Rise of the Far-Right Worldwide

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ratsoalbion
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Re: Rise of the Far-Right Worldwide

Post by ratsoalbion »

Very wise words here Mr Bonobo.
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Jobobonobo
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Re: Rise of the Far-Right Worldwide

Post by Jobobonobo »

Here is a good article I found that deals with the importance of optimism even in these trying times and to keep fighting for the little victories. While the main area of interest written in the article concerns the environment, I feel it can apply to a whole array of issues that people care about from civil rights to worker's rights. Indeed, it can be in times like this where the fight for justice can be at its most powerful.

https://www.kcet.org/redefine/in-an-age ... -than-ever
Todinho

Re: Rise of the Far-Right Worldwide

Post by Todinho »

On this topic,recently it was MLK day in the US and the WashPost,that produces mostly garbage lately,came out with a piece calling Martin Luther King a "True conservative" which was laughable and a smear against everything he fought for, the more I research about him the more I like him Martin Luther King had a true revolutionary message for the US and the whole world really and he delivered it in a time much less civilized then ours as much we might complain and of course he paid for it with his life. His message nowadays has been diluted to "I have a dream" but his real message was not only about civil rights and ending racism and apartheid in the US but also about criticizing capitalism and US imperialism, to him racial injustice was intrinsically link to economic injustice and imperialism and he made bitter critiques to estabilshed power and his words and call to action ring as true today as when he first said it. Something to think about and hopefully give to hope in this new era:

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Re: Rise of the Far-Right Worldwide

Post by gallo_pinto »

Todinho wrote:On this topic,recently it was MLK day in the US and the WashPost,that produces mostly garbage lately,came out with a piece calling Martin Luther King a "True conservative" which was laughable and a smear against everything he fought for.
I grew up right outside Washington DC, so I'm a long time Washington Post reader. I generally like their coverage and I think they've done a better job than most in deciding how to cover both the Trump campaign and his upcoming presidency.

But, I just Googled and read that article about MLK being a conservative, and MAN! You're right, it's garbage. It feels very disconnected from the actual things he said. The byline for it is "The Editorial Board" and I'm not sure who writes those, but whoever it is, they're often shockingly bad. I was living in Nicaragua during their recent 2016 election and there was a piece in the Washington Post about it with that same byline, "The Editorial Board." It was filled with factual inaccuracies and outright US propaganda. It was really gross.

I just don't get why though. I genuinely feel that most of the Washington Post's reporting is really strong, but that byline REALLY drops the ball in ways that seem too drastic to be accidental.
Todinho

Re: Rise of the Far-Right Worldwide

Post by Todinho »

I have nowhere the history you do with the paper but it was for a time one of the sites I used to read to get an american perspective but what really turned me off the paper was their covering of the democratic primary where they famously ran 16 negative stories about bernie Sanders in 16 hours!
http://www.alternet.org/comments/electi ... s-16-hours
And now after the election they have embraced the Russia hysteria and started running ridiculous stories like how the russians had hacked the vermont eletric grid which turned out to be a complete fabrication: http://www.forbes.com/sites/kalevleetar ... 509a27291e

Just to make clear though I think most of the papers and sites are garbage though, honestly it's increasingly hard to find some really solid journalism nowadays in mainstream outlets it's few and far between with most of it being done by independent media like the Intercept that doesnt have nearly as much reach.
Todinho

Re: Rise of the Far-Right Worldwide

Post by Todinho »

So as it turns out Trump didnt just ran on empty promises,he immediatly ripped the TPP,one of his key campaign promises,and now he continues on his lists of promises by declaring that he is gonna build the wall and by enacting the "Muslim ban" ,now this last one really got people out in the streets to the point that it was blocked and might just be what causes Trump first major defeat which is good, however I do have to wonder,and this maybe controvertial, but where were these people the last 8 years? Do people know that Obama has bombed almost all of the contries on that list? That the US has been at war ever since 2001 killing these people?But now all of a sudden it's inhumane and some kinda of mortal sin to not let them into the country but it was ok to kill them by truckloads for years?Where were the massive protests against that? Hell just today a US military operation in Yemen(A country on the brink of famine mercilessly bombed by Saudi Arabia&US)killed 10 women and children and 1 american soldier and the western media only talked about the dead soldier, meanwhile they report how terrible the "Muslim ban" is how it can ruin people's lifes,are we in bizarro world or what?

Meanwhile I cant think of a greatest hipocrisy then the "videogames industry" coming out and "taking a stand" agaisnt the ban,I mean are you joking!? I cant think of an industry not directly tied to those wars(weapon manufactures,oil companies,construction,etc) that made more money out of islamophobia and american jingoism then the videogames industry! I can only think about Spec Ops the Line and MGS4 as major games that openly criticised the militarized nature of games of that time and how they were portraying war, if Kojima or Yager came out and said : "The Muslim ban is absurd and shoudlnt exist" it would perfectly consistent but for Microsoft,the company of the "bro console with bro shooter's" it's incredibly hipocritical and hollow, you wanna take a moral stand? Fine just dont be so fake about it,you cant be agaisnt oppression while actively profitting from it.
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ratsoalbion
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Re: Rise of the Far-Right Worldwide

Post by ratsoalbion »

I think Daniel makes some fair points and I can understand the indignation to an extent.

However, I feel that now is the time to harness this positive energy - whatever it took to mobilise it, even if it should by rights have happened long before - for positive action.
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Re: Rise of the Far-Right Worldwide

Post by Stanshall »

Yes. I think that part of the issue is that for too long the Left has torn into itself, complacent about something like this ever coming to pass. It's now time for support and solidarity and picking bigger battles. It's a so important to stay frosty in the face of this onslaught of misinformation and distraction, and deal with it systematically. Aside from the headline grabbing broad strokes behavioural issues, the Trump administration is supported by some extremely intelligent, extremely powerful people with a very singular agenda. We need to play a straight bat to everything.
Todinho

Re: Rise of the Far-Right Worldwide

Post by Todinho »

I think you're both right,It just kinda baffles me that now people that were doing some really bad stuff can now parade like crusaders of righteousness agaisnt the evil Trump hell people were celebrating that Dick Cheney was "on their side" saying that the ban was excessive,I mean that guy is the entire foundation of the Ban, but if Trump does wake up people and this revolt is chanelled towards concrete action and systemic change that can only be good.
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Re: Rise of the Far-Right Worldwide

Post by KSubzero1000 »

Todinho wrote:[...]Where were the massive protests against that?[...]
You're (rightfully) looking for integrity and ideological consistency were none exist. That's the sad reality about partisan politics: People pick a side and mindlessly stick to the official agenda no matter what. Blind allegiance takes precedence over values.
ratsoalbion wrote:I think Daniel makes some fair points and I can understand the indignation to an extent.
...Wait, who's Daniel?
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ratsoalbion
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Re: Rise of the Far-Right Worldwide

Post by ratsoalbion »

KSubzero1000 wrote:...Wait, who's Daniel?
Daniel = Todinho - sorry.
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Re: Rise of the Far-Right Worldwide

Post by KSubzero1000 »

Oh, gotcha. I assume you guys know each other from social media and stuff.
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ratsoalbion
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Re: Rise of the Far-Right Worldwide

Post by ratsoalbion »

KSubzero1000 wrote:Oh, gotcha. I assume you guys know each other from social media and stuff.
Mainly as a correspondent to the show.
:)
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Craig
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Re: Rise of the Far-Right Worldwide

Post by Craig »

While the rise of the far right is troubling, it is nice to see such vociferous campaigns to temper their power. For all the talk about how we need to listen to their concerns, and not live in a bubble, it's pretty clear that this should go both ways.

If you don't know anyone who is in support of the women's marches, you live in a bubble. Dismissing all this opposition as urban elites is misguided in the same way as dismissing people supporting it as inbred hicks.

A few things from recent events-

1) Trump is issuing many Executive Orders with little to no thought regarding the practicality of putting them into action. This plays well with his base as he's getting things done, but with the moderate voter he's causing a mess in his implementation. We'll see if "messy but gets things done" continues to fly. This approach works for emergency plumbing but running a country? Nah.

2) Sean Spicer is feels like a substitute teacher out of his depth and sick of the kids disrespecting him. Telling the media off for slights against the president is not a good look. Again, this plays Trump's base as he is standing up to the corrupt media. To everyone else this feels petty and weird.

The easily checked out lies also isn't going over well and reflects poorly on the White House and the press secretary. His recent insistence that it's not a ban, and criticising the media for using that word, is pretty stunning.

Of course, people are used to politicians lying or bending the truth. But such blatant lies, often over inconsequential things, from a candidate who has been touted as outside the political sphere, is not a good look.

3) Trump is political poison in the U.K. You can argue that Trump has a lot of support in the US, but in the UK he's less popular than the British slang meaning of his name. MPs are willing to lambast him and call him all sorts of names without fear of political repercussions. Contrast to issues about Brexit where most negative opinions are still somewhat tempered by balancing the "will of the people" by politicians who will still vote for it anyway. There are still some politicians who know their place in supporting the PM and will step in line, but there's little actual praise of the man. At best it's mostly "He is doing what he thinks is best for the American people and we should make sure we have a strong relationship with him."

I don't see May lasting for a long time as PM, but let's see.
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Re: Rise of the Far-Right Worldwide

Post by Joshihatsumitsu »

If there is one good thing I can say about living in Australia, it's that the whole "never-questioning-our-politicians" Trump bullshit would never fly. Regardless of how you vote you can be openly critical of our leaders, because at the end of the day they work for us, not the other way around. We don't vote people in, we vote them out.

Also, we're started as a colony of convicts - we inherently not going to take shit, and I hope no one else does either.
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Craig
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Re: Rise of the Far-Right Worldwide

Post by Craig »

The UK is pretty similar in that regard. We have weekly news shows which are essentially "let's make fun of the government" for a while. With how concerned about class people are it always comes across as completely tone deaf when politicians say we need to do things "for the Queen."

The most recent being the whole "Clean for the Queen" campaign they tried to push.
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Re: Rise of the Far-Right Worldwide

Post by Jobobonobo »

Craig wrote: Dismissing all this opposition as urban elites is misguided in the same way as dismissing people supporting it as inbred hicks.
Hell, some of the most ferocious opposition is from the National Park Service after the Trump Administration tried to get them to remove tweets about climate change and they set up rogue accounts to speak out against the anti science nonsense that Trump and his yes men are trying to push through. Any attempt to pin men and women who have spent their lives out in the wilderness as out of touch urban elitists is going to fall pretty short!
Joshihatsumitsu

Re: Rise of the Far-Right Worldwide

Post by Joshihatsumitsu »

If there has been something positive to come out of the recent election, it would be the Pod Save America podcast (https://getcrookedmedia.com/here-have-a ... ee56b5a323). I am listening to it from the point of view of someone who lives in Australia, and it's good to be reminded that there are good people still out there.
nickturner13

Re: Rise of the Far-Right Worldwide

Post by nickturner13 »

Well, I've spent the past 7 days in Trump Land and it's been quite interesting.

Most people I've spoke to, who mostly have been taxi drivers and warehouse workers, are all trying to see the positive side of things.

They've all said "Well, he's been a good businessman and he wants the best for the country so hopefully this will mean better wages and more jobs"

I guess all we can do is sit back and watch.

I'm not convinced, but good luck to them!
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Re: Rise of the Far-Right Worldwide

Post by ratsoalbion »

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/www.gq.com ... ent=safari

Thankfully, we can do more than sit back and watch though.

I've already taken to the streets and hope that many more will continue to do so.

Also there are a number of great organisations to support such as the ACLU which will continue to oppose the unethical, anti-humanitarian actions of the Trump administration as fiercely as they are able in the court.
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