Afleveringen
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We are all politically selfish but we can try not to be- part of that comes by embracing the truth of our political views' limitations and confronting bad behaviour in our political circles. Ultimately, we can deal with it by being honest about where we stand and with whom. If you don't withdraw support for bad behaviour in your political spheres, are you not contributing to the problems of it?
Maybe listening to those who raise concerns about your political stances is how to strengthen and improve them and - if necessary- change them if they're wrong, rather than pig headed surety that we're all right and everyone else is wrong.
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Watching clips from the tory conference has only shored up my fears that political lying is utterly normalised in the UK. The concern that we cannot trust our elected representatives to tell us the truth on issues we care about is utter madness- so why aren't more people up in arms.
In Peter Obornes book about political lying, he attributes its acceleration to Trump and Johnson. But those men take advantage of an inherent flaw in society- that many people are so desperately wedded to right wing ideology, they'd prefer lies about its efficacy over the factual truth of the damage it's done to our nations.
As this acceptance of lies arose amongst the political right, the political left should have demanded honesty- but at every turn we have fallen into the trap of the right, trying to apply a justice system and fairness rules that they operate outside of, whilst holding us to it's harshest outcomes.
The concern of where this leads is multi-faceted and grows ever nearer- so why aren't more people, more people against the tories, up in arms about it. And why is it that our only escape from the conservatives is being swaddled in the cloth of "sensible conservatism" when it's so clear that fealty to that ideology is why we're in such a mess?
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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Rachel Reeves was recently on LBC answering people's questions, and after being schooled by a friend of mine who you should follow everywhere @nojustice she was asked why she was using tory policy to fight back against tory problems, to which she responded with tory rhetoric- Reeves said she wants to "grow the economy to fight inequality"- where have we heard that before? Oh yes, Liz Truss and her magic growing pie!
The time is approaching to understand the nuts and bolts of fiscal policy and stating "I want to grow the economy" is like saying "I want to do my job". We have to have a clear understanding of what fiscal changes will be made to move us past this dark period of time.
Ultimately, as I've explained several times my enemy isn't labour- it's conservatism. And if Labour continue to spout conservative talking points and rhetoric I feel within my rights to be frustrated about that in the extreme. We have to move past conservatism- so let's do that, shall we.
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Two weeks ago I said I wouldn't vote for a party who endorses transphobia. It's not for me to teach people why a weak stance on equality is a bad look for a political party of any stripe, plus it's a waste of time- those disingenuous enough to claim there isn't a valid, and wide point there, are fully cognisant of my reasoning- they just reject it because they fear it applies to them. But I want to pose a question in today's episode- what if I'm right? I mention labour's (at least perceived) slide into conservative viewpoints and I pose the question- what if they do mean what they say, and want to offer us a continuation of the conservatism that's brought us this low? Focusing on getting the tories out is fine and good- but ignoring the looming concern of more conservatism is to ignore the problems we'll face in the years to come, and I can't focus on the short term as the long term gets bleaker.
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Voting for parties who are pro minorities isn't tory enabling, it's sending a message to anti minority parties that they don't get support if they don't back minority rights and protections. The simpering folk who think UK labour showing up at pride with fancy t shirts is a sign they're pro minority are fools. Labour hasn't proved for a long time that it's on the side of LGBT+ people and I knew that if they didn't improve, it would become a wedge issue for me. Their desperation to appeal to knuckle draggers has sickened me, and those who have continued to say what they're doing is necessary fail to realise that their own inaction is what causes labour's foolish thought that this is what people want: as labour move to the right to appease bigot voters who don't like them anyway, their core base refuse to stand up to them out of fear of another tory win- labour just see this as an endorsement of bigotry so continue on, and as more minorities peel away a doubling down occurs, the same foolish "hold your nerve" rhetoric as Truss and even Sunak have been stating- but this isnt about the economy. It's about playing Russian roulette with minority rights, and we don't have to sit around and find out whether labour are firing blanks at us, or if they fully intend to let us be the casualties that help them win- if our "allies" stood with us and told labour they could get lost til they moderate their stance, labour would have no choice but to do just that. But apparently it's easier to accuse people tired of labour's crooning at bigots of being tory enablers.
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Lying has been mainstreamed by politics, with people on the individual level convinced that they can lie and mislead with impunity- everything from why the economy is ruined to who is sleeping with who to what the passcode to a phone is- culture and politics are both sticky with lies.
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There's two things I loathe from people more of my political leaning- those who talk about right wing appeasement being a long game, and those who think that lowering their standards to "anyone but the tories" is a helpful political stance. Now, more than ever, we need to be relentlessly pressuring politicians to do what we need them to. A failure at this point to make brave, necessary changes to everything from economy to media mismanagement of fact, will lead to a worsening of the socio-political status quo, and if that happens, a very scary door opens after the next election.
We need brave, competent leadership more than ever before right now. So you- you listening to this, stake your claim. Raise it with your political friends, have the awkward discussions around why 'at least they aren't the tories' isn't a defence of mediocre government- and why we need to ask for more, not less.
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There's this perception that allyship is easy, when genuine allyship is fraught with making mistakes and taking a genuine, hard look at yourself and asking if you might consciously or unconsciously perpetuate some of the cruelties you may claim to stand against. There's also a perception that it's all fun and games. Allyship sometimes means taking the hatred, vitriol and insanity that comes with standing with minoritised people.
This pride month has been so disappointing- seeing Oxfam pull their video where anti trans people were correctly identified as a vitriolic hate group who bully trans people then offer a mealy "everyone is allowed to exist UwU" statement, watching sports teams and celebrities espouse support for the LGBT+ only to remove it when receiving a fraction of the hate we receive ourselves just for existing, or sharing damaging propaganda which is designed to further demonise us in the eyes of a society that barely grudgingly tolerates us at the best of times.
I feel like we're at the doorway of a descent into a very dark time when people are going to continue to condone escalating rhetoric against us- prove me wrong. Understand what an ally is, what allyship is, face up to whatever dark thoughts you have and deal with & conquer them- and help us to stop the escalating hatred before we pass through the threshold.
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We are objectively in an ethical crisis when it comes to British politics. From Braverman's ongoing dishonesty about Rwanda and speeding to Sunak and Johnson's repeated lawbreaking. The problem is the splash damage that their foolishness causes. We're struggling with myriad issues in the UK and we can't even talk about how to navigate these crises because we're fixated on the never ending stream of scandal- and when we do, finally, exhausted, wade our way to the centre, the moment we could finally discuss the policy we find completely unworkable policy not meant to help British people suffering, only to either aid the conservatives in their mediocrity or to do functionally nothing but give pundits something to point to in their never ending defence of this shower.
What happened to politics? When did we collectively give the greenlight for morals to go out the window, for politicians to decide that lies and scandal were their main business, instead of being public servants? And how do we get back to decency... and can we?
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I don't care whose mouth conservatism comes out of, it's bad. Seems to me it's also the only option we have in the UK right now, being as everyone thinks it's simply marvellous and I'm fed up of this being the only perceived option.
Labour's current stances on things like immigration, NHS privatisation, culture war rhetoric, brexit- all are huge concerns to me, and whilst I'm not a fool and know that a labour government wouldn't be as much of a chaos filled train wreck as the radical conservatives with their stop the boats but not your cars tax dodging law breaking nonsense, I have to ask myself about the big policies we're being offered and how I feel.
An aversion to renegotiating brexit is a red flag- "temporary outsourcing" won't save the NHS and eschewing leftist voters to attract disenfranchised right wing voters who foam at the mouth for conservatism is a concern.
People are free to choose who they want to vote for, but if your defence of Labour is "they're just saying these things to win then they'll go back on it" I ask you what sort of meds you're on, because your plan is to vote for someone saying the opposite of what you want to hear and you're still going to vote for them..?
And if you expect that after labour has made myriad promises to disenfranchised cons voters to win, he'll go back on that and give you your centre left utopia, you're barmy. Now's the time for people with concerns about this iteration of labour to collectively impart a message about what sort of politics you want to see from them- if you don't do that, you won't get it and it's not because people like me are tory enabling by raising these issues- it's because you're letting labour dictate policy to you the same way the conservatives rattle on about the will of the people and what the public want, whilst doing precisely the opposite.
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Dominic Raab is a well known political liability: he's long rumoured to be a human arseclown, but the bullying report forcing him to actually suffer some recompense must have come as a shock.
I'm so used to these people getting away with things I nearly fell off my chair when the news broke: but it leads to what we all know is coming: The civil service is too "w*ke", too politically correct and too full of do gooders to get things done. My riposte is: if you can't govern without being a horrible shitty human, perhaps you shouldn't be governing as it takes talent to manage people well- talent the tories lack.
But the issue is broader: older tories must be humiliated to be part of this gaping wound in British politics- and yet they stay. Newer Tories are mostly elected on the ticket of "getting Brexit done". It sure is done! Hey- how's the economy, civil rights and British living standards going?
The tories are talentless and Raab being found to be a bully is symptomatic of a government who doesn't have the talent, innovation - or right (aka, MANDATE) to govern.
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Do you think right wingers in the UK are totally unaware of the fact that they always get what they want? They had to cheat, keeping our shitty voting system in place in order to do so in the last election; but regardless, they always win and they always whine about it.
Every day we get to hear "yes, we are in charge of every aspect of British economy and culture and we're miserable about it- BUT...", as though the increasing demand for further right politics and cultural alignment is normal.
Right wingers don't know how to be happy and I am so tired of hearing their endless, bottomless whining about the mess they make- like a four year old pouring ice cream down their trousers then crying that they're cold and damp, my sympathy is limited to the left, eternally forced to do the clean up whilst being told not to complain.
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I'm so tired of fighting with people I agree with or losing support for people because of their behaviours. Seeing people thinking it's ok to be out and out xenophobic but it's ok because you're a Lexiteer, deflecting responsibility for your behaviours because you can't possibly be a bad person, right? Or just out and out partaking in bad behaviour under the smokescreen of "being a left winger".
The right is a seething cesspit of idiocy. But the left is caught somewhere between apologism for disgusting behaviour or looking at someone with whom we should ally and attacking them for dissenting views.
If your politics are nutty, flavourful and of use- maybe you should be able to defend them without resorting to open cruelty, ridiculous behaviour or stereotyping people out of relevance.
The UK can do better.
So when are we going to.
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I am finding it so hard to engage with politics, because my hope for better is hanging by a thread. I want to recover, I want to get back to it, and I will. But for now, if you're able to keep fighting do it and I'll join you when I can. Don't give up because deep down, I know better is possible. I just need the chemicals in my brain to agree!
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I met Aid because we both talk about politics and try to cope with madness using humour. We're in a small closed group of political chatterboxes and we mostly spend the day sending each other news articles and calling various political figures knob cheeses. But I like talking to Aid because we also bounce different ideas off each other even if we don't agree. Today we talked about... well, *gestures wildly at the flaming world*.
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Rise up together or fall together: the choice is yours.
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Truss and Kwarteng are amazing. Not in the good way, in the "I'm sat watching in amazement as the country implodes" kind of way. They do love the "technically we've only been in charge for 21 days" thing but this is the same inane sputtering set of guttural death rattlers who have been burping in the face of the British public for 12 years and 9 months: If they were a child, they'd be old enough to work in one of Jacob Rees-Moggs teenage workhouses. Their economic plans will decimate the UK.
Rupa Huq is a bellend. What she said about Kwarteng is not ok, and it's at this point I remind you that when you weaponise someones' identity, if you dont think about the splash damage then what you say will probably be bigoted and stupid.
And as for Jess Phillips and Owen Jones' little mingefest at the conference: that's exactly the sort of dross inane garbage that's going to keep the left from actually implementing any meaningful change ever- because everything turns into a who is the best lefty competition: grow up, call out the bad stuff, fix it and get stuff done.
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The country has gone absolutely mad.
The queen passed away which is sad in that "someone died and that's never nice" way, but people are being LEGALLY PREVENTED BY FEAR from expressing any feelings to the contrary about both that, and about her royal successor, K...Ki...King Charles............... Eurgh.But this fits into a larger problem the UK has quietly faced forever; an aggrandised sense of how well we do independence. We lean heavy on regressive governments who make our lives worse, on royals who don't do anything other than occasionally interfere in democracy to hide their personal wealth, and now we have a weird state obsession with forcing the country into a black penguin suit and singing a eulogy half of us don't know the words to in tandem.
The UK has a sickness, a deep gnawing desperate need to rely on other people and other things to tell us how to feel, how to act, what is appropriate.
Someone give us some medicine- we need it. -
I am exhausted lately.
Everywhere I turn, people I'm friends with, people I admire, people I have passing acquaintance with, fighting.
The a la carte these days seems to be "fight the wrong people". TERFS blame trans people for the crimes of cis men. Far left people blame Starmer for tory policy. Center left people blame laissez faire politicos for being inspired by, and therefore relentlessly backing Corbyn in spite of any flaws that emerge. The left is a bloodbath of Yharnam scale.I honestly don't know if the left deserve to win, fractured as we are. But win we must because the tories are decimating our freedoms, regressing our equality and quite literally people are dying already, and will continue to do so.
The left in the UK has been fractured for a long time, and a big part of that is an unwillingness of every single facet to acknowledge the problems that they have within: credence towards claims of antisemitism or islamophobia the other way, stupid rhetoric around the Russia war or brexit, pejoratives about ethnic minorities, a ridiculous aversion to any sort of rhetoric against the UK's precious nuclear bomb, brexit- every facet of the left has issues, and NOBODY IS TALKING ABOUT THEM.
We can keep going down this divisive path and lose lose lose- or we could act like adults and win together and enact at least SOME meaningful change, do SOMETHING good for people in poverty, undo some of the dangerous laws the tories passed, tax wealthy people. Make your f*cking choice lefties because right now you seem determined to bring every last bastion of safety down with the double weaponry of aversion to hearing criticism of yourselves, and a desperate need to demonise others.
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As a geek it's probably a real indictment for me to call someone cool but- Darren is cool. He's a South African internet savant who pretty effortlessly created content to make you think. I found him randomly on Tiktok talking about racial disparity and instantly knew I had to get him on the podcast at some point and here it is! Darren's mindset is all too rare as someone who seems to have a real handle on why everything is so messed up, but actually seems to know how we move through it into something better, and in this episode we spoke about the rooting of white supremacy in capitalism, societal structures and how we grow through all of this.
I strongly advise giving his social media a follow: he's @CampherDarren on twitter, @Darrenofalkebulan on tiktok and @Darren_of_Alkebulan on insta; listen, follow and learn!
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