Particularly poignant for me watching events in the U.K. whilst visiting Romania - at a time when Romania is commemorating the end of Ceaușescu’s rule (30 years ago) (short thread).
There are far more echoes of the way Ceaușescu worked in what’s happening in the U.K. than any of us should be comfortable with. Calls for unity, appeals to patriotism, whilst presenting disinformation.
Creating phantom menaces. Over the top media stuff (yesterday’s Times headlines on optimism!). Economic misinformation. Civil service culls threatened.
Part of it is because in the UK we *haven’t* been through this stuff, so we really can’t imagine that this stuff can happen to us. We don’t believe ‘our’ leaders would be like that.
But guess what, they can. And guess what else, people in countries like Romania thought the same, until it happened to them. No, I’m not suggesting Boris Johnson is Ceaușescu, not at all, but that we can’t be complacent.
Shit really does happen. It’s not just a game. It’s real. And though they might be playing little power games, the consequences of those games are real.
We need to wake up. I’m far from sure we will. /end rant
P.S. I didn’t even mention attacks on the judiciary, universities and independent bits of media, calls for greater surveillance and censorship over the internet.....
