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May 16, 2023 18 tweets 8 min read Read on X
#THREAD

As predicted, the President of the opaquely-funded & extremely influential ultra-right free-market US 'think tank' Heritage Foundation, Kevin Roberts, has delivered arguably the most unhinged speech so far at the deeply disturbing National Conservatism #NatC conference.
Founded in 1973, the opaquely funded Heritage Foundation's stated mission is to formulate & promote policies based on the principles of "free enterprise, limited Govt, individual freedom, traditional American values, & a strong national defense."

desmog.com/2023/05/15/nat…
It is widely considered one of the world's most influential public policy research institutes, maintaining strong ties with #Tuftonstreet's IEA, the Mont Pelerin Society (the organisation coining 'neoliberalism'), &, significantly, the UK Government.

In keeping with the dangerously irresponsible reality-denying draconian antidemocratic policies of the Heritage Foundation, Roberts has blamed “globalists” for the world’s political problems, repeatedly using a term associated with the far-right & antisemitic conspiracy theories. Image
Roberts mentioned Globalists - condemned by UK MPs & Jewish groups as an antisemitic trope - more than a dozen times in his address to the #NatC event in London, also making the absurd claim that left-wingers 'want to end all democracy to impose their opinions on the world'. 📽️ Image
While “globalist” can be a neutral term, its use as a term for elites supposedly seeking global domination is used by the far right & conspiracy theorists about Jewish power - ironic, as Heritage is funded by & represents the interests of powerful elites.

desmog.com/heritage-found…
Tory MP Miriam Cates, who spoke on Monday, used the idea of “cultural Marxism” in her speech, another concept linked with the antisemitic conspiracy theory which inspired far-right terrorist Anders Breivik, & which the UK Board of Deputies has chastised Braverman for using. Image
Dangerously delusional ideological extremist Roberts repeatedly condemned what he called “the leftist control of globalist corporations & entities”, seemingly indicating this was part of a conspiracy to end democracy, calling this “the gathering storm”.

Alarm bells ringing yet? Image
Like every billionaire-owned UK newspaper & right-wing conspiracy nut on earth, he makes the bizarre claim that “The new left, greedy, elitist, woke & globalist, has foresworn every principle their ideological predecessors once espoused: democracy, equality, diversity, justice.” Image
The Left “abhors religion, & Christianity especially, as well as the nation state, political accountability & even objective truth. Their goal is not to win political contests but to end them altogether – to sweep away dissent & any subversive institution that dares facilitate.” Image
“This new left is not in competition. It is at war with the west, with the moral, intellectual & social foundations on which our entire civilisation rests. Which is why it reserves a singular hatred for the kind of conservatism represented by Trump & DeSantis, Brexit, Orbán...”
Roberts explicitly praised the dangerous Nationalist Populism of DeSantis & Orbán, saying UK politicians could follow their lead.

The US & UK have already joined Hungary in 'economic backsliding' (significant erosion of their democratic institutions).

Roberts argued: “The emergence of nationalism & populism on the right is a re-emergence. It’s a rebirth of the principles western conservatives de-emphasised over the last three decades, to their nations’ peril.”

It was "de-emphasised" in the aftermath of the Nazis & WWII. 🤬 Image
Imagine hearing Roberts' words spoken by Nazi #propaganda Chief Joseph Goebbels, in an angry 1930s German accent:

“The great awokening & normalisation of anti-western, anti-Christian, anti-democratic, cultural totalitarianism in western newsrooms, classrooms, & bureaucracies...” Image
“These are not distinct, discrete phenomenon, but myriad symptoms of one ruling class’s contempt for everyday working families and the institutions that prioritise their rights and interests over elite privilege.”

Absolutely fucking crazy - imho. Image
To end, here's a link to a single document encapsulating the policy agenda of the Gobal "Christian"Libertarian Nationalist Populist Right, which includes Brextremists, the billionaire-owned press, & the UK Govt - Heritage Foundation's "Solutions Journal":

The Global Christian National Conservatism project grew out of the US-based Edmund Burke Foundation 'think tank', founded in 2000, which now has the aim of "strengthening the principles of national conservatism in Western & other democratic countries". 😬

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More from @docrussjackson

Feb 17
#THREAD

Life was demonstrably worse in the 1979 than it is today.

Zymunt Bauman calls this yearning for an imagined past, ‘retrotopia’, in which the ‘Volk’ (the ‘simple folk’, who Reform UK claim to represent) are constructed as homogenous, Christian, white, & ‘indigenous’. Image
Life was demonstrably inferior in the 1970s compared to today for almost everyone in England.

Life expectancy in the UK in 1980 was 71 for men and 77 for women. By 2019, life expectancy at birth in England had increased to 79 years for men & 83.5 for women.
1. Economic Hardship

In 1979, the UK economy was struggling with high inflation, unemployment, and a budget deficit. This eroded purchasing power, making essentials like food, clothing, and housing more expensive relative to wages. "Stagflation" was a significant problem. Image
Read 40 tweets
Feb 11
#THREAD

'Anti-elite man of the people' Nigel Farage, educated at one of the most expensive private schools on earth, is now the highest paid MP in the UK. His basic annual MP salary is £91,346 plus expenses.

The UK National Living Wage for people aged 21+ is just £12.21/hour. Image
Let's take a look at some of Nigel Farage's additional earnings that he's legally obliged to declare in the MPs Register of interests - and which contains a few surprises - starting with GB "News".

Full details publicly accessible here:

members.parliament.uk/member/5091/re…New York, USA. 15th Dec, 2024. NIGEL FARAGE chats with far-right shit-stirrer and former editor-in-chief of Breitbart News London, RAHEEM KASSAM (who describes London as a "shithole" as The New York Young Republican Club held their annual Gala event at Cipriani's on Wall Street. (Credit Image: © Laura Brett/ZUMA Press)
Between 16th July 2024 and 15th January 2025, Farage decalred earnings of £264,790 for his work as a presenter on Reform UK Ltd's 24/7 propaganda channel, GB "News", co-owned by Islamophobic billionaire hedge-funder, Paul Marshall.

Hourly rate: £2,243/hr

Image
Read 35 tweets
Jan 30
#THREAD

Late on 22nd January, The @Telegraph claimed on its front page that “One in 12 in London is an illegal migrant.”

Millions of people were shocked and outraged.

This 🧵 is about our broken news media, the subversion of truth and democracy, and the amplification of hate. Image
PART ONE: WHAT THE PAPERS SAY

The front-page article, published in the Daily Telegraph, claiming “London is home to as many as 585,000 illegal migrants, equivalent to one in 12 of the city’s population” was covered across the media and widely discussed by politicians and others. Image
The claim that “One in 12 in London is illegal immigrant” is based on this report, commissioned by Thames Water, conducted by the research company Edge Analytics in February 2023, which the Telegraph says it obtained “under freedom of information-style laws for the environment”. Image
Read 25 tweets
Jan 24
#THREAD

What does the English Defence League (EDL) have in common with Reform UK?

And what do the EDL and Reform UK have in common with Islamist extremists?

Quite a lot actually...

Image
The EDL is an Islamophobic protest movement aimed at preserving UK identity and culture in the face of a perceived Islamization of the UK and Europe.

So is Reform UK. Image
The EDL reinforce the notion of the “nationalist subject” - a fallacious conception of citizenship - that wrongly assumes members of the majoritarian culture are possessed of certain core values, beliefs, and traits that embody the true essence of the nation.

So do Reform UK. Image
Read 33 tweets
Jan 21
🧵 Quite a few politically & historically illiterate brainwashed Trump-supporters replied or quote-tweeted the tweet below to tell me lifelong democratic socialist George Orwell was not in fact a democratic socialist. Truly Orwellian. So I asked Oligarch Musk's Grok about it...
1. Why was George Orwell a lifelong democratic socialist?

Grok: Image
Image
Image
Read 25 tweets
Jan 21
#THREAD

In the preface to her newly reissued book, 'Behind the Mask of Chivalry: The Making of the Second Ku Klux Klan - 30th Anniversary Edition', historian @NancyMacLean5 reflects on the resurgence of white power nationalism and political violence in contemporary America. Image
MaClean is known for her prescient best-selling 2017 book about the post–WWII conservative thinkers and policymakers who shaped the hyper-neoliberal #Project2025, 'Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America',

Evidence of why her prize-winning book has aged well and why @OxUniPress decided to republish it is obvious: numerous instructors continue to assign it, countless historians cite it, and the best Klan scholars have given it well-deserved praise.

global.oup.com/academic/produ…
Read 65 tweets

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