Off Topic Politics Thread

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The US also has a genuine culture war going on.

They have genuine racial tension.
They have a war on women’s rights over their own bodies.
They have intense conflict over basics like sex education.
They have a system that separates church and state that isn’t working, as religious ideology dominates policy.

100% agree which is why it is sad that UK groups try to bring American style activism over here when the problem here is much different.
 
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Someone taking a Rush song lyrics and adpating them to their cartoon?

There is unrest in the forest
Trouble with the trees
For the maples want more sunlight
And the oaks ignore their pleas

The trouble with the maples
(And they're quite convinced they're right)
They say the oaks are just too lofty
And they grab up all the light
But the oaks can't help their feelings
If they like the way they're made
And they wonder why the maples
Can't be happy in their shade

There is trouble in the forest
And the creatures all have fled
As the maples scream, "Oppression"
And the oaks just shake their heads

So the maples formed a union
And demanded equal rights
They say, "The oaks are just too greedy
We will make them give us light"
Now there's no more oak oppression
For they passed a noble law
And the trees are all kept equal
By hatchet, axe, and saw

That was my first thought too!
 
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Someone taking a Rush song lyrics and adapting them to their cartoon?

There is unrest in the forest
Trouble with the trees
For the maples want more sunlight
And the oaks ignore their pleas

The trouble with the maples
(And they're quite convinced they're right)
They say the oaks are just too lofty
And they grab up all the light
But the oaks can't help their feelings
If they like the way they're made
And they wonder why the maples
Can't be happy in their shade

There is trouble in the forest
And the creatures all have fled
As the maples scream, "Oppression"
And the oaks just shake their heads

So the maples formed a union
And demanded equal rights
They say, "The oaks are just too greedy
We will make them give us light"
Now there's no more oak oppression
For they passed a noble law
And the trees are all kept equal
By hatchet, axe, and saw
It's a Turkish proverb, nothing to do with Canadian rock bands.
 
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The US also has a genuine culture war going on.

They have genuine racial tension.
They have a war on women’s rights over their own bodies.
They have intense conflict over basics like sex education.
They have a system that separates church and state that isn’t working, as religious ideology dominates policy.

No, they have a woke mind virus problem. People who have been taught to be victims and hate themselves & their country.

America is the most affluent nation in the world. If someone can’t make it there then they can’t make it anywhere, unfortunately.
 
It's exactly what happened in Canada. The Progressive Conservatives (a strange anachronism of a name) got wiped out in 1993, with our own Reform Party coming to the fore. The two later merged, but with the Reform types holding most of the power.

The good news is that one of the factors that allowed that to happen isn't likely to present here. Canadian Reform was very much a regional party initially, based in the Prairies, so they were able to build a sizable caucus from a fairly meagre percentage of the popular vote. Farage's outfit doesn't have the same advantage, so there's every chance that their surge in popular vote translates to perhaps a couple seats.

I’m by no means a Canadian politics expert, but wasn’t Harper seen as more of a pragmatist and less divisive as someone like Farage? So more able to command a broad church style leadership?
 
No, they have a woke mind virus problem. People who have been taught to be victims and hate themselves & their country.

America is the most affluent nation in the world. If someone can’t make it there then they can’t make it anywhere, unfortunately.
Where do you get this stuff from? The US is just about the most patriotic planet on Earth. So much so that in deifying the state they meet one of the criteria for fascism.
America is also a country with one of the greatest divisions between rich and poor. The wealthy are very wealthy and the poor are very very poor. The American dream is a myth used to keep the poor man in his place. The USA may be one of the richest but is 27th for social mobility. Most European countries have better social mobility.

What is this woke mind virus? Sounds like the kind of thing people too insecure to deal with social change say. Was it a woke mind problem when the suffragette (branded filth by people who would today attack wokism) fought for change to gender perception? Was it a woke mind problem when we stopped imprisoning gay men (branded filth by people who would today attack wokism) for being gay? Was it a woke mind problem when we stopped burning people at the stake for not being Christians (branded… you get the point)?
 
Where do you get this stuff from? The US is just about the most patriotic planet on Earth. So much so that in deifying the state they meet one of the criteria for fascism.
America is also a country with one of the greatest divisions between rich and poor. The wealthy are very wealthy and the poor are very very poor. The American dream is a myth used to keep the poor man in his place. The USA may be one of the richest but is 27th for social mobility. Most European countries have better social mobility.

What is this woke mind virus? Sounds like the kind of thing people too insecure to deal with social change say. Was it a woke mind problem when the suffragette (branded filth by people who would today attack wokism) fought for change to gender perception? Was it a woke mind problem when we stopped imprisoning gay men (branded filth by people who would today attack wokism) for being gay? Was it a woke mind problem when we stopped burning people at the stake for not being Christians (branded… you get the point)?
I believe Elon Musk came up with the term “woke mind virus”. And he is deified on the right for his actions with Twitter and for being a super wealthy businessman
 
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I believe Elon Musk came up with the term “woke mind virus”. And he is deified on the right for his actions with Twitter and for being a super wealthy businessman

"AFTER GIVING ONE of the last interviews Tucker Carlson would air before his unceremonious firing by Fox News, and a surprise sit-down with a BBC reporter, Elon Musk graced the studio of HBO’s Real Time With Bill Maher to further discuss his recent ups and downs as head of Twitter. Their conversation, which aired on Friday night, included a strained discussion of the imaginary “woke mind virus” that both men worry is ruining younger generations."
Two twats talking bollocks. Some extracts from:-
https://www.rollingstone.com/cultur...l-maher-interview-woke-mind-virus-1234725788/
"Maher introduced Musk as “the man who made the electric car a thing,” then added, “he also tweets a lot.” At the beginning of the interview, the compliments flowed freely, with Maher calling his guest a “genius” as well as a prime mover of history — who can also enjoy a laugh now and then. Musk professed his admiration for Maher’s show. “I love it that you have a sense of humor,” Maher said, contrasting him with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, “who I’m not even sure is a real boy.” Musk ate up the flattery, saying that he loves comedy, and referenced his own attempts to be funny online. When Maher said that Musk deals the cards of societal change, Musk answered, “I deal some memes, too,” cracking himself up as he pantomimed selling illicit goods from the inner folds of his jacket."

"Maher also pressed Musk, on two separate occasions, to explain what he calls the “woke mind virus,” which the multi-company CEO perceives as an existential threat to civilization. Each time, Musk appeared to struggle with the question, at first declaring that the “virus” was anything “anti-meritocratic” or suppressive of free speech, complaining that “you can’t question things.” He equated it to “cancel culture,” noting that Maher has often faced criticism for his commentary."

"In the second exchange, when Maher asked where the supposed “woke mind virus” comes from, Musk stammered even more, then said, “I think it’s been going on for a while. The amount of indoctrination that’s happening in schools and universities is I think far beyond what parents realize.” He shared an anecdote about a friend’s high school-aged children only knowing that George Washington was the first president of the United States and a slave owner — but nothing else about him. “That is the woke mind virus, exactly,” Maher said, before lightly defending slavery as something practiced by many societies and endorsed in the Bible. He also failed to challenge Musk’s description of students learning historical fact as “indoctrination.”
 
I’m by no means a Canadian politics expert, but wasn’t Harper seen as more of a pragmatist and less divisive as someone like Farage? So more able to command a broad church style leadership?

He was less divisive than Farage, certainly, but his 2015 campaign in particular was still pretty divisive: leaned heavily into jingoism and involved some pretty inflammatory tactics, including a pretty revolting George Bush-esque with-us-or-against-us campaign around bill C-51. Which produced lovely stuff such as this, from a Conservative MP:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/mani...p-lawrence-toet-called-preposterous-1.2990095
 
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Where do you get this stuff from? The US is just about the most patriotic planet on Earth. So much so that in deifying the state they meet one of the criteria for fascism.
America is also a country with one of the greatest divisions between rich and poor. The wealthy are very wealthy and the poor are very very poor. The American dream is a myth used to keep the poor man in his place. The USA may be one of the richest but is 27th for social mobility. Most European countries have better social mobility.

What is this woke mind virus? Sounds like the kind of thing people too insecure to deal with social change say. Was it a woke mind problem when the suffragette (branded filth by people who would today attack wokism) fought for change to gender perception? Was it a woke mind problem when we stopped imprisoning gay men (branded filth by people who would today attack wokism) for being gay? Was it a woke mind problem when we stopped burning people at the stake for not being Christians (branded… you get the point)?

All of the issues you raised have been solved.

The way I see it, in politics through history, there is a pendulum that swings from left to right, in a sinusoidal pattern.

We are now way past the tipping point where liberalism served its purpose of equality of input.

We have come so far in society that we are at the point where the liberals are now wrong and the conservatives are correct to want to protect society and traditional values.

You still seem to think we are in the 60s/70s (the 1860s).

If you zoom out to modern day, we live in easily the most tolerant society there has ever been, where opportunity is more abundant than it has ever been.

The woke mind virus is this victim mindset which is teaching people that they live in an evil white patriarchy.
 
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"AFTER GIVING ONE of the last interviews Tucker Carlson would air before his unceremonious firing by Fox News, and a surprise sit-down with a BBC reporter, Elon Musk graced the studio of HBO’s Real Time With Bill Maher to further discuss his recent ups and downs as head of Twitter. Their conversation, which aired on Friday night, included a strained discussion of the imaginary “woke mind virus” that both men worry is ruining younger generations."
Two twats talking bollocks. Some extracts from:-
https://www.rollingstone.com/cultur...l-maher-interview-woke-mind-virus-1234725788/
"Maher introduced Musk as “the man who made the electric car a thing,” then added, “he also tweets a lot.” At the beginning of the interview, the compliments flowed freely, with Maher calling his guest a “genius” as well as a prime mover of history — who can also enjoy a laugh now and then. Musk professed his admiration for Maher’s show. “I love it that you have a sense of humor,” Maher said, contrasting him with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, “who I’m not even sure is a real boy.” Musk ate up the flattery, saying that he loves comedy, and referenced his own attempts to be funny online. When Maher said that Musk deals the cards of societal change, Musk answered, “I deal some memes, too,” cracking himself up as he pantomimed selling illicit goods from the inner folds of his jacket."

"Maher also pressed Musk, on two separate occasions, to explain what he calls the “woke mind virus,” which the multi-company CEO perceives as an existential threat to civilization. Each time, Musk appeared to struggle with the question, at first declaring that the “virus” was anything “anti-meritocratic” or suppressive of free speech, complaining that “you can’t question things.” He equated it to “cancel culture,” noting that Maher has often faced criticism for his commentary."

"In the second exchange, when Maher asked where the supposed “woke mind virus” comes from, Musk stammered even more, then said, “I think it’s been going on for a while. The amount of indoctrination that’s happening in schools and universities is I think far beyond what parents realize.” He shared an anecdote about a friend’s high school-aged children only knowing that George Washington was the first president of the United States and a slave owner — but nothing else about him. “That is the woke mind virus, exactly,” Maher said, before lightly defending slavery as something practiced by many societies and endorsed in the Bible. He also failed to challenge Musk’s description of students learning historical fact as “indoctrination.”

Musk is a genius and everything he’s said here is correct.

Elon musk will be remembered as (possibly) the only true great/visionary from our time, like Newton / Da Vinci / Einstein etc.

How does it benefit anyone in our society that kids are being taught they’re evil?

Young people are essentially being taught;
- masculinity is toxic
- producing/consuming energy is destroying the planet
- they are colonisers
- capitalism is evil and there is no way to get ahead

How does any of that lead to a positive outcome?
 
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If you zoom out to modern day, we live in easily the most tolerant society there has ever been, where opportunity is more abundant than it has ever been.

The sad thing is that you do not understand that the "most tolerant society there has ever been" is an endorsement of a century of people fighting for their rights, rather than a mark against it.
 
Musk is a genius and everything he’s said here is correct.

Elon musk will be remembered as (possibly) the only true great/visionary from our time, like Newton / Da Vinci / Einstein etc.

How does it benefit anyone in our society that kids are being taught they’re evil?

Young people are essentially being taught;
- masculinity is toxic
- producing/consuming energy is destroying the planet
- they are colonisers
- capitalism is evil and there is no way to get ahead

How does any of that lead to a positive outcome?


What on earth has Elon Musk done to be compared with Isaac Newton or Einstein? What is his contribution to our understanding of gravity?

ps. Calling his company Tesla does not make Musk a pioneering developer of the use of the electric current; it just means he named his company after someone who was.

Nikola Tesla died broke, btw.
 
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