Supporters of #BlackLivesMatter aren't necessarily 'woke Marxists' (though some might be).
Similarly, people who boo England players for taking the knee in solidarity with victims of #racism aren't necessarily 'racist dickheads'. 👍
Bonus Fun Fact:
As a New York born only child of Jewish parents of German origin, & a young socialist, the 'founding father of modern journalism', Walter Lippmann, was the first person to use the word "stereotype" in the modern psychological sense.
Lippmann, critical of US Chief wartime propagandist George Creel, advised Woodrow Wilson that censorship should "never be entrusted to anyone who is not himself tolerant, nor to anyone who is unacquainted with the long record of folly which is the history of suppression".
However, an historic meeting of primarily French & German liberal intellectuals was convened in Paris on August 1938 to discuss the ideas put forward by Lippmann in his 1937 work, 'The Good Society'.
They named the meeting after Lippmann, calling it the Colloque Walter Lippmann.
The meeting was the precursor to the first meeting of the Mont Pèlerin Society, convened in 1947 by economist Friedrich von Hayek.
At both meetings, discussions centered around what a new liberalism, or #neoliberalism, should look like.
The rest, as they say, is history.
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The Tories & the press relentlessly attack & undermine the @nationaltrust & the @BBC, two of our most loved & quintessentially British institutions, not because they're "woke" or "anti-British", but because they're two of the only assets we have left which haven't been sold off.
Contrary to popular belief among the fewer than 3 in 10 of the electorate who voted Tory in #GE209, deregulated free market capitalism is not about "efficiency", 'driving down costs' or 'driving up choice & quality': it's about short-term profit & is not in the national interest.
Most countries have polices restricting foreign ownership on the grounds that there are strategic sectors which should be kept in domestic ownership.
Not the UK: public utilities, the media, manufacturing & property are in the hands of foreign companies & foreign billionaires.
Just imagine the response had PM Corbyn overseen 150,000 deaths! 🤯
A short #THREAD on the *REAL* causes of Britain's mass deaths.
Despite the brutality & disarray of the current Government, the causes of Britain's catastrophic response to #COVID have been brewing for decades.
Since the 2008 financial crash — caused by the reckless irresponsibility of a greedy & woefully under-regulated & deregulated financial sector — our once genuinely world-beating public services have been utterly decimated, with tragic consequences for millions of decent people.
Following the imposition of ideological #austerity, council funding has been cut by 49%.
Essential public services have either been privatised or replaced with faceless profit-motivated corporate outsourcers, with only a superficial concern for the places in which they operate.
The elite want more deregulated free-market capitalism.
Yet despite the best efforts of newspaper owners, broadcasters, politicians, lobbyists & think tanks, 67% of British people strongly support MORE REGULATION of business, compared to 53% in Germany.
British people also desire a much more expansive role for the state: 62% deem it “very important” for the Govt to build more public housing, & 53% want to increase benefits for the poor - higher than other countries. 50% want a Universal Basic Income - much higher than elsewhere.
The fake 'culture war' fought every day by "Libertarians" & free-market supporters in the press, on radio & on TV, is designed to distract voters from the multiple catastrophic failures of deregulated free market capitalism by keeping us outraged, obsessed with trivia, & divided.
Various bankers & journalists have recently been very upbeat about the prospects for Britain's economic recovery:
"The British economy will be booming. It is not yet widely appreciated just how big this boom will be" - Andrew Neil.
My advice: don't believe the hype.
Last week the Bank of England said: "Economic growth in Britain this year should not be confused with a normal boom... economy shrank almost 10% last year, biggest slump in 300 years".
While the opinion polls show a 'vaccine bounce' for the Tories, again: don't believe the hype.
A fascinating new opinion poll by the respected Pew Research Center, discussed in the Financial Times, tells a fascinating story about how a clear majority in the US & Western Europe support large scale, systemic change.