
"That's not right.....you WILL see things our way. It's the only way to go".

A lot of what I feel is covered in the video I posted earlier, and in some of the posts I put on the EU debate thread, but I will repeat myself here.
Its gone too far. We have outlawed racism and homophobia! Now again, your first thought is "Good!!", but no, in my opinion, not good at all.
Basically what you are doing is telling someone that what they feel, or what they believe in, is inherently evil and against the law, and because they think this, they must be punished. Not educated, but insulted, labeled and punished.

Take the example I set the other day.

I punch someone because he is fat, with no prior record, I get charged with assault and given 6 months probation.
I punch someone because he is black, with no prior record, I get charged with "Racially aggravated assault" and given 2 years in prison.
I punch someone because he is gay, with no prior record, I get charged with a "Hate crime" and sentenced to 2 years in prison.

See what's happened there? Same crime, but because the initial motivating factor behind the assault was different, the punishment changes.
And this isn't the fault of minorities, or black people, or Right Wingers.
It's left wingers, hard lefties that have done this.
Now, given what I have just said, do you think a racist, if he is charged with racial assault and sentenced to two years in prison, will see the light and become unracist?
Or see for himself that because the victim was blacked, his sentence was increased, confirming, in his mind, his racist rhetoric, that they are given special treatment and exalted above the majority and become angry, hateful, resentful, and double down on his current beliefs...

Which do you think is most likely?

When Right wing minded folk speak up they are shot down.
Because the cultural war was won by us (The left), and it is no longer acceptable to be homophobic, racist or misogynistic (rightly so), we feel that gives us a license to secrete our views everywhere, as rigid, unbendable and uncompromising gospel. And anyone who does not agree is scum ,or racist etc. If someone speaks out with a view we do not like, they are immediately insulted, mocked and shunned. Where does this leave them? We have blocked them from ever coming left with our self righteousness, so where can they go....only place they can....to the Right.

Yes there is Right wing press (Mail etc), but as I mentioned earlier. You know who the only people are who read Right wing press? Right Wingers! Do you know who the only people who read left wing press are? Left Wingers.
In terms of converting or enlightening anyone, they are useless and serve no purpose, for both sides, except to push a narrative their readers have already swallowed, hook, line and sinker.

Also if we give Extreme Right wingers the means to get their point across on TV, they will expose their own follies, take Nick Griffin on Question time, showed the whole world what a **** he was, and it effectively ended his career. If we try to silence anyone with thoughts that differ from ours, then that just makes you fascist!

I think it is time the extreme left realised that fervour of that intensity does not help our cause, quite the opposite, it hinders it.
By all means be passionate, no one will argue against you for that, some will even admire you for it.
But the day we tell everyone that its our way, or the highway, and damn your ****ing soul if you do not agree, is the day the Left will truly lose.

With Trump as the next President, the Tories in charge here, and facing a forthcoming Brexit.....we need to be as united as ever, to debate, to talk, to get our views across in ways that enlighten and excite, not shun and insult.

Long post and its 2am, im gonna attempt to sleep.

Congrats.
 
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Or the truth.
Yes, the truth.

Each side claiming at the time that the other were liars and their words were the truth. Thus confusing everyone and making sure that people voted with their instincts. "Surely these people cannot be blatantly lying, can they?" Of course they can and they have.
 
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Last nights post is what lots of beer and lack of sleep gets you :)
Seriously though, people bought into Right Wing minority blaming because they were indoctrinated into believing it, it's that simple.
And some of them can be undoctrinated.
Honestly, I agree with the Left, the Left is the way it has been going for years (Same sex marriage legalisation, decriminalisation of certain drugs (Weed in the US), No segregation, no slavery, inter racial marriages), its the way it needs to go, and it needs to go a little further left.
BUT, the way we get there, is NOT by pointing our finger at the right, telling them they are ****ing stupid, and that we are better than them, and that they can suck a dick and rot in hell........that never helped any cause.

It may seem like I am taking a ghandhi approach, and to an extent I am, but like Jonathan Pie said, Being "offended" doesn't work anymore, wagging your finger at them and telling them they are racist because they voted Brexit, or for Trump, doesn't work anymore.
We will win no one over with condescension. And if the last few months has taught us anything, it's that we need to win more people over, it's that the fight isn't done, there's more work required. And I think the current spate of Right Wing victories is testament to the fact that we are going about this all wrong. And more of the same is just going to create a bigger divide.
 
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Last nights post is what lots of beer and lack of sleep gets you :)
Seriously though, people bought into Right Wing minority blaming because they were indoctrinated into believing it, it's that simple.
And some of them can be undoctrinated.
Honestly, I agree with the Left, the Left is the way it has been going for years (Same sex marriage legalisation, decriminalisation of certain drugs (Weed in the US), No segregation, no slavery, inter racial marriages), its the way it needs to go, and it needs to go a little further left.
BUT, the way we get there, is NOT by pointing our finger at the right, telling them they are ****ing stupid, and that we are better than them, and that they can suck a dick and rot in hell........that never helped any cause.

It may seem like I am taking a ghandhi approach, and to an extent I am, but like Jonathan Pie said, Being "offended" doesn't work anymore, wagging your finger at them and telling them they are racist because they voted Brexit, or for Trump, doesn't work anymore.
We will win no one over with condescension. And if the last few months has taught us anything, it's that we need to win more people over, it's that the fight isn't done, there's more work required. And I think the current spate of Right Wing victories is testament to the fact that we are going about this all wrong. And more of the same is just going to create a bigger divide.

I have my doubts.
 
People vote with their gut not their brain.

How else do you explain more women voting for Trump than Romney?

People of that Welsh town so reliant on European Union funds yet voting overwhelmingly for Brexit?

The people of Sunderland so reliant on Nissan who had pleaded with their workers to vote remain as their cars are dependent on the single market?

The people of Boston decrying the foreign workers there yet are so dependent on the foreign labour force for their basic services?

Trump, Brexiteers and Tories assumed that the people were unthinking idiots and promised anything and went for emotional arguments and people basest instincts. And they were right and they won.

I don't want ever to hear that the electorate in the USA and the U.K are more sophisticated compared to those in say Thailand or Ghana or anywhere else in the developing world. If they can vote Trump as their leader and representative then any one can aspire to any position in the world.

Yes, the Americans couldn't give two hoots about the world but that doesn't mean that the world has not suddenly become a more unsafe place by their electing someone so unsuitable.

Simple, because of the alternative offered.
Hillary was a ridiculous candidate for the Democrats to try push on them. She is the symbol of all that is wrong in American politics, totally self serving (yes I know all politicians are self serving to a degree, but she is probably the worst example), corrupt, war mongering, completely out for corporate interests and nothing else.

As for the people of Sunderland and Boston dicking themselves over with the Brexit vote.
The reason they voted that way, is because when they voiced concerns over immigrants and the like, instead of being educated on why they were wrong, and why their economy needs those people, they were called stupid racists and told to shut the **** up, and probably received death threats........
Are you starting to see?
 
Last nights post is what lots of beer and lack of sleep gets you :)
Seriously though, people bought into Right Wing minority blaming because they were indoctrinated into believing it, it's that simple.
And some of them can be undoctrinated.
Honestly, I agree with the Left, the Left is the way it has been going for years (Same sex marriage legalisation, decriminalisation of certain drugs (Weed in the US), No segregation, no slavery, inter racial marriages), its the way it needs to go, and it needs to go a little further left.
BUT, the way we get there, is NOT by pointing our finger at the right, telling them they are ****ing stupid, and that we are better than them, and that they can suck a dick and rot in hell........that never helped any cause.

It may seem like I am taking a ghandhi approach, and to an extent I am, but like Jonathan Pie said, Being "offended" doesn't work anymore, wagging your finger at them and telling them they are racist because they voted Brexit, or for Trump, doesn't work anymore.
We will win no one over with condescension. And if the last few months has taught us anything, it's that we need to win more people over, it's that the fight isn't done, there's more work required. And I think the current spate of Right Wing victories is testament to the fact that we are going about this all wrong. And more of the same is just going to create a bigger divide.

I agree, being offended by everything and telling people that they can't have an opinion is getting us nowhere. We/they (politicians) need to be better, we need to offer better arguments.
 
I agree, being offended by everything and telling people that they can't have an opinion is getting us nowhere. We/they (politicians) need to be better, we need to offer better arguments.
The better arguments were there if you looked beyond the headline-grabbers. Anyone genuinely interested in making an informed decision could do so by reading or listening to serious analysts rather than the flag-wavers.
Or even, in the case of things like the £350m claim, just use a bit of common sense.
As I've said before, people see what they want to see, believe what they want to believe.
 
The better arguments were there if you looked beyond the headline-grabbers. Anyone genuinely interested in making an informed decision could do so by reading or listening to serious analysts rather than the flag-wavers.
Or even, in the case of things like the £350m claim, just use a bit of common sense.
As I've said before, people see what they want to see, believe what they want to believe.

And the reason they want to see that? the reason they only see the right wing headlines and don't look any further.
Is it

a) Because a majority of the planet are all racist, evil and nasty?
or
b) Because the left called them "****ing thick twats" and labelled them as racist for not being as educated in matters as they. When it gets to that, they will be on the opposite side to you of every argument by default, if being against you is wrong, then they don't want to be right.

Think about it?

And if you think they are all unreachable, and cannot be swayed, and want to write them off, does that not make you just as prejudiced as you claim them to be, and if no one can be swayed then why bother being politically active? You are resigning the world to Right wing rule.
 
Are you starting to see?
Think about it?

And if you think they are all unreachable, and cannot be swayed, and want to write them off, does that not make you just as prejudiced as you claim them to be, and if no one can be swayed then why bother being politically active? You are resigning the world to Right wing rule.
Stop being so patronising, Bod. :emoticon-0109-kiss: :)

I don't pretend to know for sure how other people's minds work, but a lot of experience has convinced me that people make up their minds according to their prejudices and then look for the facts that fit their pre-conceived ideas.
Of course the same accusation can be levelled at me - or you, or anyone. Which is why we have debate, but how many people ever seem to change their minds?
I don't think a majority of humanity is racist or nasty, but I do think humans are prone to be fearful of things we don't understand, and change that we ourselves didn't instigate can give a feeling of a loss of control.

As for your last paragraph: I'm quite happy to declare that I am a dyed-in-the-wool socialist - but by that I mean that I believe society should be working to achieve the best result for all its members, and not just the privileged few. Although I will continue to do my small bit to promote what I believe, I do think the current plutocracy will be very hard to shift. This isn't "resigning the world to right-wing rule" as you put - it's just recognising that it's going to take a lot more time to effect a real change.

A lot longer than I've got. :(
 
Stop being so patronising, Bod. :emoticon-0109-kiss: :)

I don't pretend to know for sure how other people's minds work, but a lot of experience has convinced me that people make up their minds according to their prejudices and then look for the facts that fit their pre-conceived ideas.
Of course the same accusation can be levelled at me - or you, or anyone. Which is why we have debate, but how many people ever seem to change their minds?
I don't think a majority of humanity is racist or nasty, but I do think humans are prone to be fearful of things we don't understand, and change that we ourselves didn't instigate can give a feeling of a loss of control.

As for your last paragraph: I'm quite happy to declare that I am a dyed-in-the-wool socialist - but by that I mean that I believe society should be working to achieve the best result for all its members, and not just the privileged few. Although I will continue to do my small bit to promote what I believe, I do think the current plutocracy will be very hard to shift. This isn't "resigning the world to right-wing rule" as you put - it's just recognising that it's going to take a lot more time to effect a real change.

A lot longer than I've got. :(

On Not606, none.
Or if they did they wouldn't say.
A football forum is not the place to sway someone politically, its a bunch of people posting funny **** to kill time at work.

You are right humans are fearful of things they do not understand. Which falls in line with my point, that the left, instead of helping them to understand, is insulting them, labelling them and driving them further right.
Its the way the left culture has evolved, into those social justice warriors. Every slight or comment is perceived as racist, we get bullshit terms like "cultural appropriation" in which a white person is labelled as racist if he gets dreadlocks. No he isnt racist, he just chose to look like a bell end.
 
On Not606, none.
Or if they did they wouldn't say.
A football forum is not the place to sway someone politically, its a bunch of people posting funny **** to kill time at work.

You are right humans are fearful of things they do not understand. Which falls in line with my point, that the left, instead of helping them to understand, is insulting them, labelling them and driving them further right.
Its the way the left culture has evolved, into those social justice warriors. Every slight or comment is perceived as racist, we get bullshit terms like "cultural appropriation" in which a white person is labelled as racist if he gets dreadlocks. No he isnt racist, he just chose to look like a bell end.
Well that's just bloody silly, isn't it?
Cultures are not static - they evolve constantly to reflect the influences on them. If we have a multi-ethnic community then there will inevitably be a blending of traditional cultures into something new.
Accusations of racism are far too glibly thrown about these days. They are often used in trivial ways which are insulting to those who do suffer from genuine discrimination.
 
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And the reason they want to see that? the reason they only see the right wing headlines and don't look any further.
Is it

a) Because a majority of the planet are all racist, evil and nasty?
or
b) Because the left called them "****ing thick twats" and labelled them as racist for not being as educated in matters as they. When it gets to that, they will be on the opposite side to you of every argument by default, if being against you is wrong, then they don't want to be right.

Think about it?

And if you think they are all unreachable, and cannot be swayed, and want to write them off, does that not make you just as prejudiced as you claim them to be, and if no one can be swayed then why bother being politically active? You are resigning the world to Right wing rule.

Because virtually all of the media in this country has a right wing bias.

The playing field is now massively lop sided, and the ring wing press are spouting their intolerance and xenophobia virtually unopposed.
 
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Because virtually all of the media in this country has a right wing bias.

The playing field is now massively lop sided, and the ring wing press are spouting their intolerance and xenophobia virtually unopposed.
The rags do......
But how many people do you know that still go to a newsagents and buy a newspaper?
Virtually no one I know under 40 buys newspapers.
And its not all the media, its the Mail and the other Murdoch rags.
There is plenty of alternative media to look at, but again, instead of showing it to people, and debating the issue, it devolves into a slagging match with one side, as they have the moral high ground, just condescending and insulting the other.
And again, I am not specifically talking about this website. This is a football website. I am talking in general.

The right wing press have their corporate agenda, in which they want to spread intolerance and the like.....and ancient fossils like Pete Saxton will eat it up, but you only have to speak to people to realise that not everyone, in fact hardly anyone, is racist, or xenophobic. They are just being constantly told they are and it's pissing them off.
 
Well that's just bloody silly, isn't it?
Cultures are not static - they evolve constantly to reflect the influences on them. If we have a multi-ethnic community then there will inevitably be a blending of traditional cultures into something new.
Accusations of racism are far too glibly thrown about these days. They are often used in trivial ways which are insulting to those who do suffer from genuine discrimination.

I know this, and you know this.....
but seriously, the far left has made this a thing.
So much that Kylie Jenner received death threats on Instagram for daring to post a picture of herself with Dreadlocks!
I mean FFS <doh>

You may scoff and say "huh huh Kardashians blah".
But do you think Kylie Jenner can side with the left now? After they sent her death threats. Its already had an effect on her.
Her sister Kim asked her and Kourtney to come to an Anti Gun rally, Kourtney agreed straight away, Kylie said she wouldn't do it. Because those same "Black Lives Matter" guys at those rallies had sent her death threats.....for having a haircut.

Again, yes its the Kardashians, but I am just using that as a public example of what happens to normal people every day. The left pushes them away with their zealotry.
How could you ever side with a group, of which people claim to respresent that group, said they would petrol bomb your house and called you a racist ugly ****? Its just not realistic to expect that is it?
 
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I know this, and you know this.....
but seriously, the far left has made this a thing.
So much that Kylie Jenner received death threats on Instagram for daring to post a picture of herself with Dreadlocks!
I mean FFS <doh>

You may scoff and say "huh huh Kardashians blah".
But do you think Kylie Jenner can side with the left now? After they sent her death threats. Its already had an effect on her.
Her sister Kim asked her and Kourtney to come to an Anti Gun rally, Kourtney agreed straight away, Kylie said she wouldn't do it. Because those same "Black Lives Matter" guys at those rallies had sent her death threats.....for having a haircut.

Again, yes its the Kardashians, but I am just using that as a public example of what happens to normal people every day. The left pushes them away with their zealotry.
How could you ever side with a group, of which people claim to respresent that group, said they would petrol bomb your house and called you a racist ugly ****? Its just not realistic to expect that is it?
I have no idea who Kylie Jenner is. :) Though sadly I've heard of the Kardashians.
 
The better arguments were there if you looked beyond the headline-grabbers. Anyone genuinely interested in making an informed decision could do so by reading or listening to serious analysts rather than the flag-wavers.
Or even, in the case of things like the £350m claim, just use a bit of common sense.
As I've said before, people see what they want to see, believe what they want to believe.
That's part of the problem and something we/they need to learn. People don't look beyond the headline grabbers. The left sit in the background assuming it'll all be OK instead of getting out there and campaigning for votes.
 
How could you ever side with a group, of which people claim to respresent that group, said they would petrol bomb your house and called you a racist ugly ****? Its just not realistic to expect that is it?
What we have to beware of is extrapolating the actions of a few to the beliefs of the many. You can't condemn all Muslims as terrorists because of the actions of a few zealots, or all Germans for WWII, or whatever.
All beliefs or causes will be perverted by extremists to use for their own ends, but that doesn't mean the cause is bad or misguided.
You'd think most intelligent people could differentiate between the rights of an historically disadvantaged group to equality and its proprietary claim over a hairstyle.
I think these things are just trivial matters used as an excuse for the expression of the deep racial divide that still exists in parts of the US.

Using anecdotes of the "Looney Left" is a right-wing media tactic which shouldn't be allowed to distort people's understanding of a movement which is absolutely necessary for social progress and justice.

Exaggerated, or entirely spurious, claims about EU bureaucracy were used to influence people in the run-up to the referendum - many of which could easily have been investigated with a little effort.
To claim we weren't informed well enough is, to me, an abrogation of responsibility. It's up to each of us to make sure we have as much information as possible in order to make such an important decision.
 
What we have to beware of is extrapolating the actions of a few to the beliefs of the many. You can't condemn all Muslims as terrorists because of the actions of a few zealots, or all Germans for WWII, or whatever.
All beliefs or causes will be perverted by extremists to use for their own ends, but that doesn't mean the cause is bad or misguided.
You'd think most intelligent people could differentiate between the rights of an historically disadvantaged group to equality and its proprietary claim over a hairstyle.
I think these things are just trivial matters used as an excuse for the expression of the deep racial divide that still exists in parts of the US.

Using anecdotes of the "Looney Left" is a right-wing media tactic which shouldn't be allowed to distort people's understanding of a movement which is absolutely necessary for social progress and justice.

Exaggerated, or entirely spurious, claims about EU bureaucracy were used to influence people in the run-up to the referendum - many of which could easily have been investigated with a little effort.
To claim we weren't informed well enough is, to me, an abrogation of responsibility. It's up to each of us to make sure we have as much information as possible in order to make such an important decision.

And yet people did and still do.
We weren't well enough informed on the Eu vote.
Simply because there wasn't enough unbiased information available for people to be.
And no one knows/knew the exact consequences of Brexit, even now a lot of it is still up in the air.

I am not just talking about "Looney left", either.
Even the most normal of Left Wing people can and do become militant, when they get frustrated that people cannot see the truth, I know, I have done it myself.
One only needs to look at the EU debate thread in the PL board to see what has happened. It has become fractured into two cliques of folk, neither willing to listen to the other, despite all the evidence presented, on both sides.
 
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