Why are we concentrating on the minutiae of government when we are building towards WW3

Naomi Wolf outlined the steps that "closing societies" such as Hitler's Germany, Mussolini's Italy, and Stalin's Russia have historically followed.

Step one - Invoke a terrifying internal and external enemy.

The threat of an external enemy has long been used to subjugate the population and excuse any failure or malicious acts by those in power.

I don't think I suggested that we put aside holding our government to account in order to address the machinations of the three powers.

This is obviously a different kind of war to WW2 but that could be said of each attempt to override sovereign territory. Unpreparedness always costs us dearly whatever weapons the "enemy" uses.

I don’t usually get too involved on the politics threads but I did have this thought the other day, precipitated by the Signal/Atlantic journo business.

It feels like we are now in an abusive relationship with America and Trump is using classic abuser’s DARVO strategies to confuse and psychologically disarm us.

I don’t know how but we need to hold on to what we think is right, as indeed are many non-MAGA Americans.

GrannyGravy13

I agree with Whitewavemark2

We are no way near getting ready for WW`III, we are witnessing posturing and potential land and power grabs from the US, Russia and China.

China is the one to watch.

I could be wrong, but my money would be on the US as being "the one to watch".
As someone said upthread, China is being stealthy[but not by war?].
Russia is, in my eyes struggling with Ukraine.

What will Trump be planning?
I dont know but he has his eyes on Greenland for instance.

Is he planning to "do deals" with Countires, aka, "buy" them in some way?

Trump's unpredictability makes any kind of crystal-ball gazing. He wants Canada, Greenland and the Panama Canal. His interest in Gaza and Ukraine seem to me to be waning as the problems prove intractable. Putin knows how to interfere in other people's elections and will try to force one in Ukraine to get rid of Zelensky. Trump is unlikely to oppose that. I need to follow China more closely.

Whitewavemark2

Well, we are not mobilising for war, nor are we on a war footing. However, I do think that the 3 big powers are circling each other and trying to work out their areas of influence and power.

The difficulty comes with the personalities. Trump is the least stable of the three with the most extreme ideas overturning the postwar settlement, unsettling Americas traditional allies, failing to provide strong support and postulating expansionism.

Putin has a dream - to re-establish the Russian empire and Ukraine is the start. His actions are being aided by America because of Trump’s apparent reluctance to face up to Putin and stop him.

Good comments.
The situation now has the potential to be worrying but I don’t think we are heading into WW3.

To answer the OP. We are concentrating on the nuts and bolts of everyday living because, there is very little we can do, as a country to affect world affairs.

M0nica

To answer the OP. We are concentrating on the nuts and bolts of everyday living because, there is very little we can do, as a country to affect world affairs.

I apologise. The title was perhaps not as clear as it should have been. I hope the body of of the OP made it clearer to most.

The "we" in the OP title referred to us, Gransnet, not the government. I agree that a large part of government is the nuts and bolts of day to day management to cover the everyday needs. However, I didn't use the words "nuts and bolts" and the "minutiae", as I have now clarified, refers to our conversation, not government action.

I won't say more as I don't want to take this off topic but I do hope this explanation helps.

Exactly, 'the status quo suits them as it is', and that status quo has been designed deliberately to confuse, stress and divide us so that we the 99% don't unite and say NO!

Removal of WFA, the lack of healthcare, increasing cost of living, the coming food shortages (did you know that the government has paid farmers to NOT produce food for 3 years?). Chickens all had to be registered by 1/9/24, why? So they know where they all are when 'bird flu' comes; in fact a few farms have had DEFRA round and their whole flock has been culled. This will spread, although I'm now rather doubtful it is actually a problem. Farmers that have had their flock culled aren't allowed to restock for a year - what do they live on in the meantime? My bet is that the govt will offer to buy the land, for either solar farms for a hoax climate emergency, or to build millions of houses for immigrants. Cattle will be the next to go as allegedly they are spreading bird flu via milk?

Then there's the welfare reforms for the disabled. As a community we struggle anyway as it's really only enough to exist on, not live. They do not care, this is not about writing the disabled off, this is about saving money - WE are the carbon they want to reduce.

Thats a mishmash of half-truths and allegations -

so Just picked on one as an example -

"Farmers that have had their flock culled aren't allowed to restock for a year"

No, guidelines were changed in 2023

"Defra eases rules on restocking after avian flu outbreak"

so can be less than 4 months - Farmers weekly

www.fwi.co.uk/livestock/poultry/defra-eases-rules-on-restocking-after-avian-flu-outbreak

MadeInYorkshire, the UK government's strategies involve a combination of environmental policy and health responses rather than a straightforward approach of paying farmers not to produce food. I think that comment comes into the "minutiae" category where the original OP is concerned.

So, what do you feel about the actual subject?

So, going back to the three powers it's interesting to hear, from the Trip podcasts, their views on other countries politics being defined by Trump. I would also add that I see ours as having also been defined by China and Putin.

On the Trump agenda they suggest Canada has had its politics defined by Trump and to a certain extent, they say, so has Mexico. They add that President of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum (who has amongst the highest ratings of any leader in the world currently) has averted tariffs, by personal intervention, while not publicly attacking the US or Trump. She is, however a populist leader having taken over the judiciary, the regulatory agencies, and the Military and also taken control of the media. In this case these anti-democratic moves come from the left-wing unlike Trump's far-right agenda.