British Media on Protests

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The comic is correct. If this criminal mob damages a pub and threatens people no police is there.

 
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gruntlabor said:
Diversity of opinion, right? Not a good thing?
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Sure, and if the opinion is simply repeating the poison from right wing propaganda merchants, and offers no justification for the opinion offered, then it's okay to point it out, right? I find that far too often people ignore context. That's the case here. We have riots in the UK, and many of those in favor of them believe the nonsense in that cartoon. They talk about it, repeat it, until they think it's true and accurate. If you visit any right-wing site with discussions (not on this site, elsewhere) you'd know the root of this cartoon. Hell, you only have to go into Youtube comments to see such stuff repeated. It offers nothing by well of progress, and tries only to stir the ignorant.

Look at the title of this thread "British media on Protests". It's completely incorrect. No mainstream media outlet or editorial has voiced the views in the cartoon. So, if you want to call this an "opinion", rather than propaganda (which it is) then let's hear where this opinion is within British media.
 
Beezer said:
Someone said it on this forum just this week.

"The left have gone so far left, they think the middle is far right."

This to me is what the above cartoon suggests. And I agree with it.
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Given the ages of members here, I'm surprised you believe it. If you go back to say, the 1970's, the left were far from what they are now. In the UK the left was moved centrist with the likes of Tony Blair. We haven't had a real left wing party since then.

What's really happened is that the left have moved more centrist, and some on the right have become extremists. It's important we remember that it's "some" on the right. It would be very silly to suggest everyone on the right is an extremist, and I don't think anyone has. Same with those on the left, to suggest "the left", as though everyone on the left thinks the same, is ridiculously reductionist.

What *I* think is happening is the internet, and Social Media specifically, is being used to radicalize people. Algorithms are encouraging it. People feel they have to have an opinion on everything, and it's always an opinion in strong opposition to someone else. Foreign powers are feeding misinformation, and fueling the fire, in an effort to destabilize the west. This is particularly true when it comes to our institutions and democracies. You can easily find, for example, articles explaining Russian interference in US elections.

Then you have influencers influencing other influencers - such as Nigel Farage getting his information from Andrew Tate. You couldn't make it up.

There is a false sense of truth in all this, as people join a group online and begin to think most, or even all people, think and believe as they do. A naysayer may speak up, but they're attacked like sharks at feeding time, dialog isn't welcome, only right-fighting. In other words, conform to the algorithm which is herding up troops to spread hatred, or shut the hell up.
 
When you think about it, the extreme Left and etream Right are actually the same thing - they are both, basically, Libertarians.
Libertarianism (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

"Libertarianism is a family of views in political philosophy. Libertarians take individual freedom as the paramount political value and understand coercion to be the antithesis of that freedom. While people can justifiably be forced to do certain things—most obviously, to refrain from infringing the liberty of others—they cannot be coerced to serve the good of other members of society, nor even their own personal good."

This is partly why, in very liberal San Fransico, the homeless mentally ill and drug addicts are allowed to roam the streets and even defecate in them. The far left believes these individuals are “happy” and their personal choices to be homeless and poop in the gutters is a human right that must be respected.

On the other hand, the greater society does not see the need to install Porta-Pottys in various places so the homeless have somewhere to poop because too often the addicts will just do tricks for drugs in them or destroy the Porta-Potty in some drug-fueled psychotic episode.

So, the far left in S.F. will draw the line when it comes to protecting Porta-Pottys. Property of all kinds is very important to the far left. But it’s also because they just don’t want to pay to replace the outhouses repeatedly.

The far right and far left have MUCH in common with one another.
 
VintageBetter said:
When you think about it, the extreme Left and etream Right are actually the same thing - they are both, basically, Libertarians.
Libertarianism (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

"Libertarianism is a family of views in political philosophy. Libertarians take individual freedom as the paramount political value and understand coercion to be the antithesis of that freedom. While people can justifiably be forced to do certain things—most obviously, to refrain from infringing the liberty of others—they cannot be coerced to serve the good of other members of society, nor even their own personal good."

This is partly why, in very liberal San Fransico, the homeless mentally ill and drug addicts are allowed to roam the streets and even defecate in them. The far left believes these individuals are “happy” and their personal choices to be homeless and poop in the gutters is a human right that must be respected.

On the other hand, the greater society does not see the need to install Porta-Pottys in various places so the homeless have somewhere to poop because too often the addicts will just do tricks for drugs in them or destroy the Porta-Potty in some drug-fueled psychotic episode.

So, the far left in S.F. will draw the line when it comes to protecting Porta-Pottys. Property of all kinds is very important to the far left. But it’s also because they just don’t want to pay to replace the outhouses repeatedly.

The far right and far left have MUCH in common with one another.
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Good points, but honestly I think what is going on with the extreme right is far more nefarious. It wants to undermine democracy. It wants to cause angst and hatred against our fellow man. It's not looking for solutions, instead it wants to undermine the institutions which help hold our countries together, and has in fact helped build our countries to where they are today. I believe the rhetoric to prove this point is well known.

What we're seeing on the streets of the UK right now isn't a libertarian ideal as I know it. I really don't see a single justification for burning down businesses, destroying cars, and physically attacking the Police. How many of the people applauding and supporting the rioters would find it acceptable for strangers coming down their street setting fire to their vehicles and throwing bottles through their house windows? For me, the act of rioting takes whatever argument they might be trying to make off the table. They're criminals. They are showing themselves incapable of reasonable discussion. And given what some believe, they're gullible too.......

Another rioter was in court today. After yesterdays guy who thought it was a good idea to steal wine, this new one had cocaine. It's hardly a political argument.
 
VintageBetter said:
When you think about it, the extreme Left and etream Right are actually the same thing - they are both, basically, Libertarians.
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Not true. One difference between them is that Libertarians are for less government. The far left is for more government ie socialism/communism. A huge difference, a difference that matters!
 
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If news is covered right except with such rare catastrophic event it should be boring. And should not need alot of commentary. They could actually cover more events, locations or even views but they seem to fixate on certain things.

That something the old newspapers did decades ago. The pages would be packed with articles. Some were only a one or two paragraph story but it got to the point. If something looked like it needed continuous coverage it would get it. Sometimes the biggest indicators of things to come in those small stories not on the front page or in the headlines.

I remember seeing a small story buried in the middle of the paper the military war gaming and studying an invasion of Iraq which is about all it said. That was early in 2002. Sure enough in 2003 the invasion. But they got the facts out and it might even had been a planted leak to test reaction or someone tried to head it off through a leak. But it was there and covered.
 
gruntlabor said:
Not true. The difference between them is that Libertarians are for less government. The far left is for more government ie socialism/communism. A huge difference, a difference that matters!
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And likewise (from Wikipedia): "Key views of various far-right groups include white supremacy, cultural nationalism, and the Identitarian Movement. Far-right groups and individuals disproportionately target ethnic minority and religious groups, LGBT+ groups, politicians, and public figures."

Let's not forget, we had a party on the far right reek havoc in Europe in the not too distant memory. It didn't go well and 75m people died.

Far-right politics in the United Kingdom - Wikipedia
 
gruntlabor said:
😍 You said, "we had a party". IF you meant Hitler, THEN I agree.
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I said "we had a party on the far right reek havoc in Europe", the key words there being, in Europe. :D It's all good.

chic said:
Forced multiculturalism.
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There is no forced multiculturalism. Look, you take any issue in politics, and you'll find one side saying "yah", and one side saying, "nah". In very simple terms, in every election, half the people voting don't get the party they wanted. Winners and losers. It's how our societies function. The difference today is a) The internet has allowed people to be radicalized over social media; b) the losers in any given scenario cry and whine about it endlessly.

But no-one is forced into multiculturalism. From a US perspective, given its history, the very idea of such a thing is laughable. In the UK, for example, we have a colonial past, and that has led to other cultures being able to come here. The complaints we have now is largely due to xenophobia and hatred of our institutions. There is also a global issue right now with mass migrations. That issue certainly needs a solution, but rioting in the streets isn't it.

It's worth remembering, London is already one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the world (a third of people in London are from abroad, and more than 200 languages are spoken). The most multicultural is Toronto.
 
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