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As the hysterical left weep into their lattes...

(508 Posts)
thatbags Mon 27-Jun-16 06:45:30

Well said, Libby Purves and Peter Tatchell! Tatchell is quoted as saying "The left must listen to Brexit supporters and their concerns. Very wrong to dismiss them all as racists and xenophobes". Of those anguished 'hysterical lefties': "many of them mean well [ouch!] yet elitism erupted like a poisoned boil". Superb!

Elitism. The other thing the hysterical left whine about when they're not too busy calling anyone who doesn't agree with them a bigot. Yes. Quite. In spite of my high level of education, and my husband's, we both "get it" in a way that many with similar backgrounds don't seem to. Perhaps we still feel a connect to those of our families who were at the runt end of society only two generations ago. Perhaps we understand better the effect of "arrogant, incompetent Brussels institutions, and the decades when governments neglected inequality".

Purves does not skim over actual racism at all, but she says quite rightly that the vast majority of people are not racists or xenophobes. She's right.

Thank you, Libby Purves.

Jalima Sat 23-Jul-16 20:17:36

They are feeling just like our Brexit voters, put upon and ignored, so they are revolting and rejecting the elite and political classes.
I do wish people would stop classing all Brexit voters in one camp.

As I have said previously, the Brexit voters, some of whom who are my friends and neighbours are highly educated, have held top professional jobs and travelled widely - in Europe and beyond Europe. Not elite but certainly not put upon and ignored.

I suppose it is easy to label someone who does not agree with your point of view as uneducated and ignorant.
I also said that I may not agree with them 100% but we can agree to disagree.

obieone Sat 23-Jul-16 20:16:47

Will Trump win? Not sure. America has gone liberal of late.
The email scandal of HIllary Clinton would not have been allowed in Britain. No one would even have dared do it.

whitewave Sat 23-Jul-16 20:10:56

He shouldn't get the female vote either - if the females in the US have an ounce of self respect.

Or the black vote.

His vote will come primarily from the white working class. They are feeling just like our Brexit voters, put upon and ignored, so they are revolting and rejecting the elite and political classes.

rosesarered Sat 23-Jul-16 20:05:13

At least Trump will not get the black or Latino votes, which may swing it for Clinton.At least I hope so. Those Republicans who don't want Trump may abstain from voting.?

petra Sat 23-Jul-16 14:29:52

He will be president because he says the things the people want to hear. All a load of crap, but hey ho, that's human nature and he understands it.

WilmaKnickersfit Sat 23-Jul-16 13:45:41

PS Forgot to say Trump scares me to death and I don't want to even think about him getting elected. How quickly the world can change.

WilmaKnickersfit Sat 23-Jul-16 13:40:37

Jalima yes, bear meat is eaten in Canada, Alaska too where they have subsistence hunting. The friends I mentioned are not blatantly racist, they are not that niave, but I know what they think about immigration. We've had discussions in the past and they know my views, so we just don't discuss it. If I want to bring up any subject, I will do just that, partly to pass on the facts about something badly/incorrectly reported by the media. I have done my bit then. But unless they come right out and say something completely unacceptable (in which case I would walk away), I accept that they hold different views on some things than me.

sunseeker Sat 23-Jul-16 13:14:39

granjura - I agree that certain things are "deal breakers". Fortunately my friend and I agree on things like hunting and racism. However I do know people who are pro hunting and we have had interesting discussions on the reasons why I am against it and they are for it.

gettingonabit Sat 23-Jul-16 12:56:43

I think when American politics gets going, it gets going in a big way. Did anyone see the Trump conference on Newsnight last night? Bloody scary..

granjura Sat 23-Jul-16 12:49:33

rosesarered- the problem is, they are not alone- Trump supporters all feel the way they do- and what is soooo scary now, which was unbelievable just a few months ago- is that he might, actually, win the election.

Am I the only one who feels physically sick just to think of it and despairs?

granjura Sat 23-Jul-16 12:47:24

So agree sunseeker- we have friends and relatives from all walks of life and religions, and from a very wide political spectrum, and that makes life so much more interesting I agree- but only up to a point.

Some limits just cannot be transgressed - like those cited above.

sunseeker Sat 23-Jul-16 12:20:42

I enjoy having friends who have differing opinions to me! As I have said before I am somewhere in the centre, leaning left or right depending on the issue. I have a very good friend who is somewhere to the left of Jeremy Corbyn. We have, sometimes heated, discussions about all subjects and often disagree, however, we are still firm friends.

obieone Sat 23-Jul-16 12:11:53

Same as rosesarered 10.53am. A complete mixture of how they all voted. One is keeping quiet which means she voted opposite to me, but I know she put some thought into it.

durhamjen Sat 23-Jul-16 12:05:03

Roses, how did you all vote differently? There were only two ways to vote.

Jalima Sat 23-Jul-16 11:27:48

the other way round here, [whispers] I don't think my Brexit friend is speaking to me and some of my other friends and neighbours think I'm daft to have voted remain ..... they are quite scornful.

granjura Sat 23-Jul-16 11:13:43

As Tegan says, sometimes it is friends you made through a specific hobby you both enjoy- be it skiing or in her case folk music. Sometimes as I said, people you went to school with a very long time ago- sometimes realtives as in the case I cited.

We only met about 10 years ago- and had wonderful holidays together- both here, in the UK and in several US locations- all this vile bile racism has only come out recently as they visited here and we were watching the BBC news- and he started to rant about the BBC being so biased and how Fox News is THE only source of truth. Then it all came pouring out...

rosesarered Sat 23-Jul-16 11:12:49

Yes,agreed * Granjura* in fact I do remember you saying about those particular relatives in the US ( they do hold some 'out there' views!)

Jalima Sat 23-Jul-16 11:09:23

I cannot understand how one could be such friends with someone for 25 years who seemingly has such differing views of life. The referendum is one thing, but being friends with someone who is racist, would shoot and eat bears - surely these views would have come up at some point over the years and you would have realised how different you are. What a relief it was that it was a different type of shoot!! (do they eat bears in Canada - surely not!)

granjura no I don't think a friendship could survive that either; can you divorce your cousins, is that lawful?

Although they do say 'relatives you've got whether you like them or not, friends they come and go'.

granjura Sat 23-Jul-16 11:08:56

Agreed- but there is a limit. Rampant and vile racism is one. Being vegetarian or vegan is one thing- going off shooting wild lions or bears is another which I couldn't accept- although I have many friends who are highly qualified hunters with a great knowledge of local wildlife and do the job well and properly. We all have our limits.

I would not fall out with friends who voted Leave for good and grounded reasons, even if I disagreed- but I would if they come out with clearly racist views. And also if they made comments like 'all remainers are stupid' knowing full well we were going to vote 'remain'.

rosesarered Sat 23-Jul-16 10:53:19

We should ALL respect the choices and opinions of friends, we are friends for more reasons than politics/ religion/ being vegetarian etc surely? We all voted differently in our family and friends circle, but none of us have had any words, or fallings out.
Good friends will always be good friends.I think it's healthier to have friends with different views, not simply those that mirror your own.

granjura Sat 23-Jul-16 10:51:03

Jalima- sometimes we've had friends for a very long time, since childhood- and the friendship survived despite life having taken us to very different places. We can agree to disagree on so many things- and it doesn't matter if they are rich or poor, surgeons or work at the local coop, woodcutters or University Professors, etc. Doesn't matter if they are gay, or transexual, or what religion they are, etc.

But when it comes to such matters as vile racism, and huge issues like child cruelty, animal cruelty, and voting for Trump, or Leave if the reasons were clearly expressed as racist - would be friendship breakers for me too.

I shall never see my lovely American cousins- whom we so enjoyed visiting and having here - as they suddenly came out with a raving attack on Obama and his wife- and then on about Trump beign the best politician ever- and all this racist bile came out (they are of course immigrants - she third generation Swiss and English- and he half Italian - and half Navaho (so at least part-native) - we'd got on so well till then- and we managed to be polite for the rest of their stay here- and exchanged a few e-mail - but we could never ever have them to stay again, and would never go back to be with them ... and we've visited them at all 3 of their houses, East Coast, AZ and Hawai) - sad indeed. Some things you can agree to disagree upon, discuss, debate- but others are beyond that. According to him, Obama is a Muslim Al-Quaïda spy- and Fox News is the only source for the Truth. How can you even begin to discuss this??? You can't.

Tegan Sat 23-Jul-16 10:32:14

Thanks Wilma; that sums up why I felt the way I did. I spoke to another friend yesterday, this time not online, and she said she voted remain but it was real toss of a coin stuff and she then explained her reasoning for almost voting leave. She'd studied the whole thing very carefully and, because of that I would have respected her choice [although immigration did feature quite heavily in her decision] I guess it's what happens when you have a friendship based on just one thing ie love of folk music or growing up in the same area. With her it wasn't so much the things she said but the jeering tone in which she said them.

WilmaKnickersfit Sat 23-Jul-16 00:44:12

It's interesting this thing about problems with friends and family.

As I expected, two of my closest friends voted Leave. We've been friends for over 25 years and I have always known they hold right wing views. We rarely talk about current affairs because I know they're not really interested and when we do, I'm always challenging their perceptions with facts. I'm the youngest by several years and they look at me with fondness when I get worked up about something because in their wisdom, they've decided it's not worth the bother. I know immigration will be the main reason why they voted Leave because I know they hold racist views. We've not met up since the referendum because of holidays, but when we meet I doubt the result will be brought up by them and I won't do it. I value their friendship, but if we get into a discussion about it, I think it could seriously damage how I feel about them.

Ironically, one of them has just been on holiday in Canada and the day before she went, she sent me a text that included the information that she was going on a bear hunt. She is an excellent markswoman and loves trying exotic meats, so this was sort of in character for her. However, I'm vegetarian and the thought of her bear hunting made my blood go cold. I texted her back asking her to confirm she meant bear hunting with a camera. It was a couple of hours before she replied and in that time I had just about decided our friendship would not survive her shooting at bears to kill them. Fortunately it was hunting with cameras and I breathed a sigh of relief.

My point is, we all have our own 'deal breakers' and nobody else is entitled to say if they're good/bad, right/wrong, etc. For some people, how a person voted in this referendum and the reason why, was so important it was a deal breaker. I hope this makes sense (sorry for the length of my post).

Tegan Fri 22-Jul-16 23:46:19

I've unfriended two of my oldest friends since brexit and a friend of mine is avoiding her father
First friend is someone I've known for @ 30 years. We live in the same village and share the same taste in music. However, he said, on a thread about Jo Cox's death that 'Nigel Farage is the only honest politician in the country'. There was no way that I could maintain a friendship with someone that did that. He's often made casual remarks about UKIP and 'foreigners' but didn't seem to notice that I've always totally ignored his comments.The second friendship was my oldest school friend who I had met again through facebook; I was planning to visit her this year as we haven't met for over 30 years but her I couldn't cope with her eulogising about Johnson and Gove. It's no big deal. She once made a comment that 'my husband doesn't earn enough to cover our standard of living' and, after that the friendship was always on dodgy ground. I don't know why you're so shocked Jalima, given your already low opinion of me. What else would you expect from me sad.

granjura Fri 22-Jul-16 23:31:22

Nigglynellie:

'My point is that a lot of people have much more to worry about brexit or no brexit, than a new kitchen or a holiday having to be put on hold. I can see that loss of pension can be a worry on a day to day basis, but as my SIL said, it's something that she and her DH risked when opting to live abroad! I just find it extraordinary to only be concerned about things that to some would be luxuries beyond their dreams on a good day!!!,

As others have said, a bit below the belt that, really. We didn't move her for luxury, but to take care of my elderly parents after we retired. And yes, of course we expected fluctuations in exchange rate- but minus 55% is quite a lot- can't you see that?

Of course, a holiday or a new kitchen are luxuries- and as I clearly said NOT A PROBLEM FOR ME at all. The point was made re the effect of uncertainty on sales, business in general, including house improvement and repairs, etc. It won't affect any of us an awful lot- but it WILL create a recession and a slow down in business, exports- for all. That was my point. Although the very low £ will be good for tourism in the UK and for exports.

If 1000s and 1000s, put on hold house improvements and purchases - can't you see the knock on effect on jobs, manufacturing, etc, for the country?