Disclaimer: my own political views are prominently left-wing, but on certain points I despise leftist totalitarianism & willful ignorance.
Boo-fucking-hoo.
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Replying to @Triquetrea
I still can't get my head around the idea that the principle description of most political positions is its position on a single axis from Left to Right. If there were maybe ten axes we might have something a bit more revealing.
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You expect primates to come up with sophisticated classification systems totally at odds with the instincts they culturally can't admit to having?
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Replying to @Triquetrea
😃
Lol! Of course I wouldn't *expect* it, but it would be great to hear conversations that went based around what sort of Left people are defending themselves from being accused of being.
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I've long since lost hope for that. We have those sorts of discussions in Norway. I have never, ever, seen them carried out abroad.
And the political climate in Norway is also deteriorating.
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Replying to @Triquetrea
Really? That's a shame. It seems to be one of those places seen as a beacon of hope for people who know literally nothing about the political situation there.
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Yeah, well, it's still probably a better and safer place to live than almost any other place on the planet for the not-disgustingly-rich, assuming you don't mind the cold and you don't live in Oslo.
That's not the same as saying it's anywhere close to utopia.
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Replying to @Triquetrea
In spite of everything, I think Britain isn't a terrible place from that point of view, either, for all but a (growing) minority… it could be pretty lovely for everyone, but a lot of people don't want it to be (and I don't just mean that they're not willing to pay the price).
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I speculate that the sheer spitefulness of Anglo culture is an atavism from your imperial days. Confer American attitudes towards the wider world and the resemblance is uncanny.
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Living under a system which crushes and abuses the Other for profit does something to the collective mores. I'm almost 100% sure of that.
It makes people very unseemly, at the individual level.
I see the same creeping narcissism and apathy in the younger generations in Norway.
It's real moral decay. It's a delicious irony that the conservatives take ownership of the term, when they are its worst purveyors.
Well, it makes perfect sense actually, but y'know what I mean.
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(And no, in fact, me and the wife have occasionally considered moving to the UK. We've got plenty of exit routes if something wouldn't click with the finances.
But she's Polish, so I prevaricate. The racism seems... pretty bad.)
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Replying to @Triquetrea
I think it's worse than that - it's not just about profit, in fact I don't think that's the primary driver: the very wealthy know that they need to make sure that the moderately wealthy have someone to look down upon. More destitution = more comfortable people on side.
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Yes, it's designed to make you hate and despise those who are lower on the ladder.
"I worked to get here. I FOUGHT. Why shouldn't they?"
Monkeys. We're monkeys. That's all there is to say about it. :)
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