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Democracy under threat

(235 Posts)
KateW19 Mon 06-Jan-25 20:22:23

Good to see Europe’s saner leaders and ministers uniting against the current baiting from across the pond. We can never underestimate the risk that we could lose our democracy and hard won freedoms. We came close in 1944, and the thought of my children losing the protections we have leaves me cold. From the Guardian earlier: “ A German government spokesperson did mention Musk by name, insisting his influence on voters was limited. “Normal people, sensible people, decent people are in a big majority in this country,” the spokesperson told a regular press conference in Berlin.

“We act as if Mr Musk’s Twitter statements could influence a country of 84 million people with untruths or half-truths or expressions of opinion,” the spokesperson added. “This is simply not the case.” Nevertheless the far right have 5 years to drag us into their gutter and no doubt they will do their utmost to unravel the world as we know it.

Allira Mon 06-Jan-25 22:54:18

KateW19

Well having joined very recently and watched Fried Green Tomatoes doing a continuous hard sell for Farage and quoting the Telegraph, the oligarchs favourite bird sheet, I thought we could with redressing the balance for sanity’s sake

I think most posters do a pretty good job of discussing various points of view, dismissing some and offering alternatives.

Galaxy Mon 06-Jan-25 22:54:17

The left have been controlling speech for years, as I said ask any feminist. I am afraid the last few years have taught me that left automatically equals good and right equals bad is a demonstration of the lack of the critical thinking you are talking about.

Allira Mon 06-Jan-25 22:52:32

imaround

Every one of these threads this week remind me of the US in 2015.

I really hope that you all do come together against Musk. He is dangerous.

Oh dear, that's a warning to heed.

I agree. Divide and conquer or divide et impera to those who had a classical education (not necessarily at Oxford, of course).

KateW19 Mon 06-Jan-25 22:51:24

Well having joined very recently and watched Fried Green Tomatoes doing a continuous hard sell for Farage and quoting the Telegraph, the oligarchs favourite bird sheet, I thought we could with redressing the balance for sanity’s sake

KateW19 Mon 06-Jan-25 22:49:32

They’re banning various books in right leaning states across the US, anything considered too progressive by the right wing so called Christian populists

Allira Mon 06-Jan-25 22:48:37

HousePlantQueen

Crikey, that interesting thread soon turned nasty.

Well, I think, when a new poster comes on board claiming that educational levels of many voters are at about the level of age 9, ergo many voters have reaching educational attainments to Y4, possibly Y5, then a thread is bound to turn nasty quite rapidly.
Yes, it could have provoked quite an interesting discussion.

Disclaimer. Any errors and omissions are due to Autocorrect taking charge.

petra Mon 06-Jan-25 22:45:33

nanna8
Are you aware of Britain First, The English Defence league, The National Front?
All extremely far right groups. The vast majority of the them weren’t the sharpest knife in the drawer.

TerriBull Mon 06-Jan-25 22:44:48

Yes who has said on here they'd vote for Farage? I haven't or wouldn't. Your sweeping generalisations about the education levels of great swathes of the population, are appalling quite honestly, you ought to read them back to yourself. You come across as lofty and patronising. I actually think there are plenty of people on the left who are a threat to democracy, one Justin, recently resigned, Trudeau for example, who took the extraordinary and unprecedented step of locking a dissenting group of people (the truckers) out of their bank accounts. Personally I fear leaders who assume that level of authoritarianism

KateW19 Mon 06-Jan-25 22:43:48

Fried Green Tomatoes seems to be Farage’s biggest cheerleader

KateW19 Mon 06-Jan-25 22:42:02

I think you’ll find they’ve developed pretty superior critical thinking skills and some sound common sense

KateW19 Mon 06-Jan-25 22:40:07

Not bad ideas at all, after all our children’s health, wealth and security depend on having a functioning democracy and human rights, and populism relies on poor critical thinking to make rash decisions based on emotional responses rather than considered facts. It’s not us I worry about it’s our kids and grandkids

nanna8 Mon 06-Jan-25 22:34:18

My experience here is it is the extremist left groups who are educationally challenged just as much as, if not more than, the extreme right. I think the clue is the word ‘extreme’. The left ones seem to be a lot more violent for some reason which is something different these days. They are awful, totally intolerant.

Galaxy Mon 06-Jan-25 22:32:47

Who has said they support Farage, you seem to be making up your own argument.

petra Mon 06-Jan-25 22:30:50

HousePlantQueen

Crikey, that interesting thread soon turned nasty.

With good cause. Another sneary remark aimed at the great unwashed.

KateW19 Mon 06-Jan-25 22:30:05

What is it that appeals to you about Nigel Farage? Is it that he seems approachable? Or is it specific pledges that you feel would improve yours or your family’s lives?

Galaxy Mon 06-Jan-25 22:29:38

Where have you been? It is the left who loves a bit of censorship these days, you might want to ask the feminists who has been behind the censorship of the last few years. It has been a role reversal that would have made me smile if it wasnt so awful.

petra Mon 06-Jan-25 22:28:19

Ladyleftfieldlover

According to a learned friend of mine (Oxford DPhil) a lot of the electorate.

That doesn’t look well for an Oxford education if that’s what he thinks 🤦🏼‍♀️

Louella12 Mon 06-Jan-25 22:28:03

How can a right wing group ban books in schools?

KateW19 Mon 06-Jan-25 22:26:06

No it’s absolutely correct that the lower education attainment, the more likely a person would vote for far right groups, and likewise higher ed attainment vote left. One of the reasons right wing groups ban books in schools

imaround Mon 06-Jan-25 22:25:56

Every one of these threads this week remind me of the US in 2015.

I really hope that you all do come together against Musk. He is dangerous.

HousePlantQueen Mon 06-Jan-25 22:21:08

Crikey, that interesting thread soon turned nasty.

nanna8 Mon 06-Jan-25 22:19:51

And it’s another ‘yes’ from me. Having a couple of nephews educated at Oxford University to higher degree level I can vouch for the fact that they really don’t know everything even if they think they do !

Galaxy Mon 06-Jan-25 22:17:41

Oh come on now, these are the good guys dont you know, calling the working class thick is a sign of progressive thinking these days.

TerriBull Mon 06-Jan-25 22:16:40

Presumably learned lofty Oxford friend doesn't include herself as having a 9 year old's brain, well clearly that's not the case because she's a DrPhil. so its just the lumpen proletariat then, the ones that don't vote the way they should, stupid people. Should they even have the vote? maybe they should sit some sort of basic Key Stage 2 test at least to prove they can read the names of the candidates on the ballot paper, or heaven knows where they might stick their cross. It's really hard trying to get people with stunted intellect to vote properly a bit like corralling sheep sad

FriedGreenTomatoes2 Mon 06-Jan-25 21:53:29

Hear, hear TerriBull. 👏
And you Galaxy!