Maybe, just maybe, liberal democracies need to do a better job solving problems for constituents and less time fellating billionaires.
That might help.
I mean, when I see a right-wing populist telling me they can fix all my problems, I know they’re a lying, opportunistic piece of shit, but I can also see the appeal because at least they’re saying that there’s problems and that they’ll do something, which is more than milquetoast centrists will do.
Way to go, Bibi. Putting all of Israel and every member of the Jewish diaspora at risk just to save your corrupt political skin.
Oh, and killing tens of thousands of innocent people.
Again, it’s “Don’t quote the troll”. Some of us learned this in Usenet in the 1990s.
Saying “This is bullshit” or “You’re weird” without engaging with their ideas stops the contagion from spreading.
It is, though. Studies in disinformation have proven this. This is why right-wing bullshitters are so eager to engage in debate: just getting the chance to show up and be refuted in a legitmate setting, like a major newspaper, gives them an audience for the ideas and credibility, that their position is one worthy of refute.
This is how we got the alt-right in 2015: by taking neo-Nazis seriously.
This is what the media doesn’t understand, and why fact-checkers are getting–correctly–rolled on social media. Every time you bring up one of these lies, even to fact check it–especially to fact-check it–you give it credibility.
This is why the Harris/Walz campaign’s tactic of ridicule is working so well. Instead of saying “No, you’re wrong about XXX because YYYY and ZZZZ”, they’re saying “What is wrong with you? You’re weird.” The latter doesn’t give the lie any oxygen.
“Liberal” doesn’t mean what many people think it means.
It doesn’t mean “leftist” or “progressive” or “humane”. There might be some overlap, but these are not the same things, despite conservatives trying to define them as such.
Yes it is.
You might not wish it to be, but fact-checking absolutely does amplify fake news, especially if you give details.
A simple “this story is bullshit” is all that’s needed
And now you, the mainstream media, are amplifying it and giving it oxygen.
It’s like y’all never learned the old Usenet adage: “don’t feed (quote) the trolls”.
You really should read Karl Popper’s Paradox of Tolerance to understand why this is important, and why “the only way to counter speech is with more speech” isn’t just wrong, it’s actually counterproductive.
Here’s the short version, if it helps.
You already won the election. You don’t need to try so hard to be “not Jeremy Corbyn” any more.
I really wish Bluesky could federate with other Mastodon servers.
Also, fuck Threads.
Literally or figuratively?
Both sides!!!
/s
I’m sure we’re not very far from Erdogan blaming a minority and maybe stirring up a small war.
There’s a manual somewhere; “Despotism for Dummies” I think.
Reichstag fire moment.
Yes. Because as we’ve seen, sunlight is not a good disinfectant for this kind of thing. Because “sunlight” results in these ideas can get visibility and by association, traction.
Naziism needs to be stomped on whenever, wherever and however it sleazes out from the sewer. Karl Popper made this very clear.
Gee, maybe you should have spent more time improving the lot of everyday people and less time playing footsie with billionaires?
A lot of neoliberal erstwhile-progressives are about to find out the consequences of selling out their principles for a seat at the rich kids’ table.
Most of Europe’s already found this out, Biden and Trudeau are looking at the same thing, and I expect Starmer will be out on his ass after four years of failing to help the poor and middle class, as he’s so busy right now assuring everyone that he’s not a socialist like Corbyn.
To be fair, that’s a British style of writing. It’s a loaded word in North American journalism, but neutral in the UK.
Pirate an old, pre-CC version.
That’s what I do. Admittedly it’s Photoshop 3.0 on a Mac Quadra.
Because the political left got enamoured with corporate cash and forgot that they’re ostensibly a labour party. The spent the post-Soviet era indulging on third-way neoliberalism.
Heck, several of them are more actively hostile to actual leftist economics. Labour in the UK fought its own voters and threw elections over Corbyn, the Democratic Party in the US hates the Sanders wing more than it hates Republicans and the Canadian NDP voted for a fundraiser instead of actual lefties.
And in doing all this, they ceded working class politics to protofacists.
Hello there, fellow Ontarian!
In seriousness, Ford is a great example of my point because he talks to how people feel. It doesn’t matter that it’s bullshit at best or whitewashing of his latest grift at worst, he’s at least acknowledging enough voters’ concerns and fears, and while tossing a bauble here or there (eg, booze in corner stores, buck a beer) to look like he’s doing something for the common person.
His opposition doesn’t do this. Stiles gets ignored, and Crombie just seems like a weak Ford impersonator.
The polticial left needs to do better. Yes that would probably mean getting called socialist, but since that’ll happen anyway they may as well own it.