A short THREAD which attempts to summarize the interesting & informative paper: 'MORBID SYMPTOM: IMMIGRATION AND THE RISE OF FAR -RIGHT POPULISM IN WESTERN EUROPE', by Ayaz Rzayev.
It contains pragmatic suggestions for stemming the rise of the Far Right, which deserve a hearing.
ALL Far-Right parties across Europe:
▶️Emphasise 'nativism' rooted in myths about an idealised past, & hostility towards immigration
▶️Have programs directed toward making the nation more ethnically homogeneous & returning to 'traditional values' of Western civilization.
ALL Far-Right parties across Europe:
▶️Accuse the establishment of favoring their own narrow self-interests over the interests of the people
▶️Try to avoid explicit #racism by emphasising 'the Muslim threat' & welfare costs of immigration.
ALL Far-Right parties across Europe:
▶️Have a distinct identity sharing a unique perception of reality based on a fear of an invading foreign culture destroying Western civilization from within
▶️Try to turn back the clock to a more ethnoculturally homogenous & familiar time.
However, there are core features that many on the far right & the 'far left' share.
They both:
▶️Feel that established institutions that traditionally provided & sustained collective identities are (from different perspectives) becoming eroded, or are being destroyed.
The far right AND far left:
▶️Oppose many economic & social changes brought about by globalization, which have 'left them behind'
▶️Believe the political establishment serves global corporatist interests, is dishonest & corrupt, & doesn't care about the opinions of the majority
To defeat the far right & prevent history repeating, it isn't enough to simply demonize them & expose the often awful & polarising things they say & do, including their use of inflammatory rhetoric - we urgently need to find ways of decreasing the demand for far-right populism.
Mainstream parties should consider abandoning the dismissive elitist discourse of constantly questioning the moral-intellectual competence of indigenous populations, which only marginalizes them further, & instead engage non-extremist natives on the merits & flaws of their views.
Such an engagement could decrease the perception of political elites as being aloof & unaccountable, & weaken the appeal of far-right populists in the long run.
Many elites hesitate - sometimes understandably - to address valid concerns about immigration & national identity.
Too often when political elites do take up these concerns, they brand them as motivated *solely* by racism or Islamophobia, which may sometimes be true, but is counterproductive.
Elites should adopt a nuanced approach on immigration, & take positions more grounded in pragmatism.
As well as any economic effects of immigration, the Left should not be scared to acknowledge the cultural impact of mass immigration, & directly address the issue of how we talk about class, ethnicity & integration, as well as suggesting concrete measure to reduce polarization.
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In the new series of the #dystopian sci-fi series #BlackMirror, the second-richest man on earth, who owns 98% of one of the largest Hawaiian Islands, rolls out his total global surveillance system called 'The Oracle' to ensure 'good behaviour'...
This is the very definiton of 'dystopian', & draws parallels with the warnings outlined in Orwell's 1984, which Musk often alludes to. But it's not fiction - it's real.
While we all know about Musk, far fewer people know much about the second richest man on earth, Larry Ellison.
As of November 13, 2024, Ellison is the second-wealthiest man on earth according to Forbes, with an estimated net worth of $237 billion. He is also known for his ownership of 98% of Lānaʻi, the sixth-largest of the Hawaiian Islands.
In a press release announcing its new UK-EU branch, based in London, Heartland boasted that it is “the world’s most prominent think tank supporting skepticism about man-made climate change”.
Shit-stirring hypocritical bigoted playground bullies were once shunned by society, but now they can become MPs.
Is Reform UK's Lee Anderson, who exploits ordinary people with his infantile divisive populism, the thickest & most hypocritical bigot ever to become an MP?
#30pLee is on his third party in six years.
He was elected as a Labour councillor in 2015 & suspended by the local branch of the Labour Party in 2018 after receiving a community-protection warning by the council for using boulders to block members of the Traveller community.
#30pLee resigned from Labour in 2018 & was elected as a Tory councillor on Mansfield District Council in 2019. He was selected as the Conservative candidate for Ashfield in 2019, and was elected as a Tory MP.
The Chairman of the West Midlands Police Federation, Richard Cooke, has been suspended after he branded racism allegations as "nonsense" on social media after a former chief inspector alleged racism & homophobia were rife within the force.
Policing is hard. The Police Federation of England and Wales is the statutory staff association for police constables, sergeants, inspectors, chief inspectors & special constables in the 43 territorial police forces in England & Wales. Cooke is Chair of the West Midlands branch.
Under UK labour law, the police are prohibited from joining ordinary trade unions to defend pay and working conditions, by the Police Act 1996, because of the view that a police strike would pose an exceptional public safety risk.
🧵Trump has assigned Musk a chilling task: To dismantle & destroy large parts of the federal government. Musk wants us to call this project by a humorous & innocent-sounding name: the "Department of Government Efficiency" (DOGE).
First, Musk's project is not an official Dept, so it's not factual to call it one.
Second, the goal of Musk's project is destruction, not "efficiency." Efficiency is when you make something work better. Musk clearly seeks to eliminate, not improve, large parts of government.
Finally, Musk has named his project after a meme, DOGE, a crypto scam named for a Shiba Inu dog. He's treating it all as a joke. But the destruction of government is deadly serious, and there's no reason why everyone should automatically participate in Musk's juvenile antics.
I've lost count of all the ultrarich privately educated 'anti-elites' in Reform UK!
Dubai World Trade Centre & Nick Candy's Candy Capital have a partnership to develop a “super-prime” real estate development in Dubai - where co-owner of GB "News", Legatum, is based! 🤑
Candy joined the Tory party in 2009 & has donated at least £290,000 to it.
In February he gave an interview saying it was “probably time for a change” & that Keir Starmer was “a decent man with good values and good morals”.
Nick Candy is to become Reform UK's new treasurer!
He hopes to raise more than £40M for Reform UK: "This morning, I’ve had millions of pounds worth of donations from people that have never donated to a political party in this country. But it’s not just about getting rich donors & billionaire people or whatever."